Sausage

They do look nice in black or anthracite.

Dirty air filter, coolant temp sensor (makes ecu run richer map), binding brakes, squishy tyres, too many gold bars in the boot. Any smoke? What colour? What does it smell of?

Could be worn ignition switch, try varying pressure and angle on key as you turn it and see if it makes a difference. My 1.4s got random on starting (but didnt cut out while running which i half expected it would) would crank and not start, then became a chore to get dash lights to come on with key, needed sweet spot with key angle and pressure to start it and that quickly became very rare to achieve. New ignition switch fixed it. The tank pump should always push fuel up unless the pressure is already high enough.

If you have eliminated electrical and injectors, then that leaves mechanical like bent conrod, cracked liner, piston, head, valves not opening enough etc. It seems as soon as any heat gets in it it misfires. Maybe run it for a few minutes if it seems safe to do so and then do a compression test when it still has some heat in it. Is the misfire at idle or only when some revs come on? Any rattle from cams or elsewhere?

How low was the oil?

My thoughts were if that is from rust then the car is ****ed, rear beam, sills etc wont be far behind. Seaside cars always rust more, on a tiny island it has very poor odds. Edit: ok IOL it's several times bigger than IOW I know nothing about geography lol. Best ask the seller if it is cracked, bent or rusty.

New or second hand? Get coil overs, at least you can adjust them and more people want them if you want to sell them.

Running out of fuel would misfire and then stop not just cut out dead I would think. Pull fuel pipes off filter and see what happens with ignition on, lift pump should chuck it out as there is no pressure. It sounds electrical but is it turning over normally, chuffing or slow? make sure it mechanically turns over by hand 2 revolutions. Any fault codes?

I've wondered what mazda mx5 daisy wheels would look like, maybe of it was lower they might be ok, but they look pretty horrible at that ride height and need spacers. A proper remap is miles better than some plug in do da that fools the ecu on a couple of parameters.

feel the carpets below heater matrix, the smell is probably antifreeze / coolant. Passenger foot well and tunnel area dont think it is in the middle. Revs could also be coolant related if the sensors are in air etc.

Dont think there's an oil cooler on these is there the filter goes straight in the block? HG can fail in several ways so oil in water doesnt need to be misfiring. Look around edge of HG for oil or water weeping etc. or could be a crack somewhere block or head allowing them to mix.

Are the hinge mountings on the pillar angled for rear access to the nuts? Because it seems like silly design that makes it more awkward. Edit: ok photos above make it look worse than it really is, but still a flatter angle would have allowed tools past the wing edge.

Looks like a complete ball ache. So it looks like you need a short bit otherwise the wing edge is in the way even with the door removed from the hinges.

Put your fingers on or near the joins and clamps, feel around the back as well with the engine running, you will feel it if it is blowing and where from.

No mot, knackered gearbox (which is the high value item on this car), your pricing is very optimistic.

If this was a recurring problem not fixed by a bit of wiring then we would all understand your chosen path (although there are cheaper options already outlined for you in this thread that you seem keen to avoid for some reason). Chances are it is already fixed but you wont drive the damn thing to find out. 🙄

You are still throwing money at a problem that hasnt been confirmed. Your replacement ecu will "fix" the problem and you will think your mechanic is the greatest to walk the earth, but as you wont just drive it as it is now to find out if the problem is fixed or not you will never know if the £££s you have chosen to spend have been a waste or not. Most limp modes can be reset by turning the ignition off and back on again, so unless it is happening very often it isnt the end of the world.

I'm also in the leave the bump strips on camp. Plenty to go wrong removing them especially if they have been glued on, reattached, sprayed over etc. I watch a lot of UK dash cam footage on youtube. It is educational. Most of the cammers are useless drivers, too aggressive, no awareness, no idea on road position or able to read what others are likely doing or going to do, straight to the horn instead of avoidance, no toleration of others mistakes and most of the time creating their own incidents. They upload the footage of others apparent poor driving seemingly without realising that they are usually the problem. Learn defensive driving instead. (rant over).

how much did it end at this time?

Mine doesnt have abs. Maybe old hard pads or glazing? It had black diamond disks on but currently running standard stuff. Forgot to say: My brakes were initially crap, utter shite when i got the car, MOT passable but rubbish. Seized piston slider and old hard pads. Brakes are miles better now with used (from the red tdi) standard disks and pads and brakes that work properly.

I have the kit in a box, never seen the need to upgrade though so maybe your brakes and suspension arent working too well?

Who's done it / doing it? You could always buy a mpps lead and copy the file from arosa to lupo mind.

At the front right hand corner of the engine.

You've been missing out big time.

OK fixed. I did wonder and it turned out to be correct: Passenger door window motor disconnected over the winter as window wouldnt go back up without assistance so rather than it packing up down I unplugged it. So that was linked in to the sunroof wiring so with it disconnected there the sunroof wouldnt work. Fixed door regulator today and sunroof motor back in and working which is a result.