97 318ti overheating hard start
 

I am new to the BMW 318ti but I am.having a problem I recently I overheated and pulled over waited until next day got the car home by driving it and I found it to be a leak in the water hose connector in the back of the cylinder head I have fixed this issue and now the car is very hard to start I have to hold the pedal to the floor when starting and I can smell gas when trying to start It will eventually start idle rough for a minute then I rev it up and it starts to run run really good like it always had been I pulled the plugs after running and they are dry and nice golden brown color it now is always hard to start after this overheating issue I am stumped as what it could be any help would be appreciated very much I have an m44 engine I replaced the thermostat and engine temp sensor on the head but it still is very hard to start but once it starts it runs really good and idles fine after a minute of revving I hope no major issues I am dealing with car has 225000 miles