intermitant engine prob

hi all
I just bought myself a 1998 735 yesterday. drove it home (80 miles) problem free, then went to shops, i was only gone 5 mins max before returning to car. it took several attempts to start but then ran fine. got up this morning and the engine started instantantly with no problems i moved the car a few hundred metres and then switched of engine.(washed car) after about 1 hour i got back into the car and started it, the engine idled for a few seconds then cut out, i tried restarting but the same thing happened about 10 times, i eventualy got it running but there is miss-fire and its only running on maybe 6 cylindrs.

can anybody give me some advise on what to check for pleeeeeeeease.
any info would be very much appreciated.
thanks guys
nick
oh no faults displayed on dash either?

hi all
I just bought myself a 1998 735 yesterday. drove it home (80 miles) problem free, then went to shops, i was only gone 5 mins max before returning to car. it took several attempts to start but then ran fine. got up this morning and the engine started instantantly with no problems i moved the car a few hundred metres and then switched of engine.(washed car) after about 1 hour i got back into the car and started it, the engine idled for a few seconds then cut out, i tried restarting but the same thing happened about 10 times, i eventualy got it running but there is miss-fire and its only running on maybe 6 cylindrs.

can anybody give me some advise on what to check for pleeeeeeeease.
any info would be very much appreciated.
thanks guys
nick
oh no faults displayed on dash either?since this morning i have removed all spark plugs and checked the condition. all of them were black, however there was no oil on them. i cleaned plugs and refitted them, tried to start car but still no change. after about 12 attemps to start it actually started running. i drove it around the block a couple of times, and now it seems fine again.
im now even more puzzled than before.
any info on what to check, or if you can tell me if there are any sensors or wiring that is common to malfuction on these cars, i would be very gratefull.
thanks
nick

I would try a realy good tune up and running a fuel treatment additive through the fuel system. BTW- I don't think they made 735 after 92 and the 735 are a inline six cylinder engine. Do you mean a 740?