Sorry thought he'd said it was a 16V. I must be on the wrong thread. :bang:

Ok I have just double and triple checked the timing, the marks are bang on..not even a tooth out. It seems to have stopped back firing now though, I cleared the spark plug leads so maybe one wasnt firing in sync?

It still wont start though, I can turn it with a ratchet no problem, nothings knocking inside. When I try to crank it, it will turn over 2-3 times and just die on power. I have had jump leads on the battery for the last half an hour and still not enough power. When it dies though, it will always try and crank again but never turn fully over more than 2-3 times so the powers there in the battery.

I really dont know what else it can be....

Heads skimmed and we definately have compression.
Rods cant be bent as it turns over as you would expect with a rachet.
Injectors are working.
Spark leads in the right order.
Definately timed up right.
Battery has power (through jump leads)
Plenty of Petrol in the car.

I thought starter motor may be sticking but it doesnt sound like it, I gave it a couple of love taps with the hammer but still the little sh!t refuses to fire up...

Times ticking now, my mum needs the car as of this Monday for work and I dont fancy letting her loose in my BMW.

Any mechanics in Chesterfield, Derbyshire s40 fancy doing any weekend work let me know as I need to get it in to a garage over the weekend asap!

Thankyou for all you suggestions as to what it could be but we still havent managed to solve it

Kind Regards

Chris

When my battery developed an internal short circuit even jump leads wouldn't start the engine - the power was bleeding away through the short.

Try disconnecting the battery earth and clip the earth jump lead to the engine block. If it starts, turn off the engine before you take the leads off or risk blowing expensive stuff.

No need to do that. Put the lead from the jump battery earth to the block.

You say you checked the timing, did you just look at the points or check which stroke you are on.

If the timing is 180 out then the compression will stop the starter turning.

Take the plugs out and try turning it over.

If it spins away merrily it is a timing issue.

If it still only turns a couple of times, then its electrical.

Cheers

SPD

Agreed if the timing really is out, but the battery check is simple to do.

If the car battery is as fooked as mine was it will be shorting out the jump lead battery making the starter go slow. Disconnecting the car's battery earth takes it out of the picture. If its still slow you then know its the starter (or timing). If it spins over its the battery with a serious internal fault.

Can someone explain to me how the timing can be out 180 degrees in a waste spark system like this

Spark timing can't. But if you don't line up the pip in the crank pulley with the hole in the alternator pulley, it can be 120 or 240 degrees out.