325is running poorly sometimes

[Sonic]

Hi all, new to the board, seems like there is alot of good knowledge here.

After a long string of Hondas, I recently picked up my first BMW, an 88 325is. Body and interior are MINT, and it was cheap. The car has been doing reasonably well in DS on a local level, but it has some issues I need to clear up. I'll just ramble on about what it does, and hopefulyl someone will have an idea. Car has 127k miles, cyl head is new, recent tune up, fairly even and high compresion on all 6. Valves are adjusted properly, and the idle control valve is new.

Usually it starts up fine, but on occasion, sometimes when warm and sometimes when cold, it will not start unless seriously encouraged...like 3 tries, sometimes with the gas floored. Other times it will just idle rough at first, but smooth out eventually. The idle also seems a bit high, and the exhaust smells of sulfur frequently.

The car doesn't seem to make as much power as it should above 4500 RPM. It really dies off, and you have to really try to get it up to 6, wher eit doesn't seem like it wants to be. Lower RPMS are great with lots of torque, but it falls on it's face up high.

Also, the tach doesn't work on occasion, but I'm going to try replacing the cluster batteries for that.

The next thing I will try is the fuel filter, as I have no odea of it's condition.

Thanks in advance for the insight!

Chris

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

Sounds like you may need to replace the O2 Sensor. My car did the same thing prior to chenging out the sensor, particuarly the sulphur smell and power curve dying off.