Hi,
I've read quite a few posts relating to my situation, but none with the exact symptoms I'm experiencing, so here goes:
About 2 weeks ago, my wife's '95 850 (115K miles) wouldn't start in the morning. The car just kept cranking, but wouldn't start at all. No blown fuel pump fuse; no unusual weather, plenty of gas (3/4 tank). She drives the car daily, as well and I must admit that the check engine light is on and has been for several months. Shouldn't we take it somewhere to read the codes? Sure, but due to scarcity of finances, we haven't been able to take it to a shop. With that in mind, I starting delving the board and found that the fuel filter, pump relay or pump itself would be the most likely culprits, so I planned on going from least -> most expensive in parts replacement. First, I checked the fuel pump relay by removing the outer housing and inspecting the solder joints, etc. No visible signs of excessive heat or poor soldering joints at all; the thing looks new. I plugged the relay back in and thought to try starting it, just for kicks and whatdaya know, it started right up. I took it for a drive and it ran great; no loss of power, no rough idle, nothing of the sort. I planned on replacing the fuel filter anyway as a matter of relatively cheap maintenance. About a week and a half went by (I had the new fuel filter, but hadn't had time to install it yet) and my wife had been driving it daily, and the car did nearly the same thing but this time at the school parking lot. Let me qualify nearly - it would fire up a little, but choke off and sputter and die. Again, plenty of fuel. I unplugged the fuel pump relay for a few minutes and re-installed it, but no luck; it just kept cranking without starting. We had it towed back home and the next day I replaced the fuel filter. No luck, the car would not start.

The weekend passed and I was going to order a fuel pump and fuel pump relay this morning, but I went out and tried to start the car and sure enough, it started without any problem. I then ran it hard up and down the highway without any problem at all. No sputtering, normal operation. So after all, really what I want to know is:

1. If the fuel pump is bad, would it behave in this manner?
2. If the fuel pump relay is bad, the pump shouldn't work at all, correct?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions,
JMC.