engine trouble

Hi all,

I've recently bought a '91 BMW 735iL (e32). The car's been performing reliably up until today:

The car was parked at the airport and hadn't been driven in 3 days. It started first time but was idling very rough. Things got worse when I started driving it: I would lose all power on several occasions, especially when accelerating (or trying to accelerate) (Generally, the loss of power would be accompanied by a 'sputtering' engine. Releasing the accelerator pedal tended to bring the engine back to normal, be it a 'rough normal'). Things got a bit better as time went on and after ca. 15 minutes all symptoms had dissappeared. I've driven a total of ca. 150 km with it since and it has been fine (including a few short stops w/ engine off).   The longest I've left the car before today is maybe 12 hours and I definitely have the feeling that the long rest at the airport has something to do with it. It's worthwhile noting that temperatures here are between 27 and 32 degC, so a real 'cold' start never really happens.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be the problem here? I was planning to get it serviced and checked out soon, but the garage is long way away so it would be good to get a hint of what might be wrong.

Thank you.

Wessel

My standard response to tjhis is "Start looking at stuff that is Zero or very cheap to fix"

(1) Spark plugs (2) Ignition leads etc. (3) Air lines - look for leaks (4) Give the Air flow meter, Idle Control Valve a good squirt with Carb cleaner.  Remove the big intake pipe off the Throttle body, squirt cleaner into there too.....ensure the butterfly moves as smooth as wet silk!  The flap in the Air Flow meter should be very smooth too.