Land Rover Repair: 97 Discovery I struggles to start, once a day, computer fault, upper cylinder

Question
My 97 Discovery coughs, splutters and takes 2-3 twists of the key to start,
but only the first time every day.  No matter how many more times in the day
I start it up, no problems.  Battery is 2 years old, plugs 1 year old.  No prior
experience of this problem.  Is this likely a plug wire/distributor issue (all
original, I think), a dreaded computer fault, or something else?  I fear the
$1,000 trip to my dealer!  Thanks, J.

Answer
There is no distributor on this model.  From your description it sounds like you may have leaking injectors with a porous spray pattern, poor ignition, e.g. wires or plugs, or sticking inlet or exhaust valves.  I would recommend new plug wires, spark plugs and an air filter.  I would also put fuel injection cleaner in the gas tank and do a chemical upper cylinder de-coke