Almost New Years Eve and ofcourse my mechanic is out of town: I try to start my car and turn the key 4 or 5 times....no sound, no nothin'....then it starts on the 5th or 6th try.....this has occured the last 2 times i drove it....now i am afraid to drive it at all....is the starter going bad, or is it electrical? just had a new xm radio installed....a coincidence or is this related to the starter??? any tips greatly appreciated...i love all the great info on this site.....thanks, stephanie

could be problem with the:
1) ignition switch/tumbler
2) starter inhibitor switch on transmission
3) loose electrical connection to the starter
4) possibly a bad starter, but I would think you would hear it weakly trying to start the engine.
5) double-check the engine ground strap (thick stranded-metal wire bolted to the bottom of the transmission).
6) oh yeah, and check (all) your fuses

Stephanie,
I would also check both the ground and positive cable / wire on the battery to make sure that neither is loose or corroded.

Did your car do this BEFORE you had the new XM radio installed? If not, call the installer immediately to let him know that you're having trouble with the car. Give them a chance to look it over and see if there's anything that they can do. You want to do that in case you need to have a repair made to the car and the mechanic shows that the repair was due to something that the installer did.

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Jay Yambrovich
Scotts Valley, CA.

1993 300 CE Cabriolet (A124) 131K miles
1997 C-280 133K miles

2000 BMW R1100RT 69K miles
1989 300 E 216K miles (sold)

How cold is it where you are? How old is your battery? Cold weather is murder on a battery. We had three go in my family this year w/in a few days of each other (first real cold break). Of coure, one of those was because the starter went, but...

-Matt-

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Currently:
1972 350SL Euro 4spd
1973 BMW R75/5
1981 BMW R80GS
1995 FZJ80 with OM606 Conversion In Progress