600hpM3

Went to look at an 03 is300 today with approx 113k miles on it. Overlooked the car and then decided to start it to take on test drive. Upon doing so, i turned the key a quarter turn allowing the fuel pump to kick on and flow before starting it (habit from my turbo'd cars.) The headlights came on fine while doing this as well as dash lights with no dimming. When i went to turn the car over it sounded like it was getting ready to start for about 8 seconds but never turned over. So, I decided to stop. The owner got in it and tried to turn the car over himself, this time he added his foot to the gas peddle. The car was rolling what appeared to be a white smoke out of the exhaust (could have been from cold start but it seemed awfully excessive amounts of smoke) with a terrible gas smell that engulfed the garage. I put my hand on the exhaust to see if any oil was spewing out or anything and it wasn't at all. After he got it started, the car idled fine and about 5 minutes later the smell died down (but was still noticeable) and seemed to slow down on the smoke. I will add that the car has not been started since tuesday (its friday) and had sat for about a month before that. Also, it is about -10 degrees with the windchill here so I do not know if that has anything to do with the excessive smoke from the exhaust. The battery had been recently replaced according to him and I did not see any check engine light at all. I revved the engine slightly after about 5 minutes of the car running and there was no choking, rough idle, or any resistance to the rev climbing. What could potentially be the problem? At the point of all this we both agreed that the car should be looked at before we talked numbers. However, If I could have some knowledgeable enthusiasts or someone who has shared a similar problem chime in, that would be great. I did not take the car of for a test drive due to not wanting to be stranded or damage something worse. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

UPDATE: about 2 minutes into typing this, the guy texted me and said that he drove it after I left and added fuel injector cleaner with ice guard and that it drove well. I am not sure if that has anything to do with the problem, but figured I would throw that into the thread. With information from you people, I can assess if a) it is worth buying B) if it is going to cost a lot to fix if anything to fix

HOMECINEMA

With a 180,00klms ( 113,000miles ) on it , not started for awhile and subzero temps , go get it serviced and checked out first . How much does he want for it , if you don't mind me asking .

brainsurge

Get some new spark plugs, you never know how old they are.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

There could be lots of things causing that issue.

1) fuel pumps don't prime in newer cars

2) could have been blown head gasket or a host of other things

its worth it if you have the means to fix it and the deal is good enough.