urgent 190e 16v help required: conked out on the motorway!!!

[Uk Merc Man]

not good.......not good at all.

car has performed faultlessly for ever....had a full servicer about 3000 miles ago with cap/arm/leads/plugs/oil/fiter/etc...

started it after work, on the button - as always. got to a roundabout 3-4 miles away...brake, clutch in, revs to 1000 - fine. go to pull away and it bogs down a little, i guess i didnt give it enough gas - n0 biggie.....i stop again, rev the engine, its fine, i pull away.......as i pull away and accelerate in 1st...it feels weird, underpowered as if its missing/struggling for breath...

i continue to drive through the gears, its starting to loose power.....a couple small back fire type noises.....it dies on me (!!!!!) i managed to roll into a layby. very similar feeling to running out of fuel.....(there is plenty of fuel!)

i get out - PISSED (the car has NEVER broken down before!) i check....fuel pump making noise with ignition on - fine. fuses in OVP - fine. i then took of one of the fuel lines to the injectors from the fuel distributor end, ignition on, no fuel coming out....is this normal - i thought it would have come out at a rate once ignition was on? the fuel pumps seems to be priming when you first switch the ignition on.......could it be the fuel pump relay?

so please - i need ideas - FAST!! its my only transport and i am in trouble without it!

at the moment i am leaning towards a fuel pump relay but would have through that the fuel pumps wouldnt have made any noise if it was this?

i also checked all the fuses in the fuse box - they alll seem fine - verything else on the car seems fine, it cranks and sounds fine, but no sign of life.....i'm convinced its fuel but could well be wrong...

help me.....PLEASE!

its a 1990 UK 2.5 16v non cat.