I set about removing  the old ht lead on my 2000 315, with the intention of replacing it. It was difficult to twist off at the coil end. Assuming it had been siliconed in, I gave it a good dose of brute force and it broke. It looks like the lead was glued into the coil. Before I spend many more hours of my life trying to poke the bits out, does anyone know if the lead and coil were a one piece assembly and I'm wasting my time, or is it a conventional reusable item with a screw probe that winds in to the ht lead ?

Thanks for the idea Mr.Nou ! Unfortunately, the probe had broken off (it is thinner with a finer thread than the plug cap one), so looks to be beyond repair. Hopefully a replacement and new ht lead will end the reluctant cold starting and intermittent playing up which has been getting annoying.

Theres a coil and lead on Ebay