E36 323 wont start

Ok so its been sitting on a drive for 6 months was running fine before now wont start my bad not starting it up every so often. The battery was drained so i went about jump starting it but nothing had someone charge it had enough power for remote locking etc but not to start up but it is turning over so in went the leads again now this time it just about started heard the engine and exhaust then it cut out! So i had some brakes and a service need doing so a friend of a friend came do whos tried jump it then looked under hood and said theres no compression there (which i dont see as was running with no problem before) and put some oil down there and tried jump it again and sounded like a horse galloping and said hell try again in a day or so, havent seen him since and discovered the plugs were just lying there under the hood (dont think he even put them back to try jump it!?) is it worth just buying a new battery and trying that as my thoughts are its just totalled? I read a trick if its the starter is to just roll it back a few feet which will rotate it ? r

Firstly, its impossible to test the compression by looking at the engine... Im assuming he did a compression test??

Has the fuel in the tank been in the car 6 months? It will probably be contaminated... i recommend draining the tank and putting new fuel in...

With it being standing 6 months, its hard to believe it would have no compression unless the head gasket has corroded. Assuming the leads and plugs are ok/new and you have new fuel then you, in my opinion have an electrical fault...

If the battery has been standing 6 months then it really needs charging with a charger, but you could boost it for now and test a few things before buying a new one....

Are you getting spark?... replace the plugs and leads... remove a plug and touch the end of the plug against the cylinder head and get an assistant to crank the engine over... You should be seeing a spark on the plug now... if not then you have an electrical issue...

If you are getting spark, then are you getting fuel?... if your fuel pump is knackered then it may be delivering fuel slower and with less pressure or not at all... remove a fuel line pipe from the injector rail, hold the pipe over a container and put the ignition on and crank (a second or 2 only!!) and it should squirt out...

Do these simple tests first, then get back to me, and we can then discuss the rest of the possibilities and what to do next...

hope this helps,

Mightybmw...