Engine Problems

[Tim <jaeih@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this digest, so bear with me til I get the hang
of it. :)

I recently bought a 1979 320i, when i bought it, it "ran", but now it
will not. I changed the cap and rotor, plugs, wires, and ait filter. and
now I am completely stumped as to why it will not start. When you try to
crank the engine, it act like it will start, but then gasoline (smells
half detonated) shoots out these two little blowoff valves at the top of
the engine. I've tried everything, I had the battery charged for 2
hours, I even tried jumping. At first I thought it was the coil, but the
plugs are sparking normally. Another thing it might be, when I first got
the car, I had someone play with the battery a little, and since either
BMW is backwards, or the previous owner is stupid, the battery cables
are backwards, black is positive, red is negative, and when the battery
was in, the alternator didn't like it at all, it started smoking. also,
before the battery was charged we tried jumping the car with the wires
connected to the cap in the wrong order, but since we didnt know about
the reverse cables, it didnt crank at all. So I come to you guys, no one
else can figure this mytery out...

Tim
'79 320i

------------------------------