M50+manual swap bastard - No start!

[Andy318]

I recently bought a 1996 318ti that had a 93 M50 Vanos and manual swap done. When I went to see the car the first time it started and ran/drove. When I picked it up it didn't start. I've now been messing with it for 5 days and after lots of exploring I have the following info but still no start.

Car: 1996 318ti
Engine: 1993 M50 Vanos
DME: Bosch 413 Silver label w/Turner 413-000 chip
EWS: EWS2
CPS: Tested, 500 Ohms resistance

I'm going to apologize for the long post now but I would like as much of the relevant info stated up front.

The car was bought as parts/donor and will never be driven on the street however I wanted to confirm engine, harness, DME, etc were good. It had a stereo and the battery was relocated to the trunk. I disconnected the battery and removed all the stereo wiring.

After fully charging the battery I tried to start the car by using jumper cables to the B+ post in the engine bay and to chassis ground. Car cranked over (bumped) for ~1 second then stopped (and instrument cluster went out/dark, no power). This was exactly the same thing it was doing when I picked up the car and upon trying it again after getting it home before touching anything!

After checking connections and adding grounds same thing. I checked voltage at starter, 12V. Fuel pump relay is good (swapped and pin tested) and fuse 18 is good (swapped/tested).

Next step was google, lots and lots of google! Was it anything related to the now missing automatic trans? Or EWS?

I dug deeper and discovered it had EWS2. I jumped the two thick wires (1 and 3) and confirmed voltage on using pins 5 and 7 of EWS connector, 12V.

Went to start the car and now it would crank continuously but still no start. I sprayed starting fluid into the intake and tried again, no start. So, likely no spark... back to google. After more searching I learned that EWS and the DME together (along with CPS which I tested OK) allow for fuel pump and ignition (coils) to work for starting and that EWS2 cars need to have a chip installed (programmed) to ignore EWS, not just a jumper or cut wire!

The video I watched talked about cutting wire for pin 66 but to check for continuity first between small green wire at EWS plug and pin 66 on harness. Tested, no continuity. Further investigating revealed wire 7 at 20 pin connector had been cut, same as cutting wire 66, and thus my lack of continuity testing pin 66 to EWS plug.

I've read posts that to testing the DME is as simple as looking for the CEL light on the cluster. Well, removing the cluster shows that it has been swapped (and possibly opened) and light bulbs are missing. I did not completely remove the cluster as the steering wheel was in the way (no tilt steering) and moved on.

Next I cracked open the DME to discover it has a TMS chip, #413-000 for 93/94 325 with vanos. Contacted turner and they could not confirm if EWS was programmed out by default...

I installed everything back in the car, no change. So, TMS chip (hopefully with EWS delete) plus jumper wire (two thicker wires at EWS2 plug) and cut pin 7 wire should rule out EWS2... hopefully, depending on chip!

Lastly, I unplugged one of the coils to test for voltage with the key in position 2 (fully on, not starting). There was no voltage across any of the pins on the connector. This leads me back to EWS telling DME everything is OK or DME is bad. --- Update - Not sure how or why but after reinstalling DME and testing OBD2 and 20 pin port I now have 12V at the coils with key in run position ---

Before sourcing another DME (hopefully 413 Red label) or chip with EWS deleted I wanted to see if there was anything else I can/should check/test first? Many thanks in advance...