Citroen XM Forum

It's interesting the variety of opinions here. The BX for example is the worse most crippling car I've ever owned. The driving position from hell, combined with seats that have no lower back support. (you had to hold your foot off the floor hovering above the accelerator to hold speed). The most agonizing crippling heap of sh!t I've owned. My wife still has a sore spot in her back from that bloody car, 6+years after we got rid of it.

The early CX seats are VERY good in velour. Yours were leather right ?? The leather seats in early CX's I've tried have been to soft as you mention, so you end up with a sore lower back. The velour are much better, and look and feel worst to look at.

seeya,
Shane L.

No dead cow in my CX unfortunately, Jersey rib in the Athena, and lovely tweed in the CX 20.





I must be a different shape from you, I found the Bx seats to be good, and the driving position to be Ok as well.

The worst car I have been in a long time is that Nissan Cashcow thing. Absolute garbage, I was given a lift in one of those, and was sitting in the back. The bench seat wasn't long enough to support the legs, the angle of the backrest was all wrong too, too far forward. Just garbage.

I have found the reference to XM auto seat adjusting.
The briefing note states that it was fitted to a batch of XM 2.5l Turbo D, chassis number sequence 00NZ6001 to 00NZ6300.

Thank you, John, for your efforts. Must have been a limited experimenting spree that was barely allowed by the penny pinchers.

DoubleChevron wrote:Out of interest, how my of you guys have owned/driven pre-psa Citroens ??? Have you ever sat in a factory standard CX turbo seat ?? What about a laughably basic looking 2cv or GS seat ?? There comfort is outstanding. Those of you that are lucky enough to own/drive a DS know that infact, every car made after it has "very ordinary" seats comfort wise Oh yeah .... Try a DS rear seat someday if you get the chance.

I must say the Series I XM has a visibley very nice looking seat, especially when covered with dead animal. I'm not sure what they are like to sit in for any length of time. I find the XM seats quite good, like the harder Xantia seats your @rse end eventually gets numb and you start wiggling in the seat trying to get some bloody flowing after a couple of hours travel. I'm sure anyone that doesn't own a CX/GS/2CV/DS as a daily car would praise the XM seats highly. They are better than the rock hard slabs in the Xantia.

seeya,
Shane L.

I have driven and owned all of those you mentioned. The 2CV, the GS, also the Ami, the Traction Avant, the DS, BX and the CX. The first CX I had had 'dead animal' (as you are fond of repeating) upholstery. The DS actually also had leather. Very comfy, but definitely not better than the leather in the XM. You see I don't belong to the 'anyone that doesn't own . . ." category. I can't say anything about the Xantia seats, but the pain they cause you may have to do something with your anatomy or the way this anatomy is wired to your brain - no offense
Oh, bottom line, the leather XM seats are excellent - in my opinion!

BX seats are very very good as well. I liked them.

Agreed. Drove BXs for quite a few years.

This is really intersting ... The BX's sold out here were all petrol. The position of the accellerator pedal meant you couldn't rest your foot on the floor and hold speed. The first BX we had was a 1600trs slugomatic. It wasn't too bad once I bent the sh!t out of the accellerator pedal with a huge shifter to bring it lower to the floor. Those horrible scratchy seats with no lower back support and the "rotary" adjustment on the front of the lower cushion were shockers.

Then a few years later I got my wife a BX TRI (in Australia these were the BX GTi engine/gearbox with lower spec interior). This car was simply crippling ... Appalling. Even after bending the sh!t out of the accellerator at 100km/h (it was mostly use for cruising highways commuting at 100km.h) you couldn't rest your foot on the floor. After 20minutes you'd be in agony. In desperation after bending/butchering the accellerator pedal, I fitted a Renault Fuego seat to it. These seats are brilliant . Never again will a BX come into this yard, there just such a crippling car to drive. Possibly the diesels were ok (with the very good BX 16valve seats --that we didn't get in the lower models) and an accellerator that must live much, much closer to the floor in the diesels. I couldn't see you guys even dream of owning one if the accellerator/seating position was the same.

The Xantia seats... hard... yep, but no bad. The XM seats are good, but not a patch on the old CX seats

You see I don't belong to the 'anyone that doesn't own . . ."

Not at all, the XM out here is viewed as a very expensive exotic, and GS/CX/DS as "throw away old junk cars". (well actually DS prices out here are finally increasing). Out here XM's are still bring over $10,000aud. For that sort of money, gimme a DS or 1/2dozen decent CX's. That sort of money will buy a very good DS or an concours condition CX.... Or an "average" XM that'll break daily.

eg: which car do you think would be far more comfortable, better to drive and nicer to own:

http://www.drive.com.au/used-cars/CITRO ... 09375&pt=1

or

http://www.classicthrottleshop.com/modernclassic1.html

I know what I would choose everytime without fail

seeya,
Shane L.

BX bashing next. Well, I guess it's a never ending story for poor Shane.
In its 12 years of production, 2.3 million BXs were sold. Must account for something

Jan-hendrik wrote: Oh, bottom line, the leather XM seats are excellent - in my opinion!

Seconded.

Mike.

I found the seats on the BX TZD very comfortable. Mk 2 CX seats comfortable but not as hard wearing as the XM, mine started to wear at only 250,000 miles

Peter

Yeah I don't understand how so many BX's sold either. How could such a crippling car to drive ever sell so well ??? I used to try and rest my heel on the floor and hold the accellerator with the side of my shoe... Obviously it slipped often causing sudden loss in speed But you simply couldn't hold your leg off the floor of the car for more than 20minutes without ending up with cramps the full length of your leg and hip. How did you guys sit on 60mph when you have to hold your foot hovering 1" off the floor ?? It's a pitty the interior disintigrated in the sun. It's almost impossible to find a good BX out here. There interiors turned to dust a decade ago.

I have driven a diesel model and don't recall them having this problem (then again, I only drove it around the block).

I didn't say the BX was a bad car, just bloody crippling to drive. Ours did nearly 100,000kms in a few short years and was very reliable. Sadly it appears to have killed my wifes back for life. She always has that one really sore spot in her back that car caused.

seeya,
Shane L.