Citroen XM - was JohnK's steed

[dugong]

SCTSH_ANDY has a phase 2 XM. 

He swears at it a lot, because the autobox is pants. Still a lovely old thing, mind. 

[forddeliveryboy]

This 'live' collection update thingy, whether here or on twatter is marginally better than the old-fashioned twice a day postal delivery - I think a live streaming webcam needs to worn like a headtorch in future.

 

Here are some XM vids to keep us going

 

 

 

 

[RobT]

Bloody 'ell, I didn't realise XMs handled that well.  Nice jumper Tiff BTW.

[Inspector Morose]

I'm back from XM collecting mission. For the price paid it's a good 'un. As I was driving, I'll let Mr DW fill in the details.

 

Also managed to score a BX GTi interior from the chap who runs the garage too so can't be bad.

[forddeliveryboy]

Bloody 'ell, I didn't realise XMs handled that well.

 

Not forgetting the suspension could be turned into something much stiffer in half an hour or so, by swapping the spheres for lower pressure ones with tighter damping. A V6 ready for the knackers could make for a fun circuit day.

 

I've found hyperactive Citroens great on smooth French roads, but a bit out-of-sorts on regular English B-roads. Fitting 50cc bigger spheres on the corners (with marginally larger bar-litre figures) and for the rear axle centre sphere has resulted in the suspension doing more work and keeping the body calmer - and so allowing higher speeds/greater comfort.

 

Clever as the variable-rate semi-active springing and damping is, there's no substitute for a wider track and lower centre of mass. But an XM's a fine beast, especially for under £400.

[dollywobbler]

Just back. 

 

What a car! How on earth can something so good be bought for just £375? As that video demonstrates, the dynamics are incredible. You just turn into a bend and it sails around it without rolling like a barge. It's uncanny. It whispers along at motorway speeds and appears to have drunk barely any fuel. I think I'm in love. The ABS fault even cured itself! Full capers report to follow. Not sure how swiftly I can get it done due to the need for food.

 

Many thanks to FPB7 for transport today and Eifion for putting the car on my radar.

[Inspector Morose]

More food? After that bacon and sausage sarnie?!

 

Jealousnessness just gone up another notch.

[skattrd]

Bloody 'ell, I didn't realise XMs handled that well.  Nice jumper Tiff BTW.

 

I seem to recall Tiff actually bought an XM estate new, so he must have quite liked them.

[beko1987]

Jealous!

 

They carry speed scarily well, I drove mine faster than I do the zx, and the zx drinks 76% less fuel..

[forddeliveryboy]

Sounds like the suspension's working then?

 

[beko1987]

Whos got the book on when the for sale post appears? Feb (bonus month) would be good for me...

[Inspector Morose]

I'm trying to think of a place to hide it when the inevitable happens. Then again, the look on Dollywobblers face after only a mile could mean that it might be a while.

[DSdriver]

Mrs DSdriver has commandeered our XM, decided she would drive it back from garage, a 40 mile trip, and then went out twice in it during the day so I haven't had a chance to drive it yet, let alone put out some traffic cones and see if I am as good as Tiff at jiggling the steering wheel.

Perhaps I'll get a go tomorrow.

 

Thanks to Forddeliveryboy for all your knowledgeable and interesting input by the way.

[twosmoke300]

Thread title

 

Dollywobblers Nightmare , not enough lhm in the world .

[Micrashed]

March, in fact I'll go so far as to say March 20th

[dollywobbler]

Right. I'd better unleash some capers. These capers are specially tuned for Autoshite.

 

First up, there was the small matter of driving to Birmingham International - my favoured spot for vehicle exchanging. I was last here in July waving goodbye to the Maestro van, and buying this Rover blind on Facebook. The drive there was pretty grim - lots of roadworks and slow people. I livened things up a bit by pulling off the worst overtake ever on the A44, causing a poor van coming the other way to swerve into a layby. I am still wracked with guilt. It was entirely stupid. Oh well. We all survived. I shall attempt to be less stupid in future given that stupidity regularly costs lives on that road.

 

With the Rover gone, I waited for my knight in shining BX - FPB7 better known as Andy. Hopping aboard my old BX was amusing and better than the train. Though it did creak more. Shite-spotting began. Aren't new Transits ugly?

 

Number plate silliness.

 

Cor! Bus shite!

 

Amusing 'repair.'

 

Holiday dreams.

 

Trouble was predicted.

 

Arse.

 

The M54 was a rather different story. Just a few miles later.

 

Hunger was discovered. Salvation came in the form of this.

 

You know all is going to be well when you get offered many bread offers. Thick, crusty loaf please!

 

We got to the Citroen specialist and drooled over CXs, Xsaras (no, not really - just his courtesy car fleet) and BXs. The XM is a customer's car. It was hard to say goodbye given that we were three Citroen enthusiasts, but we managed it. It began raining. I took a blurry photo of this happy scene.

 

We went our separate ways. My way seemed to involve an awful lot of rain. The sort where cars cause huge waves to deluge your car.

 

However, everything was working and water was not pouring into my shoes. I was happy. More photos were not taken as the rain just didn't let up. I had much hooning fun though, and managed to safely overtake several vehicles without troubling anyone else's blood pressure. I was knackered though, so stopped for tea in Newtown. The car had lots of fuel, so no fuel station shot. Also, it was still raining too much. Pleasingly, when I restarted the car, I was thrilled that a) it actually restarted and the ABS light went out. Yay!

 

Eventually, a few miles from home, the rain stopped. More pictures, and a chance to test the ABS. I did one emergency stop on gravel and the light came back on. I turned it off and on again, and did an emergency stop with ABS kicking in and no light. Yay! It self-healed!

 

I could take more pictures.

Simple luxury.

 

That driver's wiper needs adjusting. It's too high. Not a bad looking thing though.

 

Nice arse too. Will test the tow bar tomorrow.

 

I love the rear light details.

 

Angular, wedge-shaped and ace.

 

Naturally, a £375 XM isn't going to be perfect. Here I am drawing kryptonite out of the dashboard. A common problem.

 

Actually, that's the slider for the recirculation/incoming air. The car does seem keen to steam up, so perhaps this is broken in the recirc option.

 

These switches are impossible to see from the driver's seat. Brilliant!

 

Some numbers. I think this probably means that it is running too cool? Why it has two temp gauges I'm not sure. END

[cort16]

Looks great much more your cup of tea I recon

[Lacquer Peel]

Not sure if you're being sarcastic wollydobbler, but that's the outside temperature gauge on the fritz.

WELL JEL', is it a 2.1 or 2.5?

[Bamboocarman]

Hi DW, I love proper Citroens, esp 2CVs, and have had two XMs back when they were 'nearly new'; superb stable platform fast wafting machines, not so troublesome (or was I unusually fortunate?); congrats. Watch out; my second XM started misting up easily, just prior to the heater matrix going. Fingers crossed.

[Inspector Morose]

A bloody good buy that. I had a quick sit in and poke around it while Ian was spending his hard earned and it felt just like a bigger, comfier version of my old Xantia. I could get used to being in a place like that.

Lifting the bonnet revealed a familiar Bosch pump and little too much to worry about engine wise. Strut tops look not that bad considering.

 

Inside, apart from a few trim issues, it bloody stinks of fags. Now I smoke but even I was reaching for the febreeze (yup I carry a bottle of febreeze in my car - sue me.) other than that, a good clean should bring the lovely basic spec of the interior up nicely.

 

Body wise, there's a bit of grot and a dent or two but nothing too worrying Apart from the fact it's white. The colour does show the little design details of the car a lot better than the darker shades do though.

 

All in all, a good, honest buy that. Thanks to Mr Wobbler for putting up for me rambling on with the garage owner, trying to buy bits for the a-state and the bacon and sausage sarnie for dinner! A good day was had.

[Lankytim]

Careful with that towbar, if its an original Citroen one they rot to fook and break off when you tow sonething.

 

Looks gorgeous, and they do handle well! Have you tried the sports suspension yet?

 

My abs light came on when I pressure washed the engine. It also self healed.

[dollywobbler]

Just went for another drive because I can. ABS light back on. Also, I noticed that the airbag light seems non-existent...

 

To be honest, other than the fact that it doesn't really seem to roll at all, I've not noticed much difference with the suspension. I've driven four XMs this year, and switching to 'sport' mode really doesn't seem to make a fat lot of difference. Am I expecting too much? Given that it switches into sport mode if it detects a hoon, I'm not really sure what the point is. Perhaps I need a spell on a test track where I haven't got to worry about scenery/other drivers/sheep. 

 

Thanks for the towbar warning. I've been thinking of getting a caravan, so I definitely want to be sure it's solid!

[beko1987]

Lovely, makes me miss mine, wish mine said 41mpg once in a while, 32.4 was the Max...

 

The rear wash wipe buttons are a pain at first but you soon get the hang of it. Both LCD displays looks good too!

[beko1987]

Mine felt like it 'tensed up' in sport, could feel more of the road surface. Made sod all difference cornering etc though.

[dollywobbler]

My evening drive did teach me that the headlights really are poor. Not sure that's an issue really, as main beam is fine. Also, the ABS light reflects on the windscreen. That's annoying.

[eifion]

It's interesting to see the photo of the righthand clock / temp display on yours. It's smaller than the one on my VSX and suggests that you don't have the trip computer that you get by pressing in the button on the end of the wiper switch on the relatively lowly SX.

 

I'm glad you're happy with it. May it provide many miles of wafty entertainment.

[Richard]

Intermittent ABS light could be because one of the rings is cracked, that's what it was on my Xantia. It would put the light on if I went over a certain speed, until there was a "something has fallen off" sound and the light stayed on permanently. New CV joint (it was about a week before somebody started selling just the rings on eBay) cured it once and for all.

 

On the facelift Xantia the ABS would reset the first time you hit 20mph after setting off, I don't know if your XM will be the same.

[dollywobbler]

No Eifion - no wiper stalk button. Proper povo spec!

 

Richard - the ABS light comes on with the ignition and either goes out or doesn't. I'll see how it goes.

[Inspector Morose]

Intermittent electrical fault on n XM? Who'd have guessed?

[purplebargeken]

Wow. Just........ wow. Never had a Citroen either. The XM is a amazing looking car.