Buying a vehicle with front end collision questions.....

Car in question is a 09 128i BMW (auto ewe)

Front end collision heavy enough to have airbag deployment in dash and steering wheel. Car turns over, no start. I assume due to a bad sensor or needs reset due to impact? I checked the car out in person and see the crank pulley is "bent" or at least cockeyed enough to make me worry. It's a potential challenge car so it's cheap. $800 was original agreed upon price and after seeing the pulley I passed on the deal. I think I could negotiate a few hundred down and make the gamble but wanted to see what others have experienced in this type of scenario.

Sadly no great pics to show the angle difference, but you can kinda see it in this one. The crank pulley is set inward more on the passenger side than driver. I could see where something had rubbed the timing cover and it looks like a leak of fluids from the seal.

So generally if a hit was heavy enough to bend the harmonic balancer is that a real worry? I mean there are cases of them separating in normal circumstances, and from what I kinda read about this scenario cranks don't really bend, they break. What say the hive? Is there anything specific I can check that would confirm whether it's trash or not without exchanging cash and gambling first?

Inertia sensor killing power to fuel pump?

when airbags popped in my 2007 E60, it also detonated a disconnect in the B+ cable so the car would power up but would not crank. Clipped the plastic bits and jammed the B+ cable together and it started right up.

FWIW, in the case of my E60, blowing the front airbags did not cut fuel pump.

pushing rad into front of engine cracked one of the VANOS solenoids, but didn't light CEL or set any DTCs.

I'm not familiar with BMWs, but all the harmonic balancers I've dealt with were cast iron and steel. I would think the crank would bend first. Or maybe push the outer ring off the rubber isolater.

I'm not familiar with BMWs, but all the harmonic balancers I've dealt with were cast iron and steel. I would think the crank would bend first. Or maybe push the outer ring off the rubber isolator.

Can you take the crank bolt out and get the pulley off?  That might tell you if it's just the pulley that's bent or if it's the crank.

Good to know about the battery cable. A good thing to check first.

Doubtful I can remove the crank bolt without purchasing the car first. I didn't get a good look as to whether the crank bolt was aligned with the bent pulley or still square to the crank. Kinda wondering if it will be more difficult to remove if the bolt is possibly bent as well.

Still pondering if I'll try and get it. With header, intake, and tune should net at least 230 to the rear wheels? Automatic makes it less awesome but maybe with the tune I'll get some better shifting and throttle response. Gutting the interior and unnecessary bits should help all around. I'm not expecting a ringer, but may place okay with some elbow grease?

N52 can be turbo'd.

ask the seller if you can remove it, tell him why you want to, and explain what you find. There's value to the seller in free info if you don't buy it.

you said it "turns over but no start". Is that your diagnosis or the seller's? To me, "turns over" means that the starter turns the crank. If that's true, it's probably not the B+, but I wouldn't rule it out until I ruled it out, you know?

I've had bent crankshafts on vehicles hit that way. I'd pass.

Seller says it was turning over and acted like it wanted to fire, just didn't. Conveniently there wasn't a battery available when I went to look at it. Honestly the more I think about the whole situation the less I want to get the car. Gotta find the right deal with the right package for the challenge.

I bet the Cat's on that thing are worth close to the $800 price if things go sideways. N52's are plentiful in the yards here if you want that kind of project, I walked past one last week with a 6 speed attached to it laying on the ground (tempted, they bolt up to the earlier motors but use a different flywheel and clutch so not an easy thing to do).

In reply to captainawesome :

The conveniently unavailable battery raises more red flags than a May Day parade back in the Soviet Union.

The manual conversion is probably more headache than I'd like to bother with, and would nickel and dime a proper challenge project without a full donor purchase. I think. Trying to keep it simple but also not afraid of a little work for better ETs in the drag plus ability to hold a gear in autocross.

If he's willing to drop price to around $600 I'll consider picking it up. Still has a clean title, and the rest of the car is in pretty good shape. Comes with a radiator and condenser to get those sorted. If engine is bad maybe one will pop up that is budget friendly? My biggest issue will be space. I've got a bugeye WRX I'm tinkering on, the FRS K swap waiting on Kpower kit, a Legacy wagon I just HAD to have, and a boat project. Time to figure out what I want to do and focus.

Impacts to the external spinny bits of running engines can cause all kinds of nasty problems.  Even surprisingly light contact can push the oil wedge out of the bearings and wipe a bearing.  Flywheel to ground contact is a popular way to destroy open wheel car engines.  Stopping an engine by cramming the balancer into something can bend and twist crankshafts.  If I were to buy something like that I'd do it with the assumption that it needs an engine.