Opps, many apologies Chaps,...yes, its been awhile,..just so you have not been waiting with baited breathe all these years,....I ended up selling the car to a mechanic for 2.5k for his wife,...unsure how it turned out.
Oddly enough, I reverted to the dark side and ended up buying a 2005 Mitsubishi Diamante VRX with 61K on the clock (and, would you believe it, '540' in the number plate!!) after having a good run with an earlier VR model. It was on special at a dealer for not much more than I paid for the BMW.
It has been nearly 3 years of completely trouble free motoring since.
NB: when I picked it up, I wondered if I had done the right thing,..it felt slighty 'tinny' and cheap inside as well as being noticeably noiser [and slower ;-)] - guess that was a part of why one was $145k new versus $49k...(although I had second thoughts about BMW build quality when the plastic lines to the windshield washer bottle split and had to be replaced,....they were hard and had just cracked from age but I thought why scrimp on material like that,..and what did that mean for what else was waiting in the wings....?
Still,...it was a beautiful car and I may well be tempted into the light again,....and I thank you all for your earlier support and assistance.