Here I go again.... Citroen XM luxo-barge content
Discussion
PlayersNo6 said:
Always liked these - last of the quirky Citroens. You appear to have got a good one.
Remember taking my mum to a main dealer in the early 90s to look at an AX and they had a new XM in the showroom. Salesman told me the XM was the car that killed of the 2CV - as Citroen reckoned no one would take them seriously in the luxury market whilst they were still producing the 2CV.
I'd say the salesman's talking BS - the DS, SM and CX were all in the luxury market too. SM used to cost more than an E-Type!Remember taking my mum to a main dealer in the early 90s to look at an AX and they had a new XM in the showroom. Salesman told me the XM was the car that killed of the 2CV - as Citroen reckoned no one would take them seriously in the luxury market whilst they were still producing the 2CV.
They stopped making the 2CV partly because it wasn't selling like it used to and partly because they there were new stricter emissions rules on the horizon and the 2CV didn't stand a chance!
,the Alfa isn't a small car ether if the photo doesn't judge right the length because of different positioning.Video without fail!! Ohhh I love XM's! One used to be parked oposite my ex girlfriends house (may still be, who knows) and I had a lust for it after my Xantia. Hmmm, Ebay is not allowed for the next month, must focus on selling my cars, rather than buying one!!
Out of interest, on a involving road, are these fun for their size?
Out of interest, on a involving road, are these fun for their size?
LouD86 said:
Out of interest, on a involving road, are these fun for their size?
Surprisingly good. It's never going to set the world on fire, but it stiffens up well as you corner, giving it excellent handling for the sizeLouD86 said:
Now Ive seen it, I need an electric armrest in my life!
Glass within Glass, Im sure ive read something about that. Is it to do with cabin comfort? Keeping the climate, and noise levels etc
Exactly, why would you not need an electric armrest?!Glass within Glass, Im sure ive read something about that. Is it to do with cabin comfort? Keeping the climate, and noise levels etc
I think it probably is. I need to find the official reasoning behind it. I have just purchased an excellent XM book, which should be here within the next few days.
In the 1990s, before I qualified for a car/car allowance, I had one of these for a year from our pool. It was ace, beautifully smooth and had every conceivable electronic gadget (back then).
Mine was the 2.5 litre diesel (I think it was a 6-cyl), automatic, estate (so it was bigger than even yours), and went quite well for something that weighed as much as a small planet, and the seats were probably the most comfortable I've ever experienced in a car.
What really sold it to me was how it helped me get home from the Berkeley nuclear power station in Gloucestershire, where I was working at the time. Bizzarely there was only a single country lane for accessing the site (or the Severn estuary which was treacherous). A nuclear power station without any way of running away or getting emergency services there in a hurry. Very odd.. !! The lane was lower than the surrounding countryside so when we had the floods in 1998, the access road started to fill-up very quickly.
I sloped-off early that day, so I wouldn't get stuck at work overnight (people did). As I approached the road it was already deep, and the water was moving very fast from left to right. The XM has a lever next to the gear lever which raises the suspension around 8 to 10 inches. I thought this was so you could unshroud the rear wheels from the flat-topped wheelarches in the event you needed to change the wheels, and I also thought you weren't supposed to drive it with the suspension fully raised however I've since learned otherwise. Anyway, with the suspension raised, I drove through fast moving water that was lapping around the bottom of the side windows. I was crapping myself and especially because with an automatic I had no way of keeping the revs up without going too fast. I kept it in first gear to try and limit the speed and even managed to create a bow wave for a while before we started going too fast. I had bitten off more than I was comfortable with, so I thought only to get as far through it as I could, even if it meant killing the car.
The flood was about 120 metres in length, and window-deep for a good half of that. When we crawled out of the other side, the car conked out. I sincerely thought I'd killed it but cranked it over a fair while until it fired on *some* of the available cylinders - but not all. After leaving it idling for a few mins, I set of - limiting it to 2nd gear so I could rev it a bit and, hopefully, dry it out. It was lumpy for a few miles but the plan worked and by the time we got to the M5 it was running fine.
I kept that car for about 5 months after that, and never had a single issue with it. I did suspect that it might not make a long-term proposition for someone, especially that it would now (thanks to me) probably rust to nothing within 5 years if the electrics didn't self-distruct first, however I was sorry to see it go. I considered making an offer for it but found out the price the lease company was looking for which was above my capabilities then. Well, it was only (then) a 2 year old car.
Mine was the 2.5 litre diesel (I think it was a 6-cyl), automatic, estate (so it was bigger than even yours), and went quite well for something that weighed as much as a small planet, and the seats were probably the most comfortable I've ever experienced in a car.
What really sold it to me was how it helped me get home from the Berkeley nuclear power station in Gloucestershire, where I was working at the time. Bizzarely there was only a single country lane for accessing the site (or the Severn estuary which was treacherous). A nuclear power station without any way of running away or getting emergency services there in a hurry. Very odd.. !! The lane was lower than the surrounding countryside so when we had the floods in 1998, the access road started to fill-up very quickly.
I sloped-off early that day, so I wouldn't get stuck at work overnight (people did). As I approached the road it was already deep, and the water was moving very fast from left to right. The XM has a lever next to the gear lever which raises the suspension around 8 to 10 inches. I thought this was so you could unshroud the rear wheels from the flat-topped wheelarches in the event you needed to change the wheels, and I also thought you weren't supposed to drive it with the suspension fully raised however I've since learned otherwise. Anyway, with the suspension raised, I drove through fast moving water that was lapping around the bottom of the side windows. I was crapping myself and especially because with an automatic I had no way of keeping the revs up without going too fast. I kept it in first gear to try and limit the speed and even managed to create a bow wave for a while before we started going too fast. I had bitten off more than I was comfortable with, so I thought only to get as far through it as I could, even if it meant killing the car.
The flood was about 120 metres in length, and window-deep for a good half of that. When we crawled out of the other side, the car conked out. I sincerely thought I'd killed it but cranked it over a fair while until it fired on *some* of the available cylinders - but not all. After leaving it idling for a few mins, I set of - limiting it to 2nd gear so I could rev it a bit and, hopefully, dry it out. It was lumpy for a few miles but the plan worked and by the time we got to the M5 it was running fine.
I kept that car for about 5 months after that, and never had a single issue with it. I did suspect that it might not make a long-term proposition for someone, especially that it would now (thanks to me) probably rust to nothing within 5 years if the electrics didn't self-distruct first, however I was sorry to see it go. I considered making an offer for it but found out the price the lease company was looking for which was above my capabilities then. Well, it was only (then) a 2 year old car.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff