[AdrianH]

I was using the MB over the weekend, running down to Poole etc, all running sweetly until I came to drive home Sunday morning. Hiccupped a couple of times on start up, and then misfiring all over the place under load. Trundled back to Mum's place and called the RAC, didn't fancy getting stranded in the middle of nowhere. As usual, start worrying about all the things it could be – Coil? WUR? Cold start injector playing up? Some sensor on the blink? Metering head? Any or all of the other expensive things? Was fully expecting a flatbed home then a call to Dialynx.

RAC man turns up, asks if it's been parked outside. Yes. Checked the distributor cap? Errr.. no. There's your problem he says, confidently. Hmmm... I thought. But sure enough, off with the dizzy cap and it's filled with condensation, because of the super-damp weather. Dried it out, off I went engine running beautifully.

Last time I had that problem was with a GT6 in about 1995. It's easy to forget these simple things are usually the cause of problems, and that despite it seeming so modern, the urQuattro is still just like many other old cars. So, lesson learned.