My car misfires

When I turn on my car, it idles rough and I try to give it a little gas but when I step on the gas pedal the motor does not respond. When the car is finally warmed up the idel goes up to normal which is right under 1 RPM. A frined of my told me to idel the car at 4000 RPM to check the cats but I could not get it up to 3000 RPM. The idel kept going up and down up and down while I was pressing on the gas, then the car misfired a couple of times. I did notice when I was driving, I could not get it to move more than 20 mph and my check engin light was flashing. I have looked for vacuum leaks and I have found nothing. Could it be the AMF or the throttle body. Anybody got any ideas? Thank You for your help.

Sounds like a vacuum leak. Vac leaks are hard to find without smoke test. You can take apart the intake boots and look for a tear. If you find nothing, take the car to an indie who is a BMW expert and get a smoke test.

Originally Posted by Gootz4u

I could not get it to move more than 20 mph and my check engin light was flashing.

The flashing amber check engine light indicates that expensive damage will be done to the vehicle emissions devices.

I myself have never encountered a flashing check-engine light - but I would take it seriously if I were in your shoes.

At the very least, I'd invest $25 in a scanner.
- Cheapest CAN OBDII scanner on the net that reads DTCs, pending codes, & clears codes



In addition, the OP needs to read this thread:
- How to diagnose a BMW E39 engine misfire (1) & a cold-engine intermittent misfire (1)