A lovely well written post. My wife and I had a similar experience on the M5. Our car did not stop, just a dramatic loss of power. Wife consults the handbook, says "There is an explanation for a power station cooling tower with a lightening flash going through it...it is etc. etcetera!" In my case it was a split air duct to turbo rubber ring (Chrysler rubber goods are very poor and prone to perishing). Now hear is the rub... I was quoted £475 parts and labour to fix it at the Oxford Main dealers who supplied the car. I small independent did the job for £50. The rubber rings are the same as a Mercedes Sprinter van £16 the pair sold as an individual part. Chrysler UK only service the whole intake/attenuator system (£285 + VAT.) The owner experience went down hill from then, Beru glow plug controller failure frying the plugs (replaced with NGK items), and an MOT failure by the Chrysler main dealer for "split" suspension bushes, they had just been replaced with the revised scalloped out (pre split) type. The final straw was when the bolsters on the front seats biodegraded into shards of brittle plastic. The bolsters are trimmed in cheap "nuagahide" a nasty poor quality rexine. Chrysler refused any liability and wanted over £400 + vat each for front cushion covers. Nice car but it had to go. Strange thing is I really miss it!
