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Jul 13, 2012 10:27:47 GMT
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With a broken leg, a growing pile of work, and a rather nice SLK needing a few small jobs, the most obvious thing needed was an elderly, dying French executive car, right? That's the logical thing to do - when stressed, take on something that spews green fluid and exhaust fumes whilst creating a small vacuum in your wallet. Except, I find LHM comforting. BXs, CXs, XMs are all very much 'in my blood' - quite literally I suspect - and I even bought a new C6. It was very disappointing. So rose-tinted glasses ahoy, an XM is the ideal with CXs being so rust prone and expensive for good ones, and BXs being similarly inclined to dissolving (albeit at a very respectable pace; for real rust, one needs a GS). Keith's acquisition of an XM inevitably ended up with it here, as he's got a rather tasty 8v Integrale. I've had to really think about if I can deal with this one or not, because I'm a fussy curse word and it is VERY ratty looking. First job is the brake valve. The only downside to this is that I really would like a V6 XM one day, so putting effort into a 2.0 8v Turbo feels a bit redundant. On the other hand, why take on a nice V6 if I can't fix up one of the simpler beasts... Incredibly, it has an MOT until June next year, and is taxed (though that's going back, thanks SORN/CIE regulations). So, here it is. Doesn't look too shabby in pictures.  And they are a stunning shape.  I've taken the badge/grille out, as the nosecone needs replacing. Can't decide if I like that look.  Bodgery ahoy! That door looks a little chunky. XM doors are usually quite resilient...  Aha!  Downside number 1 - series 2 'blandified' interior.  Oh! Hey! The sunroof works! Wait...  Damnit. I bet that needs the headliner dropping anyway to fix.  Why has this happened... I mean... how do you break that bit?  This was once paint.  Downside 2: THAT auto box.  (The code thingy is also irritating, but at least the flap isn't broken off). You didn't think the left LCD would be working, did you? This one is quite good.  Blah.  This is just annoying. I don't think I can fix this.  Suspension raises okay...  Doesn't appear to have too much splay on the back.  Probably genuine. Or new clocks.  Original radio. Of course the display doesn't work.  I have no idea what gear I'm in. Ever.  This radio display kinda works, when it's not telling me the world is ending.  Ah, take one XU, shove a blower on it, use and abuse it for a few years and you get something that badgers complain that their arses feel as rough as after a particularly bad night of grubs and fermented fruit.  Beautiful Fountain!  The cooling fans work. I know this because they randomly started up when the car was switched off.  So... job list... 1: Repair brake valve and other hydraulic issues once general brake valve misbehaviour has been removed from the equation. 2: Find an undamaged nosecone. 2a. Change Gearbox Oil. 3: Strip down all the doors and find out why the windows don't work. Clean, refit and replace door trims and missing bits, as much NOS as possible. 4: Replace tail light and missing trim. Oh, and parcel shelf. 4a: Change Gearbox Oil. 5: Investigate exhaust blow, tappety engine and general roughness of it all. 6: Decide how to paint roof. 6a: Change Gearbox Oil. 7: Replace sunroof mechanism with a good used one even though it works perfectly because it's gone rusty. Argh. At some point, I'll probably need to change the gearbox oil, too. The obligatory "Hee, look how an XM looks lowered, isn't it cool" picture.  |
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Last Edit: Jul 17, 2012 10:02:23 GMT by Deleted
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Jul 13, 2012 11:03:38 GMT
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XM's are completely excellent and totally worth saving. I'd love one myself.
I think the electrical gremlins are just part of the owner ship experience. That sunroof grot looks a little worrying though.
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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Jul 13, 2012 11:23:03 GMT
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Bookmarked! I've yet to see this car's big potential fulfilled  I do hope you'll get carried away! |
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Jul 13, 2012 11:47:42 GMT
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I'm leaning very heavily towards making the entire top black and reinstating the black scuttle trim of a series 1 (maybe gloss, rather than unpainted plastic) with black mirrors. Citroën wanted a band of black and a floating roof, but the black trim at the front was to pull the rear and front kink and dropped window line into harmony - the S2 body colour treatment corrupts almost as much as the silly lip spoiler and hateful 'swoopy' logo does (why on earth they did that, without changing the main Citroën font. It's okay. It's gone now. Debadged on an XM looks cool) the rear.
One front wing, the nose, the driver's door and the tail light trims need attention or replacement. The front bumper is also rough, and I think would benefit from being flatted and painted as per Exclusive spec. It's also missing the covers for the pedestrian headlight washers.
I'm going to remove the Citroën and VSX badges, and I'm looking for a tailblazer to fill the gap between the red lights, so it has two unbroken bands, one grey, one red. I'd like to go "space age" with it, really, and could do things like changing the colour of the interior LCDs - though blue is massively overdone.
As such, it really needs fully resprayed below the windows anyway, as well as the roof. Which opens up the possibilities of colour changes...
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Last Edit: Jul 13, 2012 14:06:57 GMT by Deleted
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jonw
Part of things
Can open a Mouse with a File
Posts: 768
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Jul 13, 2012 13:36:04 GMT
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Great car.....
Random cooling fan is a french thing.... my 106 did the same.
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Suzuki SV650R The good
Triumph T20 The Bad
BMW G650GS The Ugly
Matchless G12CSR The Smokey
Toyota Hybrid One pint or Two?
Ingredients of this post
Spam
Drunken Rambling of author
Bad spelling
Drunken ramblings of inner voices
Occasional pointless comments
Vile beef trimming they won't even use in stock cubes
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brawr
Part of things
Posts: 650
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Jul 13, 2012 16:01:10 GMT
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My old man used to be parts manager at a Citroen garage and I've got great memories of going away on a family holiday in an XM estate in the same colour (in my mind, they're all that colour), so will keep an eye on this. Would like to own one at some point. Good save!
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Jul 13, 2012 16:37:34 GMT
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I'm leaning very heavily towards making the entire top black and reinstating the black scuttle trim of a series 1 (maybe gloss, rather than unpainted plastic) with black mirrors. Citroën wanted a band of black and a floating roof, but the black trim at the front was to pull the rear and front kink and dropped window line into harmony That sounds delicious. I awlways thought this, the Xantia and the BX suffered a lot on the route from styling concept to car sitting on the driveway. Some people, incredibly, don't want to drive cars that look a bit like French spaceships. What's wrong with these people? RE the LCD on the radio, gear display, and everywhere else: panels of this era most probably didn't use surface mount and were made to last. I'd be surprised if the glitches you're seeing weren't just caused by poor connections. If you can get access to them, separate, clean, reseat. Saabs of this era are the same, it's rarely the panels that fail, just the connection. |
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Jul 13, 2012 16:52:47 GMT
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I like these. Liked the Xantia too. Good luck with the repairs...
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Jul 13, 2012 17:52:52 GMT
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I've had a few of the wacky Citroens over the years. Its a passion so sorry to hijack your thread! So this is my old V6 Xantia, i loved this car, it wasn't that old when I had it, I seem to recall it'd only done 35k when I sold it. I regret selling this one, it was a lovely car.    I also had a black V6SEI XM, the old 12v engine which was nice but not as good as the 24v version. No pictures of this one unfortunately. I now run a lovely BX TZD turbo, its been superb, been to various far away euro destinations, loads of times. Its done the trip to my parents in southern Spain a good few times now and I love it to bits. Had it 7 years now, got it with 32k on the clock, its done nearly 100k now. How many cars offer this much comfort with 50mpg?? Pictured on the causeway to Le Mont St Michel on the way back from Spain.  Oh, and this is me circa 1989 outside Mark Pritchard Citroen, Derby next to my first love, the BX 4x4 and then the BX 4x4 I owned a few years later (not the same car me thinks!)!   Best of luck with the XM, the 2.0CT turbo is a nice engine, the V6 isn't hugely faster and much more agro if it goes wrong (both the 12v and 24v are bloody lovely engines though), well worth putting the effort into this, XM are going to be EXTREMELY rare in the not too distant future, you don't see 'that' many in France anymore. The ZF autoboxes are the biggest killer of XM's and Xantias not to mention C5's etc. Richard, did you own the NSU i used to see parked on a drive in Etwall?? I spent the latter years of my youth living there. |
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Vauxhall Omega V6 Estate
Landrover Defender 300Tdi
Ford Puma (winter smoker)
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Jul 13, 2012 22:30:02 GMT
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Nice car. It is certainly showing its age, but in a good way. There is something with Bertone design that make them stand out. Phase 1 looks would be the topping on a cake. A light body colour would be a good contrast against the high gloss black parts,  |
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 Click picture for more |
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Jul 13, 2012 23:19:32 GMT
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I like that a lot*
*runs off to eBay to search for one..
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Remember the days when sex was safe and motorsport was dangerous. Vintage bling always attracts pussy. |
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si2001
Part of things
Posts: 280
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Jul 14, 2012 15:30:04 GMT
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These are brilliant, my Dad had a champagne gold one on an H plate, he loved it and wouldn't have let it go if the company car scheme hadn't forced him to.
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 Daily: 2015 BMW 520d M Sport Project: 1990 Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 Highlights: '90 AX 1.1 Salsa, '97 306 GTi-6; '89 Galant VR-4, '02 E46 M3 SMG, '01 DC5 Integra Type R, '97 Saab 9000 CSE 2.0T, '95 Renault Clio Williams 3, '02 Renault Clio 172, '12 Audi A5 |
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Jul 14, 2012 16:34:25 GMT
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I had a BX and a Xantia, both 16v, great cars I preferred the BX though. Test drove a Xantia Activa, with "active" suspension, uncanny enter a bend and no body roll.
Forgotten about the 4x4 BX, that would be a really useful multi-purpose car.
Mark
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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Jul 14, 2012 17:57:28 GMT
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I've had: 1981 GSA Club 1983 CX 2400 Pallas (South African with A/C and 289,000 miles on) 1984 BX 16 (Mk 1) 1985 CX GTi Turbo 1986 CX 25TRi Safari 1988 BX 16RE 1988 BX 19TRS 1988 CX GTi 1988 CX GTi Turbo 2 1988 CX 22TRS Croisette 1989 CX 22TRS 1990 BX GTi 4x4 1990 XM 2.0 Carb 1992 XM 2.0i 8v Estate 1994 XM 2.0 Turbo C.T. Onyx (Flame Grilled) 1996 XM 2.0 Turbo C.T. Exclusive Manual 1999 Xantia 1.8 16v Estate 2008 C6 2.7HDi Exclusive Quite fond of HP Citroëns  With the XMs, I was good with the electrics and trim, but the Exclusive died due to manifold gasket, lack of access and garage, and ultimately subframe rust and a blown pipe when Adrian bought it. Annoyingly I let the Tailblazer go with it, and now I want one! |
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tigran
Club Retro Rides Member
In rust we trust. Amen.
Posts: 6,444
Club RR Member Number: 142
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Jul 14, 2012 20:14:28 GMT
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Cool purchase, looking forward to something that will be oh-so-rare soon to get some love.
p.s. what did you think of the C6? I'm very strongly pondering getting a twin turbo diseasel as a daily sensible/motorway beater at some point and wondering what they were like from an enthusiasts' point of view.
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1964 Rover P5 i6
1987 BMW 525e - The Rusty Streak
1992 Micra K10
2001 BMW E46 316i
2002 BMW E46 330Ci
2013 BMW F31 320d
2018 BMW G31 530d
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Jul 14, 2012 21:30:16 GMT
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The C6 is okay on the motorway. They're awful as a suburban daily. My desire for one was fuelled by CXs and XMs, and I was disappointed in the car itself, and the dealer support for a near £40K motor.
The engine is nice, but the auto box spoils stop-start traffic. The steering is awful. The brakes are neutered, numb, slow to react. The suspension lacks fluidity. And worse, it broke before it was two years old/20K miles.
I liken it to being a Peugeot 407 Coupé in a fatsuit pretending to be a Citroën. It really isn't, not if the CX and XM are your benchmarks - and as a purchase, I'd rate a Jaguar XJ or XF a better way to get that fantastic diesel.
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eternaloptimist
Posted a lot
Too many projects, not enough time or space...
Posts: 2,578
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Jul 16, 2012 22:19:07 GMT
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Nice . I do like an XM - had a late series 1 Sei turbo auto. Lovely thing - it followed two CX's. Last big French car I had was a Vel Satis - had it for six years from it being a year old. Blew itself up in the end. Before it went bang I went to a Cit dealer to enquire about a C6. Dealer was just not interested in talking about it.
I'd find it very difficult to resist a leathered up V6 estate.
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XC70, VW split screen crew cab, Standard Ten
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Ummm...XM would have one at a drop of a hat, or a Xantia 2.0 turbo before they all get scrapped for their engine's!!!!!!!!! But no space......
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Jul 17, 2012 10:12:35 GMT
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So, paws up if you remember what a CX was supposed to be powered by, way back when it was just a silly little prototype and before Project L. Yep. You got it. WANKEL. I dislike the Turbocharged XU lump. It's about as refined as the participants in any Channel 4/5 reality TV show. This one has 103K on it and sounds quite coarse, I haven't done the stethoscope-screwdriver trick to try and narrow down the chattering masses contained within, but I'm fairly sure I couldn't be happy with it without serious tinkering. Now, the flipside is that this car does not owe me a huge amount, need to be used as transport, or represent some amazing classic that would need to be saved (though what's running through my head, I'd be all for doing to a CX as much as I'd be all for getting a flat-four or six into a DS, done properly). It may be a challenge too far. It may be sheer madness. It almost certainly won't happen. But. What if, instead of an XU, there were a nice happy little transversely mounted Renesis 4-port. With oil coolers below the headlights. With cold-air intake and filters above the gearbox. With an electromagnetic clutch on the HP pump so it could be disengaged for starting. Maybe. If that were necessary (I'd also consider a motor and remote pump). It's a small, light, 192bhp engine. It's smooth. It's good for 200K. It plays well - very well - with torque convertors, albeit badly on fuel... Management might be tricky. Sorry. WILL be tricky... But as a thought... Also, I am constantly coming back to this when trying to think of what do do with the XM's paint:  |
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Last Edit: Jul 17, 2012 10:13:05 GMT by Deleted
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Jul 17, 2012 11:09:08 GMT
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indeed, not a great engine, a stopgap for psa when the 135 bhp xu10J4r was in development, the solid tappets don't help.
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With the XMs, I was good with the electrics and trim, but the Exclusive died due to manifold gasket, lack of access and garage, and ultimately subframe rust and a blown pipe when Adrian bought it. Annoyingly I let the Tailblazer go with it, and now I want one!
