Fuel injection part numbers

Hi all, first post on this forum so please excuse if I make any boo boos.
Recently bought a 1988 1/2 328 GTS lowish mileage - 17,000 and in v good condition. I love it however the only unexplained fault I have is with starting.

From cold it starts fine for a few seconds then the idle drops to a rough turnover say 5-600 rpm. After a few seconds more it picks up to a good idle at about 1000 rpm. This is annoying but ok. But then when its warm its often very reluctant to start and even giving a little throttle it'll get going but v rough on what sounds like about 4-6 cylinders. It will slowly recover once going and eventually return to regular idle. Its almost as if its flooded or running too rich - also very strong exhaust fumes.

Firstly, anyone have any idea what might be causing this? I have it booked in for a service and general check over next week at the new main agents here trouble is they cannot suggest what the problem might be and I don't want to get into an open ended trouble shooting exercise at their hourly rates. Other problem is of course that being a totaly new workshop they don't even have tools or manuals for my car yet - everyone has 360's or 430's here.

I did notice that the fuel distributor from Bosch has a part number of 0438100139 whereas it should be 0986438034 so someone has swapped this out in the past with the wrong (probably MB part)

The tech manager has suggested it might be gummed up fuel distributor, gummed up injectors, prob with the warm up regulator or cold start valve but I'd be grateful for any input from the group here. Advice seems to be pretty solid from what I've read in the past.

Thanks in advance


Mark Lintott

Taipei Taiwan