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My automotive life project
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Recent posts
2000 miles across Europe in my 30 year old BMW - our last big film of the year is now live and ready for your big screen enjoyment!
Out of all the car related activities I’ve ever been part of, the one topic that gets me more questions than anything else is my very own 1996 BMW 728i. I’ve owned this car coming up to 4 years now, and have covered over 30,000 miles in it since I’ve bought it.
This summer I was involved in a bucket-list dream, a campaign for BMW which required me to get down to Lake Como in Italy. We had a press car lined up for the journey which fell through the day before we had to leave, so the mighty seven stepped up for the big job.
The films sees my best friend Matt and I take on an impromptu 2,000 mile commute to Lake Como and back in my E38 7 series. But more than that, we venture into the quirkiest corners of Europe and take you with us before finishing off with a mighty car show walk around.
Love BMWs? Love a road trip? Love seeing the behind the scenes work involved with Candy? This is the film for you. Just in time for Boxing Day. Enjoy 🎄❤️🔥 #e38
26 Dec 2025
2000 miles through The Balkans in my 20 year old Mercedes - my latest long form project is finally live and ready for your big screen enjoyment 🍻
At the start of this month, my best friend Matt joined me on cross-European adventure from London to our friend’s wedding in Prishtina, the capital city of Kosovo. You join us in Zagreb, Croatia as we begin the Balkan stint of the journey.
With the help of our trusty W220 Mercedes Benz S-Class, we go off-piste, spending 3 days taking the unconventional route through Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Kosovo. We conquer mountains, cross rivers and explore post-communist cities to uncover young parts of Europe with fascinating and complex modern histories.
This is my biggest and in my opinion most beautiful film yet. Thank you for your patience during this unplanned pause in transmission, and apologies to those who’ve chased me up asking for new films. Hopefully this makes up for the wait #mercedes #w220
30 Aug 2026
The best car BMW never built - my newest film, and I think my proudest work yet, is now live and ready for your big screen enjoyment! 😃
The BMW E46 M3 Touring is a unicorn idea. It was never officially put into production by BMW, despite a successful and well received Concept campaign being built in secret and shared with select journalists in the year 2000.
The idea of this car has always been surrounded by buzz and mystique across the internet though. Personally, I’m totally obsessed with it and have spent countless days daydreaming about building one myself.
In both 2022 and 2023 I flew across Europe to see one in the flesh before photographing it for an online mag I worked for at the time. After all these years, I finally managed to somehow find myself behind the wheel of one here in the UK.
Totally by chance, the weekend Petroyle finished their first press demonstrator neatly lined up with my new M3 CS press car loan, which I never realised would be in the same colour - as tends to be the case in my life, I took the opportunity, wrote a last minute script, grabbed Matt to join me for a day filming and got to work.
I think you’re going to love watching it, because I utterly loved making it. The car is brilliant, and ties in the missing link to the ever illusive M3 Touring history. Thank you Gregg at Petroyle for trusting me to be the first journo to drive it, and helping me tell one of my favourite automotive stories. #e46m3 #m3touring
29 Mar 2026
*Takes deep breath* right, like for many, the BMW 3 Series feels like my car. I’ve driven all of them, owned six of them, done hundreds of thousands of miles in them… so to me, the 3 series is car. This should be a simple day in the office then, right?
Annoyingly, no. For starters, the model is now split in two. You can get this car with a petrol engine, but it comes on an update of the outgoing G series chassis. Where as this electric car, the i3 and now known amongst the nerds as the NA0, is all new.
On paper the tech is clever. It’s got a claimed range of over 550 miles, (although my car on 97% showed 450 🤨) can charge 10-80% in the time it takes you to use the crapper and has all wheel drive… very, very clear all wheel drive.
I could not get this thing to misbehave in typical 3 series style. This full fat i3 50 model has 463(!!)bhp, but refused to tango out of a T junction. As there’s no way to adjust the power balance between front and rear, slippy exits have lost their humor. I think BMW are gatekeeping that fun for the upcoming M models.
On the run though, it gets a great flow on. It’s reassuring and impressively comfortable when hustled. The car’s reaction on steering input is high, giving it a very recognisable and enjoyable BMW turn in. E46-esque, dare I say, with a light, responsive front end.
I’m not sure I can say anything inteligent about the power delivery. It’s very smooth, but almost forgettable. Some level of adjustability or paddles would be welcome, but I guess the bulk of customers don’t care about that.
While the 3 series was always a sports sedan, the NA0 feels a little bit more sedany than sporty. It’s perhaps the least dramatic and most adult-like 3 series I’ve driven. It looks brilliant and has plenty of room, but I’m not lusting for it.
In that regard then, the i3 is more diesel like in its nature and personality. If you need electric and crave BMW’s motorsport fizz, you’re better off waiting for the i3 M360. This feels less m350i and more 350d. Mind you that no bad thing if you swing that way, in which case the NA0’s time is… err, now. #3series #bmw
10 Nov 2026
VW’s latest important big deal is ironically their smallest current product. Not that you can really tell, seeing as it’s taller and wider than a 20 year old Golf.
It is however beautifully designed. The side profile and rear quarters are muscular and handsome. It’s upright in a typically European way which I associate with VWs of the past. It’s a huge improvement on the early gen ID cars.
The interior features brilliant cloth materials which feel honest and ergonomically strong. The touch points feel invincible, the steering wheel has well dampened buttons (why was this so hard to do?) and the screen interface is easy to understand. It’s good.
The battery feels perfectly suited to pottering around. Maybe it doesn’t have the plucky feeling of a 1.0tfsi but it’s smooth and reliable. In terms of design, powertrain and product feel, the new Polo gets top marks all round then…
But ultimately, I have no idea what paper I’m supposed to be marking it against. We pulled up next to a new Micra (rehashed R5) and the lady who just bought it came out to have a chat with us. She just swapped her Juke out for it and couldn’t be happier.
The Penny sort of dropped at that moment, the majority customer who actually buys these cars does want a high seating position which is why they went to junky crossovers to begin with. My eyeline in the new Polo is inline with the roofline of the outgoing Polo.
The Polo is simply no longer the petite and slender car its predecessors were and I believe that feeling was pivotal to its character. It’s now stiffer, taller and more capable than before. This is the first time I’ve been in a Polo that would heat my bum, palms and give me a back massage.
My heart yearns for a simpler Polo. Sure, you can spec this car down, but young people who should lust over a mode of transport like this simply can’t afford a new £25k car anyway. Most Polos will be bought by parents with disposable budgets as a household runaround. That’s why the Polo can no longer be small and simple.
Hopefully the next Golf isn’t fat and enormous, and hopefully the next Up! will be an £16k 2 door miracle with windy windows like the old Polos were. A man can dream.
26 Oct 2026
Since Hec and I filmed our large saloon video, I’ve sold the S class onto its new home. It covered about 6,000 miles in my ownership, half of which were done by Matt travelling across the country to see loved ones, and the other during our Balkans film.
In this time all it asked for was a regular maintenance service and a set of front discs+pads (which I was aware it needed when I bought the car.) For a model surrounded by so much scaremongering from forum dwellers, I was really impressed by how brilliantly robust it was.
I climbed mountains in 35oc weather, blasting AC the whole time and did countless fast miles in single stints and it never kicked up a fuss. At one point during my commute back from the Balkans, it sat on idle for three hours in hot summer stand still traffic as I crawled through the Serbia border crossing back into Croatia.
I did buy a top of the market, well maintained car, but all of that paid dividends when I needed the car to work. The V6 I’ve come to learn is brilliantly reliable and it came on air suspension rather than the scary ABC. This W220 was the best car I’ve ever sold and I’ll miss it dearly.
It’s a truly brilliant machine, and I’d recommend it to everyone… but at the end of the day, it was just a machine. The BMW though, that’s like a pet. It has ears that flap about, it’ll chase sticks and bark at you if you piss it off. I find it very hard to fall in love with a machine, but it would be impossible to ever get rid of you favorite pet.
Ironically the Benz is of course going strong with its new owner, while my E38 went on the back of a flatbed today to get some bits fixed. You simply can’t have it all in life. Thanks for the great times W220, your reliability, your warm ambient night time glow and that large, 00s saloon X-factor will be missed. #w220 #sclass #e38 #7series
14 Oct 2026
The death of the large, luxury saloon car is a sad one. To figure out precisely why no one seems to be buying them, Hector and I decided to go back in time and find the best large luxury cars ever made…
Our only problem though is that we couldn’t quite decided on which one was best. #e38 #w220 #sclass #7series
13 Oct 2026
The demise of the Luxury Saloon…
Up until the last few years, when shopping around for something comfortable, sophisticated and sexy, punters would almost ways opt for a long and sexy saloon…now days though, things are a little different.
Tune in later on this week where Mike and I dive into the demise of the luxury saloon, and we also bicker about who did it best…
#7series #sclass #salooncars
14 Sep 2026
Best way to bond with a car? Take it to the Dolomites. I’ve been doing a good job ticking off childhood dreams this year, and taking my own Porsche on a boys Euro road trip was firmly at the top.
I wasn’t fully convinced I was in love with this car. Buying it last November was quite a big deal for me. I’ve never had money like it to spend before and having just quit my full time job, a 138,000 mile Porsche carried some risk.
Regular 996 paranoia would occasionally peek its ugly head in. It would be the usual stuff, a slow crank, a tappy lifter, a squeak here and there. Mix that with a busy work schedule and I simply didn’t have as many opportunities to enjoy it as I hoped.
I then felt it didn’t have a sharp enough edge on the limit to get me excited. I know I enjoy a car because it makes me laugh on a proper run, and I’ve simply not had that in the 996 before. Peacocking around Chelsea only goes so far before you start thinking “could my money be better spent elsewhere?”
Fortunately for me, I have an incredible group of friends who organise a yearly boys driving holiday abroad and for the first time in my life I had a car of my own to take along. 2,000 miles later, through France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy and I think I’ve understood what my 996 is all about.
It’s a car for carrying speed and understanding the flow of the road. The engine is relatively dull, but it’s strong and smooth, spending 4 days near the redline without kicking a fuss. Fresh bushes, arms and rubber gives me infinite traction and telepathic turn in. Surprisingly, it’s a quick car and on the right road with the right group of friends it made me laugh from ear to ear. It also looks the bollocks.
I was going to sell it at the end of this year, but it’s earned its keep. In fact, I utterly love it. Next on the to do list is to keep tinkering with it to make it perfect for me. I’ve had a Pole Position and a GT3 splitter fitted to it, but there’s plenty more I want to sort. A proper suspension set up, more interior bits and maybe a different tyre size set up to make it dance a little. Oh, and a diff. Definitely needs a diff. #996
11 Oct 2026
Thank you @petroyle_ for making my teenage day dreams come true!
5 years ago I travelled across Europe as a rookie journalist to photograph an E46 M3 Touring for an online mag. Today, I’ve spent the day at Anglesey Circuit driving the guts off the incredible Petroyle M3 Touring. Was my dream car as a teenager, its still my dream car today. What a time to be alive! #e46m3 #e46m3touring
07 Oct 2026
My E38 has earned its greatest accolade yet, completing bridal carriage duties for my amazing friends Alex and Ana’s big wedding day! To accomplish the mission all I had to do was undertake a short 1,600 mile solo drive from London to Jerez in southern Spain.
Seeing your friends get married is one of life’s greatest joys, but being extra involved in the day is a real privilege. Thanks Alex for trusting me with the biggest delivery of your life, and giving me an excuse to get another road-trip with the 7 under my belt. Spain marks country number 12 with the car.
Total trip time one way was 26 and a half hours, averaging 28mpg with an average speed of 62mph. I failed to get the AC re-gassed before I left however, so am now paying the price with an overheating hangover as I write this at a petrol station beginning my journey back home. Only 20 hours left, no biggie. See you in London! #e38
P.s for some reason the Spanish version of Sera Porque Te Amo isn’t available on here so you can enjoy the Italian one instead
20 Sep 2026
I may have found my hot hatch sweet spot. My buddy Riley invited me up to his unit to take some of his cars out for a spin, and first on the agenda was his gorgeous Peugeot 306 GTI6. He’s very proud of this car and kept telling me that I need to have a go in it.
And I’m glad that I did. In a weird way, this is the forgotten great Peugeot, often overshadowed by the 205 and 106. It is a little bit bigger and bulkier, but it very much speaks the same language as the aforementioned.
There’s three main bits that I like about it. Firstly, a great passive rear steer supported by a flexible torsion-beam rear axle. It’s my highlight of its handling characteristics, supporting the sharp turn it and giving it a feeling of a car with rear wheel steering, pivoting you around a corner. It’s fantastic, and helps you go quick!
Secondly, the engine is perfect. 170bhp is just the right amount of power for a car that weighs just 1200kg. It’s a 2.0 valver meaning it’s got a lot of grunt low down but also enjoys revving out. Riley has installed a subtle back box on it giving it a waspy sound, further encouraging you to get it in the ketchup. Once you get it past 5k, it gets on cam and simply screams. It’s awfully encouraging and addictive.
And lastly? It’s very handsome. 90s Peugeot offered subtle lines, a pointy nose and timeless, bright colours. A subtle badge on the side tells you it’s the hot one with an extra gear, and the interior is easy to navigate. It’s just a well designed car.
Quirks include a terrible turning circle, weirdly caused by the added 6th gear. Adding in the extra stuff meant the gearbox grew in size, squeezing the packaging of the standard steering rack resulting in a new one that is simple worse. Oh, and the wheels don’t have a centre bore. Good luck getting them balanced up! #306gti #peugeot
13 Sep 2026
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