I have an 83 bmw that turns over but won...

does the ign.coil have spark coming out of coil wire? check the neg side of the coil with a test light and see if the light flashes when the engine is cranked over.if no flashing light the points in the dist. may be closed and need to be filed and adj. if you have a solid state ign. in the dist. the pick-up may be the problem. check some of the foreign car suppliers on line you may find a dist.and yes you shoud have a dist.that is what holds the ign. rotor and dist. cap.i hope this was helpful.

try to locate the crank position sensor.should be on the front of the motor.