Its a 2000 facelift S8... can't remember the engine code off hand.
I'm guessing the drain plugs have been blocked earlier in the cars life resulting in water getting at the ECU. Its annoying cos I'm really on the ball at keeping them clear since I've had it.
Whilst waiting for recovery it did start on one occasion,ran for about 5 seconds then died again. With my electronic mind that just shouts dry solder joint to me, some kind of intermittent contact. My garage are going to get it out and try rebooting/reprogramming it but if that fails I'll have a look myself and see if there's any obvious pcb damage/dry joints/blown components etc
Cheers for the offer tho mate - You wouldn't happen to know if the ECU is different between models then would you ?, Would there be a difference between the FL A8 4.2 ECU and the FL S8 4.2 ECU ??