After approximately 60,000 miles, the fuel injection pump drive belt on my 2002 tii broke and, quite naturally, the engine refused to operate. A local BMW dealer replaced the belt for $70 (parts and labor). The car ran fine for the following summer months, but when cold weather rolled around it became very difficult to start.

At this point the dealer replaced most of the parts in the starting circuit, the electric solenoid valve, temperature time switch, plus a few other minor items. None of this solved the problem and follow-up trips to the dealer proved fruitless.

Some time later, while adjusting the valves and generally cleaning the engine compartment, I removed the plastic cover that goes over the drive belt and to my amazement found that the injection pump was about one fourth of a turn out of time with the engine. It took about five minutes to put the belt back so that it was in sync (there is a timing mark on the drive gear of the pump that lines up when number one cylinder is at TDC).

The solution to my problem was immediate and the car has run fine from that point on. If you have similar problems with your tii (hard starting and poor mileage), check this out. You could save both money and aggravation.

Author: Dale C. Packard