My car needs excessive cranking to start. It won't start on the first crank with the key. It's a pain in the *** and it gets pretty embarrassing when people are looking at you. Does anyone know why it does this??? The guy at the dealership said it happens to him sometimes with his BMW. He said it could be the spark plugs or wires or the fuel pump.

 

You need three (3) things for ignition:
Fuel
Air
Spark

You're not getting one, or more, of these. Go with the cheapest "fix" first.
How long has it been since you changed your air filter?
How long has it been since you changed your spark plugs?
If that isn't the problem...
Have someone do a continuity test on your wires.
If that isn't the problem...
You have two fuel filters, I believe. One up near the FI system and one in the tank. The upper one is cheaper to replace...

If that isn't the problem...
???

 

I logged on here to post the same exact thing. Car is a 98 2.8 I changed the spark plugs and air filter already. It only happens to me everyonce in a while. To me it acts like the car is flooded. Do these cars have a tendence to have fuel injectors that stay open?
But anyways next time it happens to me i will pull the fuel pump fuse and see if it starts.