Rough starting
 

The X% 4.4 with 107,000 miles just started idling rough at start. It sorts itself out after a few minutes or application of throttle, but it scares me.

Any ideas?

Im at 115 and I am having that same issue, specially in the mornings after the car has been parked all night, you start it up and it sorta idles rough before it warms up. While its warming up i tend to check the mufflers in the back and they seem to be pumping and stopping repeatedly .... :/

get your plugs done yet?

To be honest know but can that be caused by faulty plugs? When you say plugs you mean Spark plugs right?

I didn't change them because to be honest i got the car at 112 and its at 115 now, so i didn't really look into changing them but could that be the cause of that issue? :/

Rough Idle
 

I just moved from NJ to NC and don't have a trustworthy mechanic yet, and in these economic times going to a new one can be scary.

I am going to look into plugs and have a guy take a look at it.

I also decided to buy a warranty. I am concerned, as this is my first automatic, that a trans issue is developing and I have heard I am in for a $7000 replacement if that becomes an issue.

Yeah, if you start to feel like thumps and hard down shifts like me then you should notice thats a sign of the trany giving issues. Im covered under 3rd party warranty myself with American Auto Shield. And I am getting my transmission replaced this monday gd willing.... :/

Found the cause....I think
 

I took the car to a shop in NC this morning and they said it was some vacuum hoses in the back of the engine that get cracked and worn.
The bill goes as follows:

Labor 6.5 hours $546
Manifold Cover $ 96
Manifold Hose $ 31
Manifold Gasket $79
Oil Seperator hose $5
Oil Return Hose $10 Total of $793

....and an Air Mass Meter $336


Thoughts?

All that for a ruff start? :/ look honestly if you have the money and the stealers can say for sure thats the cause then go for it i guess..

Reasonable assessment
 

I understood that the rough start probably had something to do with vacuum, o2 sensor, or the like because it went away once the vehicle warmed up. This isn't my 1st BMW and I have seen similar issues at higher miles before.

The mechanic is not a dealer. He explained quite thoroughly what is probably happening. He indicated what I will likely experience if this is not repaired..and funny enough I was already experiencing it.

This baby has given me many miles of trouble free operation. I am liable to be 600 miles from home on any weekend so I need the car to go when I need it to go. I just wonder if I can do it myself.

Hi My younger brother has 2001 x5 4.4i same prob but he has mil light on i scaned his x and it says o2 sensor i think thats what is wrong with it, if you have no mil light on try scaning it anyway may stored some codes it happeded with my 2001 4.4i e39.