E39 528- Rough idle on cold start...white smoke from exhuast

[sparks_E39]

My car seems to suffer from a rough idle on a cold start, its not too jumpy just very slight and literally after a minutes driving its fine, doesn't even have to be at correct engine temperature (needle half way), if I drive it a little way down the road it idles perfectly. Also sometimes, usually only when the car is driven on short journeys white smoke is emitted from the exhaust. I have checked the oil colour, it seems normal and I don't notice any misfire or power loss although I'm no mechanic... Anyone else had this? The majority of my journeys tend to be quite short, engine is always up to temperature around 5 minutes into journey. Also MPG seems normal at the moment, just done a 380 mile trip over two days 80% motorway driving, 34 mpg average. In four months and 5000 miles I haven't needed to add any oil or top up the coolant, which apparently is normal.

Car is a 1999 528i SE auto with 112k.

[LMC]

During the recent really cold spell, mine (330) clattered like a tractor on start-up a couple of times. Just for about 3 seconds or so, enough to make me jump I tell you ! I reckon it was just because the oil is so thin its like pissy water and the top end is completely dry when its been sitting all night.

As for the white smoke, when I've been driving like a granny (like I was for a few weeks after plod caught me at 94mph) I get that, sometimes when I start up, sometimes when I open it up and put the boot down. And I'm talking about a huuuuge big plume, like something out of a James Bond movie ! Then its gone.... I think it is just condensation clearing. No fluid loss except for the usual oil loss every month.

Now I don't know if any of this applies to your car but it might, and if so, don't worry too much.

[sparks_E39]

Started fine this morning, Idled around 1000 rpm for a minute, stayed there until I moved off and when I stopped at a junction about 1/4 of a mile later it was idling at its normal pace, around 7-800. This evening after returning to it after leaving it for 9 hours it started fine again, but every so often it would seem to rev itself and the idle would hover between 800-1200 rpm, not a lot of white smoke this time. I put it down to t e cold weatehr initially, but I'm sure this isn't right...