Friday, September 11, 2015

Edvin's 1994 Citroen XM


Edvin got rid of his Porsche 996. And he got this less-than-perfect XM as his winter driver.


So, it’s a 1994 Berline (5-door) with the 2.0 Turbo CT (wonder what the CT stands for?) engine and a manual gearbox. She’s apparently only done 177k kilometers, which I may even believe. Imported from Germany in 2005 and hasn’t seen many kilometers since then, roughly 3-4k per year. It’s by no means in mint condition, but it only cost €900. That's not much and chances are it won't be totally worthless come springtime.


So, pros and cons. Pros:
- love the design and the quirks.
- the best engine (about 140hp) and gearbox (5-speed) for my needs at least.
- fairly low mileage.
- MOT’d until 06/2016.
- two good sets of tires (well the brands are a bit suspicious, but there’s plenty of thread and studs left).
- quite cheap.
- smooth and quiet ride.
- * hydractive suspension is really smooth and seems to work most of the time.
- * practically rust free body (except for a dent in the off-side rocker and rear door, but that’s purely cosmetic surface rust).
- very spacious.
- plush fabric electric seats which work.
- electric windows and mirrors also work.
- OEM cassette deck with surprisingly good speakers too.

Cons:
- windshield wiper motor/linkage seized up right after purchase, used replacement already sourced.
- *hydraulic suspension did act up once, but that may have been my own fault. will continue to monitor the situation.
- *above mentioned dent in rocker panel should be sanded and painted before winter. no need to pull dent or swap door.
- no knowledge when the cam belt was changed, need to remedy that asap.
- missing original hubcaps, which seem to be made of unobtainium.
- sometimes gives a CEL for a short while when accelerating WOT. may be the spark plugs or ignition coil.
- possibly a cv joint knocking when turning right.
- cracked tail light.
- shift knob needs replacing
- a few interior bulbs need replacing
- the speedometer needle is all over the place at speeds below 70 km/h. over that it settles down. maybe it's the speedo cable?
- probably a lot more that I haven’t discovered yet.


7 comments:

ardas said...

CT stans for constant torque. Something something turbo something something constant torque ;-) If you are interested in more information you can try googling Xantia CT or maybe Citroen Constant Torque ;)

ardas said...

If you have a hydractive suspension (sort of an "improved" version that should stiffen and lower the suspension when driving on a motorway; a subsystem of a regular hydropneumatic susp) you should get get used to it acting up strange.

Try and give a strong whack to not working lights. There is a big chance that bulbs wprk fine. Tried and tested on a multiple Citroens.

Lovely car. Welcome to the club :)

Edvin said...

Thanks ardas! That text was written a few weeks ago, so I've since figured out the CT and the weirdness with the Hydractive 2 suspension. In terms of Constant Torque, it feels pretty much the same as any other early 90s turbo, so I guess that's just marketing speak. :)

mtc said...

Honestly, this car is way cooler. Well done :)

Edvin said...

Thanks mtc! I'm already considering a C6 or C5 III as my next car, but I'd probably keep this one too. :)

Francisco said...

Was Bertone totally stoned when he designed this? Or is this a wanna-bertone?

Edvin said...

Francisco: It is indeed a Bertone design. I think the final product is better than the early prototypes:

http://www.citroenet.org.uk/prototypes/projet-v80-y30/xmpro1.html
http://www.citroenet.org.uk/prototypes/projet-v80-y30/xmpro2.html
http://www.citroenet.org.uk/prototypes/projet-v80-y30/xmpro3.html