Strange Cranks but No-Start condition 35d

[VolksFan]

Hello, new to the xbimmers community. Unfortunate first post, but I will lay it all out in detail- apologies for the novel.

I have a wide knowledge base when it comes to VAG products, and figured a 35d wouldnt be too much different from most newer common rail stuff. Apparently not.

2010 E70 35d, 121k miles- just finished replacing the glow plug module and all 6 glow plugs yesterday. Everything went smoothly. Started up first try, a little rough at first. Subsequent restarts smoothed out and the little truck ran great, took it around the block several times, it idled happily, no issues of note and reassembly had gone well.

Went to visit family this evening. Going up a steep hill, near the top I had a quick whiff of something that smelled plastic-y and of diesel, it was faint enough to wonder if it was someone else's vehicle or if I even smelled it.

At the top of the hill, making a right turn from the stop sign, the X5 surged a little, then died. Stronger diesely smell near egr in front of engine bay when I popped the hood.

All efforts to restart it failed- it cranks strong and isnt making any scary noises. Had it towed back. Scanned the vehicle when it was off the flatbed, using a Launch 431 pad II (programs anything you might ever need and is a professional level scan tool), and discovered to my suprise that there were absolutely no codes whatsoever. Verified with INPA.

All harness plugs are installed correctly and are firmly latched in place, manifold went on without a hitch.

I highly doubt that it is an issue with the manifold being seated correctly or the new glow plug module causing this, but thats why I am posting here.

I am unfamiliar with situations that will cause a cranks-but no start, no codes situation on these trucks.

In the last 5k miles, the X5 has had a new fuel filter, preheater, and tstat. Beyond routine fluid changes we've done, we have very little maintenance history.

I appreciate your input and responses, in advance.

Regards
E

[RL18]

First off I know the feeling hah. My 335d died on me in traffic and left me stranded. In my case it was a bad battery and I had a terminal 50 code. All I can say is go back through everything and make sure every is connected correctly, no loose connections. I wonder if you need to reset adaptions for something like that.

Really hope you figure it out man. These cars are finnicky.

[VolksFan]

Your battery went flat and it shut the car off in traffic and refused to restart without an alternator issue?

I havent any codes as of it sitting overnight but when I first started it up, it momentarily said GENERATOR! on the cluster. I will go throw the charger on it and see what happens and report back.

[RL18]

Originally Posted by VolksFan

Your battery went flat and it shut the car off in traffic and refused to restart without an alternator issue?

I havent any codes as of it sitting overnight but when I first started it up, it momentarily said GENERATOR! on the cluster. I will go throw the charger on it and see what happens and report back.

Yes! I originally though it was the cas module. Sent it out for repair but they tested it and it tested out fine. The battery was completely flat though and before it died it sent out a surge that stalled my car I'm thinking. The battery was so bad that if I drove an hour then shut it off and tried to restart it immediately didn't have any juice left. Anyways the car sensed that and downright refused to let me start the car till I replaced with a new battery. As soon as I replaced it it cranked over.

I've never seen that error though. Did you see any other codes on your scan tool? Best bet like you said is to charge it up fully and try it again. Go over all your work again. I'm not saying you did it wrong but we all make silly mistakes from time to time.

[VolksFan]

Hiya!
Update:
Went over everything I touched previously this afternoon and it all looks good and everything is seated. I suspect this intake manifold could be off and back on again in the future in less than 2 hours.

It has been raining cats and dogs here so I pulled the battery out of the X5 and brought it inside today to charge.. dmm says batt had 11.62v when I pulled it out, and its an Interstate that is 4 years old. According to the DME, it was never registered (lacks the codes to do so on this batt) and history shows only one registration. Going to leave it charging overnight 12v2a and see if it will make it go before putting out the coin for a legitimate BMW battery, as IMC just stopped carrying the non BMW branded Varta batts that used to come with the proper codes for programming.

Further checking reveals I have proper rail pressure at the sensor and can also see cranking RPMs via live data.

Pursuing the battery angle but still feel like I am missing something.

Edit: to respond directly to your query, no codes in DME still. I would expect at least half a dozen voltage related codes if it was the batt directly like I have seen in dozens of e90/92 series cars. Even with the low battery voltage I have documented, it still cranked over in a healthy fashion.

[VolksFan]

Update: Car started with the batt fully charged. Twice. Shut itself off both times.

Batt voltage off the charger was 12.99v and in car it was chatging at 14.699v.

I do not believe the battery is the issue.

I have read some random stuff about a relay that sits back in the rear cargo area that controls fuel, but wouldn't I see, even briefly, low rail pressure if it was cutting out at the relay? When running the rail pressure actual vs requested is spot on.
Are crankshaft sensors on these a common failure point?