Here's one for you experts out there. I recently overhauled my 88 740 after severe overheat. New pistons/rings, bearings, seals, valve job, head resurfaced, oil pump, etc. Was very careful to make sure all timing marks lined up and installed distributor with rotor pointed at #1 with timing marks lined up and #1 at TDC.

Problem is I can't get the engine to start. I checked all possibilities I could see on FAQ, fuel pump, FPR, injectors, ignition. Plenty of fuel in tank, fuel at rail. There is spark at the plugs, plugs are wet when pulled. I managed to get the engine running a couple of times by turning distributor while cranking (had to go way advanced, continue to motor starter while it limped to start, then retard timing fully to the stop to keep it running). Once started, I checked timing with a light. Timing at 750 rpm was around 10 degress AFTER TDC...the distributor was completely to the stop and could not be turned further to bring the mark back to the proper timing. A slight throttle increase to about 900 brought the timing back to nearly 12 BTDC where it should be.

Now the thing won't start no matter how much I monkey with the distributor. Once in a while one cylinder would catch, but that's about it. I laid the #1 plug on the valve cover and cranked the motor. The plug seemed to fire about three or four times per cam shaft rotation. The whole thing just seems to strange to me so I'm turning the the board for help.