>This may be a little log winded but I don't want to leave out anything.
>Yesterday my wife drove her '87 528e (E28) about one tenth of a mile. She
>turned the car off then relized she forgot something and went to restart
>the car and it would not turn over.
>A few hours later I went to look at it. Turn the key and nothing, the interior
>lights and dash light go dim but the starter would not turn. So I
>got out the jumper cables and tried to give it a jump. after connecting
>everything (Positve to battery + and negative to the eyehook bracket on the
>center of the engine) the starter turned but it still would not start.
>Here is what I have verified good so far.
>
>NO SPARK-- Pulled coil wire out of the distributer and held it 1/4" from ground
>while cranking the engine (with the jumper cables hooked up).
>
>MAIN RELAY-- Clicks when key turned on, 12V at idle air stablizer valve
>
>COIL-- Resistance checks- Ok per Bentley shop manual. 12V "+" to GND
>
>REFERENCE & SPEED SENSORS-- Ok per Bentley shop manual.
>

In addition to the above, I did the resistance and voltage checks at connector going to the motronic in the Bentley manual. I also took a known good battery and
put it in the car. Still no spark.

At this point I had nothing left to do but replace the motronic unit.

I checked with the dealer they wanted $947 +tax w/exchange!

Went to the junkyard and got a Motronic out of an '85 325e, the guy there didn't even know what it was! He asked me, I told him "It's a Motronic Unit" he looked at me puzzled, then I added "it's a spark control unit" knowing damn well that if I said the word computer the price would at least double. He said "90 bucks" I countered, how about $60? "It's worth $200!" he said. I happly handed
him a $100 bill got my change and left.

I installed the replacement Motronic and replaced the the battery. (It tested bad at the auto parts store.)

What I figured happpend was that the battery internally shorted out and took the motronic with it.

I hope someone later (probably reading the archives) can benifit from my experience.

Thanks to all who replyed to my initial posting.

John
'87 528e with "spark for days!"