[3gswish]

Hi everyone,

I have some pretty bad roads around my house, and I recall bottoming out a few months ago when topping a rise and encountering some unexpected roadwork. I was amazed that I didn't have any problems.

Well, I actually did have a problem, but it didn't surface right away. Lately, I've been having problems starting the car - it produces a whooshing sound, doesn't kick the motor, and then produces a starter/ignition fault.

It's intermittent, and will now start about 2-3 times out of ten...

I decided after awhile that it must be related to the solenoid, so I took a look underneath - there was definitely some damage to the bottom engine bay cover, and viola, the solenoid had been hit in the impact, and finally has completely fallen off the starter and is hanging by the wires...

So the mystery is solved - I don't need any help with troubleshooting, but your advice on where I can find decent parts would be most welcome! The new part is over $400, so no go there. Ebay only lists a couple parts from the UK, and I've only found a couple of recyclers that might have the part, but they don't list the actual part number.

It's a Bosch LS-7649090 02, and another number shows 0 001 170 201.

I've got a manual transmission, and can find some recycled starters for automatics - anyone know if it's the same partno?

Also, I see starters with 03 or 05 after the partnumber, as in LS-7649090 05 - would a different suffix make a difference? I found a suffix 05 that only has 6k miles on it...

Who would you go to for a reburbished or reclaimed starter?

Thanks!!!
3gswish

 

[Scudder]

The part number I found from realoem.com BMW site is 12417649090

There are several new units on Ebay from around £135 each. Not Bosch, but does that bother you? Have a look at realoem to confirm the BMW part number and then do your searches again £400 is a bit steep! Noticed you quoted in dollars so this reply is for UK, sorry, my bad. Last edit, no it is a different part number for automatics.

 

[3gswish]

Thanks Scudder,

I did see units from the UK, but price, shipping and delay were not workable.

I found a great tool in the US for finding used parts - I can't post links yet, but it's Car dash Parts dot com. It's a database posted to by salvage yards all over. I think it's what a local salvage yard references when they say "I don't stock it, but I can get it for you in a day."

ABC Auto Dismantlers in San Francisco did this, and they found one a day away. Viola - I'll be driving past them tomorrow, and they'll have it waiting for me. $70 plus core charge of $25. I removed the damaged one, which I'll give them to recycle, and will probably keep the $25.

Thanks
3gswish

 

[3gswish]

So it turns out that from ABC Auto in SF it was $70, plus $15 shipping and no core charge. They took the old part back for recycling

I'll be installing over the weekend and I'll keep you posted.

Best,
3gswish

 

[3gswish]

As Scudder points out - the part is shown in realoem dot com as 12417649090, while on the part itself it's just 7649090<space>XX, where XX is a revision number as far as I can tell.

My original starter was <space>02, and the used starter supplied by my new friends at ABC in SF was <space>04. It looks like the case nose around the actual starter gear is a bit different material, but in all other aspects was exactly the same.

Installed the new starter and viola - starts ever time.

I hope someone finds this info useful...
3gswish