Tech question...engine miss

[Michael <mike5635@xxxxxxxxx>]

Help would be appreciated!

I have a 1990 535i with about 135,000 miles on it.

Several weeks ago, the engine had been missing, and I
replaced the plugs wtih Bosch platinum.  Seemed to
work fine.  My brother-in-law was driving on the
expressway through Chicago, and all of a sudden the
engine started missing BIG TIME!  He made it home, but
it is really ragged.

Here's what I did, assuming sudden things are usually
simple:
 - looked for sparking in engine compartment, found
    none.
 - looked at old distributor cap and rotor, which are
   really worn...replaced these.  No luck, still
   missing.
 - Checked spark plug wires with an inductive LED
   thingie, to make sure wires okay...everything okay.
 - Pulled plugs to find #1 seems to get oily fast (did
   this several times to be sure, swapped out old (few
   weeks) plug for brand new, and swapped with #2 
   plug. Still looks oily.

 - I plan to start checking compression, thinking
   maybe valve guide, but I think I'm missing
   something obvious.  It seems like the timing might
   be off (didn't check that yet, don't have the right
   tool right now except to do a static).

Questions:
 1.  What is that slightly oily plug telling me?
 2.  Did I miss something obvious?
 3.  Am I an idiot...er.....

Any comments appreciated, or at least endured!

Michael in Gurnee
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