No more high idle, strange noises, weird

[dtmracerx]

Hey guys, looking for thoughts as I tear into my 02 325Ci.

Recently I have noticed a few, what i consider, odd things with the car.
Since getting cold this winter (It is parked outside probably half the time, for what its worth) the car has had a couple of occurrences where it floods when trying to start. Ihad been blaming it on the girlfriend starting the car at night and pulling it into the garage and shutting down right away, but the last time it happened it started normally and then just idled down and died.
I did a very extended flood clear start and it finally coughed to life while smoking out the garage.

Another odd thing: The car no longer goes to a high idle after a cold start. It just coughs to life and goes straight to 800ish RPM.

Some mornings the engine has no power when I go to take off. Almost feels like either a dead coil, no gas, or as I have been thinking lately- too much gas. Sometimes right after starting or when I got to take off it feels like a misfire or lack of fuel. Never throws a CEL.

I also have a mystery growl once the car starts. To me it sounds like my E36 water pump did right before it failed, except that the noise seems to be coming from under the intake manifold. Alternator bearings perhaps? If I had a voltage gaugeIwould know if the thing was at least at the right voltage, thanks a lot BMW!

Last but not least- I was driving into town the other day on a rather blustery snowy evening and the lights on the dash indicating a bulb is out started randomly going on, then off, then a different one.
When I got to the NAPA in town all of the lamps were working but the side marker lamp on the passenger side stayed lit until I locked the car with the fob, it then illuminated again when I unlocked the doors with the key fob.

This last one had me completely puzzled and I have not had it return as of the time of this typing.

So here is my thoughts:
Coolant temp/air temp sensors bad? Car does not think it is as cold/is colder and therefore is not injecting correct amounts of fuel?
Alternator is shot causing growling noise, weird lights, and possibly even poor running: My only reason for not believing this last one is that it has never given me any grief when cranking/using starter. The starter always sounds healthy and fast.

My current path: Replacing fuel filter, air filter, spark plugs as part of regular maintenance. Will be running whatever kind of test on coolant temp sensor as is in the Bentley. Not sure what there is for air temp sensor that feeds DME, I assume that comes from the MAF?

Give thoughts guys!