Citroen XM - was JohnK's steed

[FakeConcern]

I fancy trying a C4 VTS outside of GT5; I have chronically excellent liability insurance (not that that's important). If I bring my farty diesel C4, can I have a go of yours? Or do you want a go in an MGF or Isuzu Piazza?

You can have a go anytime if I can try your MGF! (BTW what's a GT5?)

[dugong]

You can have a go anytime if I can try your MGF! (BTW what's a GT5?)

Gran Turismo 5!

[dollywobbler]

I think I've sussed it. I think this is the reason I love this car. Just because it does this.

 

https://twitter.com/dollywobbler/status/659145763684012033

 

The novelty just never wears off!

[62 Austin]

My mother warned me about Citroen XMs over 30 years ago. You all may have heard it before, but she quoted Sir Sterling Moss after his first test drive: "Stepping on the gas pedal was rather like stepping on a wet squid." I haven't the faintest idea where she read that, considering we lived in Kansas, a Citroen-free zone.

[Lacquer Peel]

XM-free zone as well, it wasn't launched til 1989.

 

XM MEGA WANT.

[62 Austin]

My apologies to XM owners and the French. I meant Citroen SM, the car with the Maserati engine.

An example of how not every car looks good in red and yellow.

[dollywobbler]

Having seen that car in the metal, it looks better right in front of you. Though metallic brown is still the best colour for an SM.

 

I do still often wish my XM was actually a colour.

[cort16]

This thread is good advert for the xm. Bought for not much, ran on a budget, interesting and practical . Kept going with just a bit of fettling.

 

I'd probably get over my fear of green blooded monsters for a v6 xm.

[DSdriver]

/\ Do it soon or you will miss the chance.

[dollywobbler]

Aye. I leapt upon this one because I reckon it was one of the last sub-£500 XMs. I'm slightly terrified to think about what might replace it. So terrified that it has managed to stay with me for over a year. 

 

Dug through my files to find that I cured the broken central locking (see News thread) last year by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery. Time for the annual reboot then?

[richardmorris]

Aye. I leapt upon this one because I reckon it was one of the last sub-£500 XMs. I'm slightly terrified to think about what might replace it. So terrified that it has managed to stay with me for over a year. 

 

Dug through my files to find that I cured the broken central locking (see News thread) last year by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery. Time for the annual reboot then?

 

Don't you know that turning electronics off and on again cures most faults! Disturbingly it's also now working with the £100k ICP-OES in my lab.

[beko1987]

I wish I could afford to keep running my 2.0TCT, do miss it weekly tbh. You're right though, the chances of a sub £600 decent 2.1 coming up for sale (to the public anyway) are very rare, it'll be even rarer that I'll have £600 to buy one if ever offered!

 

I'll stick to the XM's poor, unloved cousin the ZX and pretend it's still an XM... I should get a Xantia really, their still at the cheap end of the market, but I don't know if I would be disappointed, not sure if it would be not as good as an XM as it's not so squashy and comfy, and not as nippy as the same engine in a lighter ZX...

[dollywobbler]

I'd say there's not that much difference in ride between Xantia and XM, it's just that the dashboard is even more cheap and nasty in the former. I've driven the V6 autos back to back and the Xantia came out of it all very impressive, but lacking that 'special' feel that the XM has. XM-factor.

 

You could get Xantias with the 2.1 TD. It is a lovely engine - as long as you like diesel engines to be properly diesel-like. Above 2500rpm is pretty much a waste of time. The 1.9TD is only just getting started then.

[beko1987]

ive never tried a 2.1, but I like the punch of my 1.9. doesnt the 2.1 go wrong in a few ways too if your not careful? or is that the air con pumps? i forget now.

 

not too fussed on cheapo dashboards, not at the moment anyway

[dollywobbler]

I think 2.1s do have a bit of a reputation, I'm just not sure what for. Perhaps it's the Lucas EPIC ones. 

[Noel Tidybeard]

I think 2.1s do have a bit of a reputation, I'm just not sure what for. Perhaps it's the Lucas EPIC ones. 

they dont like dirty fuel at all but they can be rebuilt

[Richard]

I'd say there's not that much difference in ride between Xantia and XM, it's just that the dashboard is even more cheap and nasty in the former.

 

 

I thought the Xantia's interior and dash seemed quite well made, pre-facelift at least. The later ones were quite unpleasant though.

[dollywobbler]

A mid-week excursion to Devon has seen me put another 400 miles on the XM, taking it to 130,000 miles in total. On the way home, I visited a Citroen specialist that I've known of for ages but never had the chance to visit before.

 

It was quite easy to tell that I was in the right area.

 

This confirmed matters. A genuine Citroen GSA service van.

 

YOINKS! GS Birotor! This belongs to the chap who bought the Pug 205 GTi alloys that were fitted to my silver BX. Runs!

 

In the workshop. Buried in there are a 1920s Citroen van and a Mehari.

 

Plan was to replace the suspected duff rear centre sphere - the one that provides softness. I'd carefully packed my new one. Or I thought I had. What I'd actually done was pack the two duff outer spheres I'd replaced! Idiot. Oh well. They cracked off the sphere so at least I now stand a chance of replacing it at home. Once I find it...

 

With the sphere off, it was immediately apparent that the diaphragm had failed - what I suspected. They put it back on but I will replace it soon*. I thought we might as well check all the front spheres, as they have this clever gizmo.

 

It shows the pressure in each sphere. All the fronts were judged healthy. While poking about, we did discover that the offside front brake pipe isn't too clever - it runs along the top of the front subframe and unsurprisingly, gets coating in cack but not engine oil. I'll clean it up for now but really, I need to replace it. We also found a little rot around the rear subframe mounts, but I reckon I can clean that up and rust protect. Otherwise, still much as she was a year ago - to the day when we were sorting the sills out.

 

There was a monumental spot just as I was leaving. Fabulous!

[beko1987]

When I did my spheres on a similar machine I didn't tighten them on properly, green claret everywhere!

[dollywobbler]

That could be messy! Very handy to check the pressures. Weather this weekend? Bloody awful. Not sure when I'll get this sphere changed now.

[dollywobbler]

I've got a seriously busy couple of weeks workwise, but having woken up to a blissful, DRY morning, I had to get a tinker on.

 

What a pain in the arse this job is on the ground! Horrible to access the pressure regulator to depressurise the system, and horrible to then access the centre rear sphere under the now-low car. You just find your arms don't bend in enough places to allow you to get your hands where they need to be!

 

Job done though and what a transformation! XMs will never ride like a CX (that strut suspension is a crap compromise) but by golly it has got its float back! Marvellous.

[320touring]

Good effort but do you mean CX?

[Largactil]

YOINKS! GS Birotor! This belongs to the chap who bought the Pug 205 GTi alloys that were fitted to my silver BX. Runs!

 

Luverly - One of my dream motors.

 

What's the story with this one? If it were mine, it'd be tucked up in a nice warm garage, and have special* lotion rubbed all over it every night.

[dollywobbler]

Good effort but do you mean CX?

 

Er, amended. It's been a long day and there have been too many words in it.

 

 

Luverly - One of my dream motors.

 

What's the story with this one? If it were mine, it'd be tucked up in a nice warm garage, and have special* lotion rubbed all over it every night.

 

It's slowly being restored. Is up and running now but still some way to go. Belongs to a chap I've met in BX circles.

[dollywobbler]

One problem I've still got is trying to find a sodding caliper slider kit for this thing. All factors list the wrong sodding one and Citroen want a meaty £50 for a tiny bit of metal bar. I paid less than that for four sliders on the bloody Sirion, and Daihatsu has pulled out of the UK market! This is the sort of frustration that will cause me to move on from the XM.

[Lacquer Peel]

Do you know what type of brake calipers it has?

If you're not aware already, Citroën Service is indispensable for finding the correct part numbers to cross reference, great for finding NOS dealer parts on eBay.

[dollywobbler]

Ah, I shall look into that tomorrow.

[Richard]

I can PM you a working username and password for that if you have trouble/can't be arsed signing up. They wanted a VAT number from me, so I gave them one off a receipt from a motor factor.

[forddeliveryboy]

Job done though and what a transformation! XMs will never ride like a CX (that strut suspension is a crap compromise) but by golly it has got its float back! Marvellous.

 

 

It could be said that with correct spheres (back in the 90s, when you could still get the ones with the correct bell-mouth entry/exit to the damper bypass) in good order, an XM can ride better than a CX over certain roads. They certainly feel to handle better to many people, especially if you drive normal speeds - but on real roads at high speeds, they often don't. Having said that, they do go bloody well.

 

Good job done in the weather window! Remember to filter waste LHM when you change the fluid and use it through the Bisch-Bosh.

[beko1987]

My XM was caught out by shit road surfaces, the kind where the top cm is missing in random points all over the road. General road undulations, big dips, speedbumps at speed etc were fine, just ruined road surfaces/potholes ruined the ride.

 

It was much improved by having a Lexia run over the electrics though, clearing historic faults such as 'total power loss' etc apparently!

 

Have you bled the brakes? Piece of piss on the XM, and mine started out clear, then all the fluid from far back in the pipes came through black, then brown, then suddenly beautiful. Went through 3l of LHM just bleeding it all!