Well since the car isn't going in until th 29th I might as well try the fuel system cleaner.
Just got back from Halfords and bought myself a bottle of
Wynn's Forumla Gold High Performance Petrol System Treatment
I'll swing past the Shell Garage on the way home and fill up again, then plop this in the tank.
Be nice if it was as simple as this!
With regard to vanos vs. variable valve timing, it's my understanding that these are two completely different (yet related) things, which begs the question, which would you say is the most likely culprit based on the video evidence and the fact that the car has only done 34,000 miles?
I thought that this was probably unrelated but I also seem to get a noticeable amount of 'knock' (pinking / pinging) at low RPM under load (e.g. accelerating uphill).
Thanks for your suggestions thus far!