I removed the spark plugs and coils one by one, and cleaned the plugs with brake cleaner and brush, and contacts with electrical contact cleaning spray. I also cleaned the MassAir FLow sensor while I was at it. It took a miassive amount of cranking and the X3 did finally start. I held the clutch in while the engine hard a time going above 500RPM. After about a minute or so, it shot back 1000RPM or so, and hummed merrily along.

I left the engine on for 5-10 minutes. Turned it off, waited for a minute, and started it again within 1-2 seconds without any hesitation this time.

We'll see how that goes. Maybe I hit a bad batch of fuel, or spark plugs which I changed 65,000Kms ago, are already fouled.

To be continued ...