1993 Citroen XM

[Six-cylinder]

The latest Hubnut Video includes Maxxo XM at 2 mins 20 secs.

 

[maxxo]

Been thinking about life and cars and stuff today

i have a hunch this will end up being my last car, I simply cant be bothered with the way the roads are these days, how busy everywhere is and just the action of driving isn’t enjoyable anymore, 9:30pm or so at night down the A19 yes that’s enjoyable and relaxing but I just don’t get enjoyment from it anymore

plus I can’t think of anything that could ever possibly replace this

[maxxo]

Changed just before I bought the car 12k again

this is the Dexron 2 out of the XMs gearbox 

as you can see that’s likely a load of shit

changing much better now

[maxxo]

gearbox is massively improved

cheap ebay droplinks have fixed the clonk, a pleasing day!

in around 500 miles or so i shall do another gearbox fluid change, i might even clean the filter

i wasn't keen on the colour of the fluid i removed, hence my desire to do another change soon

i got 4L of mannol DEXRON 2 for £18 delivered off ebay, for that price it's well worth doing

[Noel Tidybeard]

misery spec xm!

 

[richardmorris]

2 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

misery spec xm!

 

V6 one in USA too.

 

[Stinkwheel]

2 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

misery spec xm!

 

No such thing as misery spec, they are all a joy i tell you, a JOY !

[maxxo]

they are all an absolute joy to drive!

[richardmorris]

56 minutes ago, maxxo said:

they are all an absolute joy to drive!

I didn’t get on with the trapezoid front window on my drives really, but that’s just me. It always seemed to be a design compromise. 

[Stinkwheel]

5 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

I didn’t get on with the trapezoid front window on my drives really, but that’s just me. It always seemed to be a design compromise. 

You really do just get used to it 

[maxxo]

11 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

I didn’t get on with the trapezoid front window on my drives really, but that’s just me. It always seemed to be a design compromise. 

perhaps my only complaint on series 1 cars like this one is the a pillar obscures the n/s door mirror which is a stupid design but you get used to it

really ahead of their time, they don't feel anything like a 35 year old design, they drive just like a modern car and that's the issue, you forget how old it is when you're driving

[richardmorris]

5 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

You really do just get used to it 

I’m sure. I enjoyed borrowing the @Six-cylindermobile,  just not the test drive in one I went to buy - although that was mostly being put off  by the huge service history totalling aground £20,000 for a w reg TCT turbo in 2010. Which still had a leaking steering rack.

[maxxo]

3 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

I’m sure. I enjoyed borrowing the @Six-cylindermobile,  just not the test drive in one I went to buy - although that was mostly being put off  by the huge service history totalling aground £20,000 for a w reg TCT turbo in 2010. Which still had a leaking steering rack.

you should see some of the invoices from this one, they are quite scary

my total costs come to around £500, that inclues 7 new spheres, droplinks, 2 services, and all the smaller stuff i've bought for it

[richardmorris]

Just now, maxxo said:

you should see some of the invoices from this one, they are quite scary

my total costs come to around £500, that inclues 7 new spheres, droplinks, 2 services, and all the smaller stuff i've bought for it

The bills from my CXs were bad enough. The worst was around £1600 for a fuel pump, belts and welding.

The c5 wasn’t bad in costs, Just electricity issues. and for the mileage I did the w124 was economical. 

[maxxo]

2 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

The bills from my CXs were bad enough. The worst was around £1600 for a fuel pump, belts and welding.

The c5 wasn’t bad in costs, Just electricity issues. and for the mileage I did the w124 was economical. 

both my C5s were utterly utterly abysmal in costs and reliability, both failed catastrophically to the point where i won't have anyother

i must admit despite a fair chunk of money at first the Xsara Picasso i had was at least grateful and behaved itself to the point where it is still on the road!

[richardmorris]

Just now, maxxo said:

both my C5s were utterly utterly abysmal in costs and reliability, both failed catastrophically to the point where i won't have anyother

i must admit despite a fair chunk of money at first the Xsara Picasso i had was at least grateful and behaved itself to the point where it is still on the road!

Yes, I had a love / hate relationship with my c5 too.  2006 to 2012 and 50,000 miles. But none of my other cars despite being elderly and foreign, have ever let me broken down on the Side of a road four times.

[maxxo]

now a recent job i've done on this car, every time you indicated it would beep and tell me basically all of my rear lights were defective unless i had my foot on the brake then it behaved

so i removed the rear lampholders and took a look, a real piece of piss on these as well!

hmmmmmm those pins look a bit grubby don't they!

quite as to why there are 2 sets of identical connectors is anyones guess, a reasonable assumption of mine is perhaps a genuine towbar wiring kit?

anyway decided to inspect the cable

of course, all the same colours and i suspected which one was the earth but wasn't 100%

i actually used contact cleaner on it as well and cleaned it up properly n everything! also my fingers aren't deep red like that either

so found an earth bolt behind the o/s rear light and started to remove it before i realised i couldn't be arsed and would do it at a later date

anyway put it all back together and thought well, let's just give it a go

and would you look at that, somehow i seem to have fixed it!

for some reason the video won't upload but it's working perfectly

around 50 miles covered since then and it's been behaving perfectly

i love an easy fix like this

 

[maxxo]

5 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

Yes, I had a love / hate relationship with my c5 too.  2006 to 2012 and 50,000 miles. But none of my other cars despite being elderly and foreign, have ever let me broken down on the Side of a road four times.

i have never had a car that's constantly bit me in the arse like both the C5s did, it wasn't just minor stuff i mean a gearbox and an abs pump are quite significant, i would have fixed the green one if it didn't start just dying electrically while driving along usually in the dark and rain yet stay running, oh and then a severe random misfire as well

i pretty much pulled a moudly xsara picasso out a hedge and did 70k miles in it with nothing more than a clutch!

i can't be bothered with C5s anymore

[wesacosa]

13 hours ago, maxxo said:

they are all an absolute joy to drive!

I wish more people felt like this. It feels like I probably couldn't even give mine away if I tried. Really don't know why as they are lovely cars as you say 

[IronStar]

33 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

I wish more people felt like this. It feels like I probably couldn't even give mine away if I tried. Really don't know why as they are lovely cars as you say 

Very advanced for the time, with tons of toys and potential to go expensively wrong.

I would, any day of the week though, but I’m a moron, so my opinion is probably wrong. 😄

[wesacosa]

I think a lot of the reputation for complexity isn't warranted.  The suspension is a big part of that but if you take out the ecu control bit of the XM its no more complicated than conventional suspension other than the pipework I guess.. The electrical gremlins had been pretty much sorted in the series 2 cars too

[Rust Collector]

29 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

I think a lot of the reputation for complexity isn't warranted.  The suspension is a big part of that but if you take out the ecu control bit of the XM its no more complicated than conventional suspension other than the pipework I guess.. The electrical gremlins had been pretty much sorted in the series 2 cars too

I’ll swap you for my one 🤣

[IronStar]

1 hour ago, wesacosa said:

I think a lot of the reputation for complexity isn't warranted.  The suspension is a big part of that but if you take out the ecu control bit of the XM its no more complicated than conventional suspension other than the pipework I guess.. The electrical gremlins had been pretty much sorted in the series 2 cars too

Having had the pleasure of meeting leaking octopus of a BX, that’s complicated enough. Add tons of 90s electronics and Citroen’s amazing* support for anything older than 7 years or so, it’s no wonder people aren’t really lining up to own one.

They demand an owner that loves it for what it is, understands its faults and has patience for parts availability. That is a….very tall order. 

[somewhatfoolish]

Few garages were interested in hydropneumatics when PSA were selling them new, are Stellantis even remotely interested in supporting their purchased heritage? Unless you're local to the handful of remaining specialists it's DIY only.

[maxxo]

So today started moving house yet again, for the 4th time in the XM swallowed it all as always

im meant to be picking a double bed and mattress up from Newcastle in the morning, still haven’t worked out how that’s going to fit

otherwise all going well

rear tyre wear is slightly concerning me at the minute, seems to be really wearing the outer edges out and I don’t understand why as in it’s at the wear markers now on the outer edge but still a decent amount on the inner? Tyre pressures maybe?

im tempted to overinflated them a bit as I do quite often it seems carry heavy loads now

the amount of miles I’ve done in the past month is insane, touching 4k now and it’s been superb!

needs a bloody good wash and a service soon

[maxxo]

a double bed and mattress does fit in the back of an XM saloon it seems

just

i bet this is one of the few XMs these days that actually gets used like this, i treat it as well as i possibly can but don't always baby it

i carry heavy stuff, i fully load the car, i drive it within it's limits and i use it in all weather

i treat it like a normal car

and you know what, it seems to love it, it's running better than ever and and has really settled into being used properly

[High Jetter]

Is it comfy, on the mattress? 

[yes oui si]

On 02/10/2024 at 00:59, maxxo said:

 

rear tyre wear is slightly concerning me at the minute, seems to be really wearing the outer edges out and I don’t understand why as in it’s at the wear markers now on the outer edge but still a decent amount on the inner? Tyre pressures maybe?

 

Excessive toe-in causes the outer edges of tyres to wear. 

Inflation issues are symmetrical across the tyre. 

[beko1987]

I remember moving house with my estate and that was perfect! 

Also bloody easy to overload them. I did a run full of boxes of books and about 3 whole flat packed furnitures. Didn't really notice until climbing a hill the autobox slipped... Never had done it before and didn't do it since, I blame the weight which the suspension made vanish. 

Putting it on high/low to load/unload is cool too, although I smashed my head on the tailgate during that move when it sunk down on me and I didn't notice

[dean36014]

Re the tyre wear on back tyres. Have you checked the swing arm bearings are ok?