e36 m3 cold start surging problem solved!

[John Pease <john_pease123@xxxxxxxxx>]

Many thanks to Peter Mueller and Sarelius Sami for their suggestions.
With their help, I was able to solve my cold start surging problem. I
know you all are dying to to know what caused it, so here goes:

A bad connection to the K6300 engine control relay! The relay socket
was not holding the #87 power output terminal correctly. This relay
powers the idle control valve, Vanos, the O2 sensor heaters, air flow
sensor, fuel pump relay, and a few other items. I'm really surprised
the car would start at all. I found the problem  by checking the
voltages at the idle control connector. There was no +12 (hence no
buzzing when the relay contact failed). I also noticed the relay was
making the correct noises so I knew the relay coil was getting
voltage. By the way, can anyone tell me how the idle control valve
works? Why is there a several second delay between turning the
ignition off and the engine control relay shutting off? 

In digest #717 I wrote

For those of you who enjoy a good automotive mystery:
My 318 with 95 m3 drivetrain has gone from stating perfectly every
time to doing something really weird. CLUE #1
When everything is fine, I will turn the key, hear a buzzing sound
under the hood, and have the engine start very quickly.
When things are weird, I will turn the key, hear no buzzing sound, and
have to crank the engine 2 or 3 times for about 15 seconds to get it
started. Thenthe idle surges from 1 to 3k for about 1 minute.CLUE #2 
This never happens after I start the car with the engine warm. It only
happens ( and not all the time) after the car has been parked
overnight, parked for a few hours on a cold day, or after a successful
cold start and a short drive to get more Rolling Rock. In N Cal. it
hasn't gotten below freezing yet so I hope it won't get worse as the
temperature drops. Performance, and fuel economy continue to be good.
Please let me know what you think. I will post results when I get to
the bottom of this.
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