my E430 rocket

i think my sarter is going bad in my 99' 430. but the reason i post this is because i think could be somethiung else and i want to see if any one else had had this happen to them.

sometimes when i turn the key it will make the starting sound for like one second and then be dead. and then i will turn it all the way to off (owners manual says that u can not start from on, u must turn key all the way back) and then i will turn it back to start and it will start. now even more sometimes it wont even turn. but after i turn it off and try and start it agin it will start right up. also it doesn't even act up it just starts. now this is not every time i could go a month before it does this.

it is not effected by hot or cold starting it happens regularly

now the thing is there is no warrenty and i have the car on auto trader, what should i do, and what do u think is happening.

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seperate question..

i have the infrared "key" lol (my friends call it the male starter thingy ma-bob) what the story behind this key

rp718

My '96 E320 does the same thing once in a while. The battery and starter have checked out fine. A couple of times the starter hesitation caused the time on my clock to change and the red and green lights on the rearview mirror to flash. I get the feeling there may be something going on with the onboard computer that can't be reproduced regularly.

sosh

Could be the key. Try cleaning the end (red plastic part). Sometimes if thats dirty it will prevent the key from being recognized. Could also be a bad key, try the other one.