Schaefft's Bargain Barge Extravaganza - £400 BMW E46 'Vert Acquired

[Schaefft]

With the rain on and off today I was doing a few quick jobs here and there. One of them was starting the Maserati for the first time this year!

I feel like I've neglected it a bit since the last Twixfest, it immediately thanked me by running like garbage. The code reader revealed misfires on the entire driverside bank of the engine. Fortunately that narrows things down very quickly. Fuel pressure was consistent with the passenger side rail (they are independent) so it could only be a cat (unlikely as the car runs fine for a few seconds, also turns out the pre-cats are already missing!) or the exhaust gas temp sensor monitoring the pre-cat temperature on that side (seemingly disabling all cylinders if it feels like it...).

On the ramp it went. Since the sensors, like everything on this car, are insanely overpriced I decided to swap the left side sensor with that on the right side. The wiring and connectors all looked decent at a first glance. Well, somehow just doing that has now fixed the problem entirely, no more misfires. Naturally that can only mean that the issue will come back in the worst moment possible but at least I will then know whether the fault has moved with the sensor.

With @Alan_Green being super helpful and having collected the new wheels for the car (I will aim to pick them up on my way back from Rustival) the Maserati should hopefully receive a little more attention soon. It needs an MOT as well so that'll need to happen asap. Fingers crossed its held together well enough to make it an easy one...

[big_al_granvia]

5 hours ago, Schaefft said:

I'd love a Fifth Avenue (almost any generation), in fact I'd buy the first last gen Imperial I could find in the UK if there were any around. The idea of an all out luxury boat based on the most humble of platforms really does intrigue me! Luxury Chryslers in general seem very left field to me. I'm still a bit miffed that the manual Maserati TC (by Chrysler) on Copart UK that somehow garnered some real interest (albeit exclusively outside of the UK...).

A Reatta would be another top buy, however owning what is basically a longer wheelbase variant with the Riv (almost identical interior and everything) I think the novelty wouldn't quite be there. At least I'd know the car inside out by the time the Riviera is on the road.

I thought the same, being a solid color it is a bit of a slap of bright green, I've already thought about how you could break things up slightly but with all of the trim and chrome untouched you'd have to go down the decal route without making it too boy racer (it's still an S-Type). Decals worked really well on Challengers and Cudas but it wouldn't be easy (or cheap) to pull it off on this one.

boy racer no, gt racer yes. thinking off white stripes from the twr touring car or even yellow. 

[MAF260]

On 05/04/2026 at 19:07, Schaefft said:

With the rain on and off today I was doing a few quick jobs here and there. One of them was starting the Maserati for the first time this year!

I feel like I've neglected it a bit since the last Twixfest, it immediately thanked me by running like garbage. The code reader revealed misfires on the entire driverside bank of the engine. Fortunately that narrows things down very quickly. Fuel pressure was consistent with the passenger side rail (they are independent) so it could only be a cat (unlikely as the car runs fine for a few seconds, also turns out the pre-cats are already missing!) or the exhaust gas temp sensor monitoring the pre-cat temperature on that side (seemingly disabling all cylinders if it feels like it...).

On the ramp it went. Since the sensors, like everything on this car, are insanely overpriced I decided to swap the left side sensor with that on the right side. The wiring and connectors all looked decent at a first glance. Well, somehow just doing that has now fixed the problem entirely, no more misfires. Naturally that can only mean that the issue will come back in the worst moment possible but at least I will then know whether the fault has moved with the sensor.

With @Alan_Green being super helpful and having collected the new wheels for the car (I will aim to pick them up on my way back from Rustival) the Maserati should hopefully receive a little more attention soon. It needs an MOT as well so that'll need to happen asap. Fingers crossed its held together well enough to make it an easy one...

Many/most electrical issues with Maseratis not in regular use relate to the battery - they are hyper-sensitive to any battery not in top condition. If you haven't had it hooked up to a trickle charger I would suggest starting with ensuring the battery is fully charged and holding a decent charge, then replacing if not. My cars presented me with all sorts of gremlins if not kept on trickle chargers.

[Schaefft]

1 hour ago, MAF260 said:

Many/most electrical issues with Maseratis not in regular use relate to the battery - they are hyper-sensitive to any battery not in top condition. If you haven't had it hooked up to a trickle charger I would suggest starting with ensuring the battery is fully charged and holding a decent charge, then replacing if not. My cars presented me with all sorts of gremlins if not kept on trickle chargers.

Its been an issue with two different batteries, with the same issue popping up last year while on the motorway. I bet its the sensor being on its way out but I might be able to get a little bit more use out of it before I become desperate and fork out actual money for a replacement. At least its easy to reach.

Quick update: As seen in the for sale section the Honda Legend is for sale!

Its a great car but I need to sell a few cars to allow me to jump on anything interesting in the future which there is always something coming up (ideally selling at a faster pace than buying!) and the Honda fulfills a similar purpose as many of my other (more unreliable) cars, its also in a very presentable state where I'm confident that it's future owner will be very happy with it.

The other car that has left was the parts donor E39:

It's always a shame to scrap a car that theoretically could have been fixed and returned on the road, especially when its a 528i. The previous headgasket issues made it uneconomical however, I've tried to sell the shell with drivetrain in place for just above scrap value, only to deal with absolute time wasters so the scrapyard got it in the end. There wasn't much of value left on it though, those parts will help many other E39s (including my two) stay on the road for longer.

The Mazda Xedos 9 is another car that will probably be put up for sale soon. I just haven't driven it enough to justify it staying, which is a shame considering how good of an example it is. I've replaced the snapped off radio aerial and diagnosed an intermittent misfire to a tired coilpack (just like on my other green V6 executive saloon (the S-Type)!), I'll rebuild the front calipers next and replace a droplink, after that it should be flying through an MOT hopefully!

The Phaeton (the other other green V6 exec saloon) continues to be an all-round excellent car. We took it to Carlisle on Monday, aside from paying £120 to almost fill the tank to full its just perfect for longer journeys.

I'm contemplating whether I should fork out 130 quid to replace the tired center caps on these VR6 exclusive 17 inch wheels (kind of a poverty option, but rare and understated which is the whole idea of the car) or hold out for a set of larger slightly more snazzy 19" Phaeton Omanyt alloys:

Or these W12 18" Aristoteles wheels:

Obviously there is a ride comfort sacrifice, they will be much more than 130 quid and I will lose an excellent set of Eagle F1 tyres. I think just writing this the decision seems to be an obvious one but I'm curious to see what people think.

[EyesWeldedShut]

7 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

Obviously there is a ride comfort sacrifice

Being an old git I'm all for the ride comfort these days - plus those VR6 wheels in the first picture are, to my 1,000% non-VW tuned eye, are utterly different to the other two options and much cooler - stick with those.

[Schaefft]

On 12/04/2026 at 20:46, EyesWeldedShut said:

Being an old git I'm all for the ride comfort these days - plus those VR6 wheels in the first picture are, to my 1,000% non-VW tuned eye, are utterly different to the other two options and much cooler - stick with those.

Yeah, I'm inclined to agree. It just seems to suit the unpretentious but tasteful vibe of the car.

Preparations for Rustival 2026 are underway, with the Cadillac being the chosen one! It's a 500+ mile roundtrip so what better car to take on that journey than a Cadillac! It also has a large trunk which will help hauling parts and a set of wheels on the way back...

I've done an oil change despite the last one only being about 2000 miles ago (which I must have completely forgotten about), at least time wise it was due. I replaced the oil pressure switch at the same time, I had an occasional flickering oil light once the engine was hot and just idling, after changing the oil I have the feeling that the viscosity of the oil might have been partially to be blamed as it just seemed really thin. As it turns out the switch was leaking internally anyway so it was certainly time. I've also refitted a misaligned rubber seal and attached the c-pillar Cadillac crest that must have gone missing at one point.

Done a test drive today, no issues so I think its ready to go! It's only the 2nd time I've taken it to any show (last one being Fotu '24 which kinda was on the way to Germany). I think the Cadillac might be the next car I'll put up for sale. The Chevy Caprice taxi kinda fulfills the same purpose and I haven't driven the Caddy in a while. Naturally all that might change once I've taken it to Rustival and back again but we'll see...

[Schaefft]

As many will have seen Rustival 4 was another success, the Cadillac had no trouble with the 500 mile round trip despite being parked up for the better part of the last 12 months.

I can now also claim that it's an award winning car as I did receive one (seemingly by default as other nominees weren't around) as Matt's (furious driving) pick of the show. I'm hoping to get him to come up here at some point and shoot a few videos, there's no shortage of unusual chod around here after all!

Part of the award was also the latest addition to the fleet:

Probably easier to own than my real Maser! Speaking of which, after 2 years of searching I finally found a set of later 19 inch wheels for it, thanks to Alan_Green once again for picking them up from the seller when both DPD and DHL failed, and bringing them to the show:

Also delivered to the show (thanks Grogee!) were the free Chevy Caprice parts that Andyrew collect for me late last year! As you can imagine parts for a Caprice aren't coming along very often and seeing them go to waste seemed criminal to me. They'll help restoring my own Caprice a little bit closer to original.

The 3rd GM product in my fleet received some minor tinkering today :

This piece of chrome trim needed new clips to have any chance of staying on there. Naturally the clips are unobtainium, yet the friendly Riviera owner once again was incredibly helpful in finding a pair in his garage. At long last:

I've also fabricated a blanking plate for the EGR valve, doesn't seem to massively help with making the car run much better (I'm starting to think old petrol) but it cuts out another potential air leak (I think).

More updates coming soon!

[yes oui si]

How much for the old wheels?

[Schaefft]

1 hour ago, yes oui si said:

How much for the old wheels?

I'm not sure yet, they wont be super cheap due to their rarity/Maserati/Ferrari specic bolt pattern but they will need a refurb. I have a 3rd rear alloy that needs welding as well.

I spent most of the day today rebuilding the front calipers on the Mazda Xedos 9.

(Actually done there already...) Normally I always prefer just getting replacement calipers as it's hardly worth the effort but with them hard to come by outside the US (where they sold reasonable numbers of them as Millenia) and Rockauto still having some strange issues with Russian steel content certification new seals and pistons were my only option. They sure needed them:

Still need to bleed them but this should be the only thing keeping it from getting through a test. I also noticed one of the CV joint boot clips just loosely hanging on the axle so good thing I spotted that!

I also ripped out the FM transmitter the last owner installed, the wiring just cluttered up the otherwise 100% original interior and I'll never make use of it anyway. Next couple of days will be nice and warm so I'll probably get back to the Riviera next.

[Schaefft]

Went for a test drive, feels like a new car with the brakes not stuck on!

I've also replaced the failing ignition coil, swapping positions only helped for so long. It's squeezed underneath the air to air intercooler, fortunately that's only held in by 3 bolts:

I reattached an interior light lens I found under the seat to the door card, I think at this point I only need to replace the delaminating rear reg plate before I run out of things to fix on it! It's obvious that it's been a well taken care of car for most of its life. Hopefully can get it booked in for a test soon as this is one I'm considering moving on!

No chance of running out of things to fix on the Riviera however. It's still running lean despite not being able to to find an air leak. I'm starting to think that the fuel filter is clogged up after running the tank loe, I get close to 40psi of pressure when the engine isn't running but only around 32 at idle/higher rpm. That's a little low even for these early 3800s. I really can't think of anything else at this point as MAF/o2 sensors are new, EGR blocked off, idle air control valve cleaned and no vacuum/intake leaks to be found.

I replaced the power steering pressure switch which seemed to be a source of a leak, hopefully it was since it's been a pain to get out of there:

I had to sit on top of the (unfortunately still hot) engine and reach down the firewall to replace it. The old switch is probably the original one, hard to tell:

While looking for the switch I also found the source of the knocking noise which I assumed to be a blown damper. Not quite:

The arb bushing somehow popped out of its bracket. I've pushed it back in for now, if I'm lucky this will calm down the bouncy nature of the front suspension a little. I still think it'll need struts and new bushings but we'll see. As soon as I get down to figuring out the lean running I think it'll be time for a pre-mot check.

[Schaefft]

The Riviera continues to irritate a little. Today's work done to get it to run less lean:

All vacuum lines replaced and system pressure tested.

All injectors removed and cleaned.

Air intake bolts retorqued and sprayed down with contact cleaner to find leaks.

Fuel pressure checked again.

Fuel filter feed disconnected to look for dirty soup (backflow was very clean)

Checked all spark plugs, most (!) show signs of lean/hot combustion.

And it's still running too lean! I don't quite understand how. There are no leaks in the vacuum system, no obvious air leaks around the intake manifold and throttle body. Despite being too lean the car doesn't like starter fluid sprayed into the throttle body. The pump pressurizes the system up to 40psi (41-47psi factory specs), the fuel pressure regulator does its job. It's a little low when running (32psi, should be slightly higher but it's also a cheap gauge) but it ran perfectly well at 30psi a month ago.

Unless I somehow massively disturbed something underneath the intake I cannot really explain what's going on, unless the idle air control valve is stuck open despite being clean (and does seem to regulate perfectly fine). The only strang thing I've found is the fuel sometimes seemingly bubbling when I open the Schrader valve (like it's carbonated, it's not boiling), I guess that could result in less fuel actually going into the engine but I don't know what could cause that? It could just be the valve itself causing it to appear that way.

I'm running out of things to test short of removing the intake manifold again. Here's a picture of what is underneath again, as far as I understand none of it should matter to the way it runs other than the gaskets around the intake ports?

You can see where it leaked before.

Since it also decided to shred it's accessory belts it's time to move on for a bit and deal with the next turd:

[Zelandeth]

I think reading the plugs on an engine that's not been under proper sustained load is always tricky.

Next things I'd check (or just test by substitution as I doubt they'll be expensive) would be coolant temperature and (if it has one) air intake temperature sensors.  If one or both of these are out of whack it will mess with the fuelling.  Wiring to them could also be suspect - and make sure the ECU itself has a good ground as if that gets noisy it can cause all kinds of nonsense.

Alternative thought - You're not losing spark are you?  Behaviour from a weak spark can feel all the world like fuel starvation.

I definitely didn't spend a couple of months and basically dismantle and rebuild an entire injection system before finding that I'd been given the wrong bloody rotor arm (which did work fine for about a week!) because Intermotor's bloody catalogue is wrong.

It ran fine on the rich mixture when cold, but after about ten minutes would initially stumble under load just like a carb car needing more choke, before getting worse and worse until the engine wouldn't run.

[Schaefft]

8 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

I think reading the plugs on an engine that's not been under proper sustained load is always tricky.

Next things I'd check (or just test by substitution as I doubt they'll be expensive) would be coolant temperature and (if it has one) air intake temperature sensors.  If one or both of these are out of whack it will mess with the fuelling.  Wiring to them could also be suspect - and make sure the ECU itself has a good ground as if that gets noisy it can cause all kinds of nonsense.

Alternative thought - You're not losing spark are you?  Behaviour from a weak spark can feel all the world like fuel starvation.

I definitely didn't spend a couple of months and basically dismantle and rebuild an entire injection system before finding that I'd been given the wrong bloody rotor arm (which did work fine for about a week!) because Intermotor's bloody catalogue is wrong.

It ran fine on the rich mixture when cold, but after about ten minutes would initially stumble under load just like a carb car needing more choke, before getting worse and worse until the engine wouldn't run.

Weak spark is a very high possibility as I've lost spark several times before from what I had hoped were loose connection between the (newish) ignition control module and coil pack. I was hoping those issues were gone but apparently they aren't, I bet the module is just junk! It failed a couple of times before already but usually allowed the engine to run perfectly fine several times. I wish I had a spare I could swap around to rule it out.

Are you sure it wouldn't more likely lead to fouled plugs due to incomplete ignition than what I'm seeing now? I had the car on the road and running for 30 minutes easily since changing the plugs so they should show a fairly accurate picture of what's going on. It very much feels like it's struggling on multiple cylinders, but not to the point where there's a constant and complete lack of ignition.

I can use the CRT to display pretty much all relevant ECU diagnostics parameters, including intake air temp, coolant temp etc. Those values seem reasonable, the o2 sensor very much complains about a lean exhaust once the MAF is plugged in.

[Bear]

The Buick is hinting that Northern air is too heady for it and it needs some nice steel-city adjacent pollution to breathe.

Given the length of time it was standing, how are the fuel lines and how much crud is in the pump and regulator?

I remain impressed with how far the Buick has come from where it started, really!

[J-T]

11 hours ago, Schaefft said:

The Riviera continues to irritate a little. Today's work done to get it to run less lean:

All vacuum lines replaced and system pressure tested.

All injectors removed and cleaned.

Air intake bolts retorqued and sprayed down with contact cleaner to find leaks.

Fuel pressure checked again.

Fuel filter feed disconnected to look for dirty soup (backflow was very clean)

Checked all spark plugs, most (!) show signs of lean/hot combustion.

And it's still running too lean! I don't quite understand how. There are no leaks in the vacuum system, no obvious air leaks around the intake manifold and throttle body. Despite being too lean the car doesn't like starter fluid sprayed into the throttle body. The pump pressurizes the system up to 40psi (41-47psi factory specs), the fuel pressure regulator does its job. It's a little low when running (32psi, should be slightly higher but it's also a cheap gauge) but it ran perfectly well at 30psi a month ago.

Unless I somehow massively disturbed something underneath the intake I cannot really explain what's going on, unless the idle air control valve is stuck open despite being clean (and does seem to regulate perfectly fine). The only strang thing I've found is the fuel sometimes seemingly bubbling when I open the Schrader valve (like it's carbonated, it's not boiling), I guess that could result in less fuel actually going into the engine but I don't know what could cause that? It could just be the valve itself causing it to appear that way.

I'm running out of things to test short of removing the intake manifold again. Here's a picture of what is underneath again, as far as I understand none of it should matter to the way it runs other than the gaskets around the intake ports?

You can see where it leaked before.

Since it also decided to shred it's accessory belts it's time to move on for a bit and deal with the next turd:

Have you checked the exhaust side for leaks? A leak at the manifold or cat joint will throw the O2 sensor out 

[Schaefft]

2 hours ago, J-T said:

Have you checked the exhaust side for leaks? A leak at the manifold or cat joint will throw the O2 sensor out 

I think disconnecting the MAF will also completely ignore the o2 sensor readings. I've even disconnected the o2 sensor to see whether it makes a difference, it doesn't. The car should run perfectly smooth with it out of the equation yet it doesn't so I think it's very much telling the truth.

[Brigsy]

Id be looking to resolve the low fuel pressure issue. Around 2bar is low for multi point injection.

[Schaefft]

27 minutes ago, Brigsy said:

Id be looking to resolve the low fuel pressure issue. Around 2bar is low for multi point injection.

It's a little bit low but not far off from where it should be according to the factory manual. I wouldn't be surprised if my crappy gauge is under reading too but even if that is the case, the car ran perfectly fine at 30psi which tells me that this isn't the problem.

[Zelandeth]

Can you get spark testers on a couple of the plugs to see if there's a consistent spark when it's playing up?  

The reported aeration of the fuel is something I missed reading last time.  Only real way that could be happening is it drawing air into the system at the pickup.  How much fuel is in the tank?  Wonder if sloshing another gallon or two in might be worth a shot.

Air in there would definitely upset the behaviour of the injectors I'd think.  

[warninglight]

Aeration could also be happening if you have a corroded pipe on the suction side of the fuel pump. You'll pull air into the petrol and not see any signs of a fuel leak. Had that before!

I'm not sure what the fuel system on these looks like, is there more than one pump? Where is the pump? If there's a pump near the tank just to push fuel to a higher pressure pump, I'd try a gravity feed straight into the high pressure pump.

[yes oui si]

The Xedos is such a good design 😍

[Schaefft]

7 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Can you get spark testers on a couple of the plugs to see if there's a consistent spark when it's playing up?  

The reported aeration of the fuel is something I missed reading last time.  Only real way that could be happening is it drawing air into the system at the pickup.  How much fuel is in the tank?  Wonder if sloshing another gallon or two in might be worth a shot.

Air in there would definitely upset the behaviour of the injectors I'd think.  

 

4 hours ago, warninglight said:

Aeration could also be happening if you have a corroded pipe on the suction side of the fuel pump. You'll pull air into the petrol and not see any signs of a fuel leak. Had that before!

I'm not sure what the fuel system on these looks like, is there more than one pump? Where is the pump? If there's a pump near the tank just to push fuel to a higher pressure pump, I'd try a gravity feed straight into the high pressure pump.

I've had a spark plug in one of the wires the first time I tried to start it beginning of May. Spark was quite irregular but at some point sorted itself completely (until it didn't want to work at all again). It really seems to be an all or nothing kind of issue. It's possible that it's now "poor or nothing". Unfortunately I have no way to replace the ignition control module with a know good one without throwing 120 quid of non-refundable parts at it 

Fuel pump is a simple in-tank pump that feeds into a line that goes into a hose before going into the hard line. No fuel leaks.

[Schaefft]

3 hours ago, yes oui si said:

The Xedos is such a good design 😍

It's probably going to be for sale soon!

Today was the day the £600 211k+ mile Biturbo V8 diesel A8 finally received some attention (not a sentence you'll often read, see reasons below).

After sorting it's power distribution issues earlier this year we quickly discovered that it needed a new abs pump. Fast forward a few months and I replaced it today:

Fortunately it's actually easy to reach and aside from a few lines on top and an awkward connector there's nothing too complicated about getting it out. The AC line right next to it didn't help though.

Coding it would be the much more complicated bit. I was able to follow a video from Ross-tech which specifically described the process in VCDS.

The Codierung number is the important one but it won't be of much help if you can't generate the oddly specific login credentials. Without them you won't be able to get into the coding mode of the abs module. I don't know why all of this needs to be so awkward.

Anyway, coding was successful, however to my shock I still had the same error (control module faulty), which was one of the reasons I had to order a replacement. Even after calibrating the steering angle sensor.

You'd also need to go through the brake bleeding procedure since I replaced the hydraulic valve block. I couldn't access that function either.

HOWEVER 

Once on the road EVERYTHING JUST FUCKING WORKED! No more error messages, no spongy pedal, no lack of abs, good stopping power. EVEN THE ELECTRIC PARKING BRAKE WORKS!!!

I don't know how any of this is possible but I'll take my win and will do my best to get it through an MOT before it changes it's mind!

I then noticed that the floor was all wet on one side...

The fuel return line (which is actually a fuel cooler in this car) started to leak. It was all too good to be true.

They collect dirt and rot out. A copper pipe it is then!

I move the Audi off the ramps after sorting that and noticed an oil puddle:

FML. There's an oil leak from the passenger side now. I initially thought it was the turbo's bottom oil line but tightening the bolts and cleaning the area revealed oil running down the turbo heat shield, so it must be coming from the top. The valve cover gasket doesn't leak nearly enough to run down the side of the engine and drip onto the turbo. It seems to slow down with the oil cap off (indicating excessive crankcase pressure pushing the oil out, so possibly a clogged PCV valve) and didn't drip much after a longer drive (engine still had oil in it!), so maybe it's self healing.

Oh, the airbag light has disappeared as well! That means that the mystery oil leak might be the last thing keeping this turd from passing an MOT, after about a days worth of work. Let's see when my luck with this big liability Audi runs out then...

[R Lutz]

I do not know how you have the patience for all this. I'd be scrapping the lot and buying a Corolla. Fair play to you, these threads amuse the hell out of me. 

[R Lutz]

17 hours ago, yes oui si said:

The Xedos is such a good design 😍

I can sell you a factory authorised book on the design if you like.

[Schaefft]

3 hours ago, R Lutz said:

I do not know how you have the patience for all this. I'd be scrapping the lot and buying a Corolla. Fair play to you, these threads amuse the hell out of me. 

You just need to lower your expectations from a car enough to count every repair as a worthwhile improvement!

Which is why I literally just bought this😂

£400 E46 convertible. And the roof works!😂

[Schaefft]

3 hours ago, R Lutz said:

I can sell you a factory authorised book on the design if you like.

If its this one, I already have two of them, naturally.

 

[Zelandeth]

On 25/04/2026 at 10:12, Schaefft said:

I think disconnecting the MAF will also completely ignore the o2 sensor readings. I've even disconnected the o2 sensor to see whether it makes a difference, it doesn't. The car should run perfectly smooth with it out of the equation yet it doesn't so I think it's very much telling the truth.

From memory because of how O2 sensors work, a lean condition will be reported if you're losing spark.  Because there is a bunch of extra oxygen there because it's not being burned.  It's just looking at the oxygen content in the gases passing over it, why it's there or not is beyond it.

It does seem like a strange one though!

I'd really be wanting to get spark testers on at least the three accessible cylinders to make sure you've got consistent strong spark there when it's acting up.  Though this really is a tricky one to diagnose remotely.  Heck, it would have me scratching my head with the car in front of me.

Having issues with a whole bunch of injectors at the same, all starting at the same time just seems unlikely.  A dead miss on one cylinder, sure.  Intermittent on a bunch, not so much.  

Vacuum leak seems unlikely.  I could see that causing issues at idle, but something big enough to really affect things at higher revs and under load would need to be big enough that you'd have clear signs from the outset - the thing would be idling at 2000+rpm and you might well even be able to hear it.  You've pressure tested the system anyway and a big enough leak to be causing you major issues surely would have shown up then.

Between the symptoms and fact that you've had ignition issues before that's just where my head is leaning.

Other left field thing which is kinda thinking I'd maybe want to look for on something of this age (assuming it's still there) would be a potentially clogged/collapsed catalytic converter.  Especially on a car that's had ignition issues which might have ended up melting it.  Not really sure how you'd check that though.

[big_al_granvia]

2 hours ago, Schaefft said:

You just need to lower your expectations from a car enough to count every repair as a worthwhile improvement!

Which is why I literally just bought this😂

£400 E46 convertible. And the roof works!😂

drift taxi

[R Lutz]

4 hours ago, Schaefft said:

If its this one, I already have two of them, naturally.

 

Thats the one. I heard their collective price increases exponentially the more you have.