Rough Start/Idle Problem
 

I have been having this problem with my 3.0 X5 the last few times I started it. The car is now a garage queen. It is not a daily driver and I drive about once a week. It is in great shape.

When I start it for the first time in awhile, it is real rough for about 2-3 seconds. Occasionally it will die. Then it idles at about 1200 for a few seconds, and then it is normal. I drive it and it warms up and the problem does not show again until the next time I start after sitting for a week.

Anybody seen this before? My thoughts are it may be fuel related. I have never changed the fuel filter. I rebuilt my DISA only a few thousand miles ago, so I doubt that is it. Is there an idle control valve on these? I know the throttle body is it second.

It is normal for the engine to initially idle higher. Assuming it is higher than normal it could be an issue with the idle control control valve but I wouldn't be buying parts yet. If you have a way to check codes there may be an error code that helps finds the problem. As you have described the problem, it doesn't sound like a low fuel pressure issue to me. Are there any other symptoms such as loss of power, missing or fluctuating idle?

The high idle doens't bother me, it is really the low sputter and almost die for the first 2 seconds. Once the engine is running there are no other problems and I have no codes.

If it does this after the engine has been sitting for a while, you could have a leaky injector(s). That cylinder(s) could be flooded and it take a while for it to clear up. You could attach a fuel gauge to the fuel rail and observe how long it takes for the pressure to go down.

If it is a leaky injector(s), get it fix or else you will be replacing the CATS when they melt due to the extra gas.