Decent sub-£5k barge with air suspension?

[Chromegrill]

Had a thing about air suspension ever since floating several hundred miles along the motorway in a Citroen XM many years ago in a friend's car and thinking it was the most comfortable few hours I'd ever spent in a car, bar none. Looking to change my present car and sizing up which cars in my budget (up to £5000) to look at. Other preconditions: must be petrol and must be automatic. Options at first glance include:

Citroen C5 (pre-2008)
Citroen C6
Audi A8
Jaguar XJ X350
Land Rover
Lexus LS430
Lexus RX300 (2003 onwards)
Phaeton

However, as I live and drive in a big inner city I don't fancy trying to park most of the above. And as I need the car for work that rules out the Land Rover or Citroen which would live permanently in the local mechanic's waiting to be fixed. A few E class Mercs seem to have air suspension but very few ads say it's fitted so either it's very rare or it's rusted away (budget pretty much excludes any E class post 2006). There must be others out there besides those in my list - any suggestions for a floaty magic carpet ride in an elderly automatic petrol luxobarge that's small enough to drive and park in a big city?

[InitialDave]

Don't forget that the XM is Citroen's very specific implementation of "air suspension", and you may not get what you're looking for from the more common "rubber bladder" air springs most vehicles with it run.

Perhaps some test drives are the most sensible first move?

[thepeoplespal]

For top beardage you need this thread http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Plenty of good advice there.

[jimmybell]

does the 2002-2005ish s-class not tick this box?

i was under the impression they had air - my dad has the same obsession and had one for a while (still says it was a nice car now).

[Muddle238]

Chromegrill said:

Other preconditions: must be petrol and must be automatic. Options at first glance include:

Citroen C5 (pre-2008)
Citroen C6

I'm not sure about the C5, but as far as I know the C6 wasn't available with a petrol. It was either 2.2 diesel, 2.7 diesel V6 (most common) or 3.0 (less than 20 in the UK, rare as hens teeth).

[ericmcn]

if these things go wrong that 5k will not seem that much of a bargain at all.

One thing I dont get it people underestimating car maintenance cost, especially with barges. Just because the car has lost 99% of its value doesnt mean it will just nothing to repair, chances are it will cost as much or even more to repair than it would as new.

[carlingofblack]

Repairs may well eat away at your budget. I took a punt on an A8 2003. The 3.7 V8 as I couldn't find a nice 4.2 for the money. Such a beautifully built machine but, nothing lasts forever. I was extremely lucky to find a back street mechanic to rebuild the suspension compressor for around 2 hrs labour with a new seal kit I found on eBay. New compressors are expensive and 6 months into ownership I found out that this one was tired. I then needed to replace one of the levelling sensors. The real pain in the balls was the electric handbrake which was forever giving off hysterical warnings. Two new calipers thanks very much at around £500 each and I think those were pattern parts as OEM parts were astronomical.

Edited by carlingofblack on Sunday 26th February 08:14

[dkatwa]

I bought a CL500 a year ago, with an all inclusive warranty from Auto group which gives cover for almost everything, limited to £500 per claim. Currently on AT for sale as I am now looking to find a job in central London and have other cars.

[Chromegrill]

Thanks - not looking good then. Keeping the XM as a benchmark (but as car has to be my daily commuter I think the XM is too old and potentially too unreliable to fit the bill) I tried the newest C5 which I also thought was pretty good. Except there is no petrol version, and my dislike for diesels goes beyond their polluting characteristics.

I also gave the XJ X350 a try and really liked it, but on balance it's probably not a great choice as a daily commuter around town.

So perhaps I should be asking, which other cars' suspensions come closest to Citroen's hydropneumatic? As even that is being phased out I have to assume that there are other means besides nitrogen filled rubber spheres or air compressors to create a floaty ride.

[ZX10R NIN]

CLS/E500

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[t400ble]

Jaguar XJ

[Chromegrill]

Who said W211 E500? I like that man. Had a look at the specs - ticks all the boxes, leather check. Tasteful wood check. V8 check. Not sure I need five litres of engine thumping away in the city centre but similar size car to my present Rover 75 and most bizarrely the insurance seems to be cheaper too. I tried test driving an X350 (lovely floating sensation but a bit big for my circumstances) and the Lexus GS300 which is far too sensible a car. The E500s aren't that much more to buy and have "want it" all over them.

Are there any major pitfalls to be aware of? Like, is it worth risking any W211 built before mid 2006 or will it rust away before my eyes while the electrics disappear in a flash of sparks?

[Jimmy Recard]

Muddle238 said:

I'm not sure about the C5, but as far as I know the C6 wasn't available with a petrol. It was either 2.2 diesel, 2.7 diesel V6 (most common) or 3.0 (less than 20 in the UK, rare as hens teeth).

There was definitely a petrol V6 available, but I've never actually seen one

[ZX10R NIN]

Chromegrill said:

Who said W211 E500? I like that man. Had a look at the specs - ticks all the boxes, leather check. Tasteful wood check. V8 check. Not sure I need five litres of engine thumping away in the city centre but similar size car to my present Rover 75 and most bizarrely the insurance seems to be cheaper too. I tried test driving an X350 (lovely floating sensation but a bit big for my circumstances) and the Lexus GS300 which is far too sensible a car. The E500s aren't that much more to buy and have "want it" all over them.

Are there any major pitfalls to be aware of? Like, is it worth risking any W211 built before mid 2006 or will it rust away before my eyes while the electrics disappear in a flash of sparks?

It won't rust the W211 pretty much had that sorted if you see rust on one it's either had a very tough life or it's been crashed & badly repaired.

[saaby93]

ZX10R NIN said:

Chromegrill said:

Who said W211 E500? I like that man. Had a look at the specs - ticks all the boxes, leather check. Tasteful wood check. V8 check. Not sure I need five litres of engine thumping away in the city centre but similar size car to my present Rover 75 and most bizarrely the insurance seems to be cheaper too. I tried test driving an X350 (lovely floating sensation but a bit big for my circumstances) and the Lexus GS300 which is far too sensible a car. The E500s aren't that much more to buy and have "want it" all over them.

Are there any major pitfalls to be aware of? Like, is it worth risking any W211 built before mid 2006 or will it rust away before my eyes while the electrics disappear in a flash of sparks?

It won't rust the W211 pretty much had that sorted if you see rust on one it's either had a very tough life or it's been crashed & badly repaired.

I know nothing about these but says try E55 here
http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/general-discussion/...

[Geekman]

ericmcn said:

Just because the car has lost 99% of its value doesnt mean it will just nothing to repair, chances are it will cost as much or even more to repair than it would as new.

Not true at all. Try pricing up some air suspension struts for a W220 S class from Arnott or Airdominance, a gearbox rebuild on an E65 7 Series from Bristol Transmissions, and an engine rebuild on an XJR at Penge Jags. All the quotes you get will be vastly cheaper than what you'd have paid at the main dealer when the car was new.

Obviously any older barge isn't going to be as cheap to run as a Nissan Micra but anything vaguely mainstream will benefit from a host of specialists and parts manufacturers well versed in their common issues. I've run X350 Jag XJs for over 100k miles and I've never had any of the huge bills some people get when they just dump it at the main dealer and say "fix it".