1992 750il TransMode and EML indicators

I have had this car for about 2 years, it has around 170k miles on it. It has several intermittent problems, but 2 in particular are really causing me trouble.

The first is the eml indicator light. This comes on almost immediately when I start with the engine cold. There seems to be a lot of exhaust smoke associated with this condition and a loss of power. Once the engine is warm, approx 10 minutes of operation this light will go out, but not always. It appears to be getting worse over time.

The 2nd problem is the Trans Mode Program. This problem is also related to the car being cold and seems to be worse in the presense of the eml indicator. When the car is cold is has trouble shifting, sometimes if I baby it enough and really regulate the acceloration so that it shifts as smoth as possible I can get it to shift without triggering this. When this indator comes on I lose power big time and I must turn the car off, wait 30 seconds and then restart it.

I am not a mechanic, but I am open to fixing this myself if possible as taking it to a mechanic is going to break me eventually. I would like to get rid of the darn thing but no one seems to be interested in it :shakehead

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

- Kevin