I am officially welcoming myself to the world of BMW ownership.  I just
purchased a 1992 325i E36.  The car will turnover but will not start, it was
very disturbing too look under the hood and see no battery I was amazed that
the car even turned over with no battery but alas a look in the trunk and
there it was...  Anyway there was a compression test done on the car and the
first 3 cylinders have basically no compression the last 3 seem to be ok.
When I turned the car over I did not hear any clacking or rapping noises it
didn't sound like anything had broken loose internally.  I am hoping someone
out there might have some insight into this.  I am trying to use some
logical deduction to make an educated guess at the problem but am going in
circles.  Here are some of my thoughts any insight would be truly
appreciated.

Valves could have 3 open valves, but find this stange all three would pop
open at once.  Could this be a broken camshaft?

Rings could be worn or shot rings but all 3 at the same time again not sure
if that is likely or not.

Head gasket?  Could it be leaking at these 3 cylinders only?  Seems to be
the most logical thought at this point.

Total meltdown the crankshaft could have sprung those 3 rods free and now
the pistons are not moving at all?

You can see my circular thought process here and I am not a mechanic only
trying to apply what I have been able to read.  Through hours of googling I
have not found a similiar scenario with no compression in multiple
cylinders.

Thanks!
Dan