I'm prepared for the flak!

My wife's X4 had runflats. The Pirelli PZero's were horrendous with a hard ride and no grip in colder conditions but we changed them to Bridgestone S001's RF's and it transformed it.

Yikes. Well hopefully there's your trio of misfortune and it ends there... But it does seem a mildly cursed car.

My mother had a Montego estate that she bought new and seemed similarly unlucky - from the get-go it was perennially being bashed in to or going wrong, until finally and terminally she was rear-ended at speed on the M25 (car behind failed to notice traffic had come to a halt) writing the Montego off at 18m old. She was so traumatised, she went and bought a Volvo 940 estate to replace it - biggest, most tank-like car she could find.

I also got a PCN last week (my first in years) from RBKC council, for turning right in Knightsbridge near Harrods where you always used to be able to turn right but clearly now can't (I looked it up on Streetview and the sign is there). No choice but to pay the £65, since I wouldn't like to argue I missed the sign as that would infer driving without due care and attention. It's an increasing problem in London of closing off roads and changing the turns etc - if you've been used to driving here for years you need to keep your wits about you to avoid exactly the sort of mistake I just made.

Indeed. Way back when I drove into London a lot (in the 1980's), I knew the back doubles and the best way (or so I thought) to get from my house to the centre. But now, if I do drive in London, it feels like a it's like a motoring assault course (bus lanes, cycle lanes, speed cameras, priority changes, 20mph limits etc etc).

Got one in Glasgow a couple of months ago; got caught in the 'Bus Gate' after getting  off the M8 too early and thinking I could (still) get back on if I nipped across the river at Broomielaw then along Argyle Street. Not so.

My biggest bugbear with bus lane cameras is the complete lack of common sense. I once got a ticket for taking the bus Lane as I turned left into Queen’s Road in Wimbledon off the one way. The bus Lane applies up to about 25m from the traffic light after which point it vanishes as cars need to be in the left Lane to enter Centre Court shopping centre car park so even Merton couldn’t justify a bus Lane there!

I was the only vehicle on the road but still got a ticket. Nothing was held up, I didn’t approach the corner to clip the apex, I didn’t impede any bus, any other road user or any pedestrian. Total bollocks and another nail in the coffin of respect for officialdom when it is pointlessly applied.

I used to drive in Edinburgh a bit and completely avoided the bus lanes.
They do have a sign that tells you the operating hours but it's about 8 inches square, mounted about 8 feet up on a pole at the side of the road so you'd have to stop and probably get out to read it. Can't do that if the road's busy so the best option is complete avoidance.

I remember being able to drive into Edinburgh on an evening and always find a parking spot in the George St/Queen St area. Not any more. 

I saw that too.

You always used to get a space down from the Venue on Calton Road (turn left at the Black Bull pub) but if I've driven in recently I just park in the multi-storey at Castle Terrace.

My daughter has bought a flat in Leith, which is very handy for parking as she has a designated space - and no car. 

Plenty of decent eateries 5 minutes walk from her flat, and The Kitchin is a brisk 10-minutes walk away any time I'm feeling flush! (Not often these days, but who knows what tomorrow will bring?) 

What may be a positive when it's finished in respect of access to the city centre, but is a huge downside at present, is they are extending the tram system past the end of her street which is not conducive to comfortable WFH, which she has been doing for over a year now.

Very much a work in progress at the moment. Scheduled to complete Autumn 2023 I believe.