Citroen XM Forum

Weren't they just! We were so lucky that didn't go halfway down a hairpin bend with shear drop on one side.
I'll take a French supermarket carpark any day.

Luckily it was only the ram in my case Russ that would not have been fatal, whereas a loose rack could be a bigger issue! Regards, Matthew T.

Absolutely. Thank goodness it wasn't the rack. But either way, loose bolts on the steering system is not ideal!

Not updated this in ages. So here goes. Well really not much has been happening with the XM as such. More with me the last few months...

To aid the peace of mind and help lower the blood pressure, last week I fitted new refurbed strut tops kindly supplied by Aad in the Netherlands. Having seen Jaap's strut tops, and his enthusiasm for the quality and improvement in steering, I was convinced!
Trouble was Aads contact details have changed, so trying to get hold of him to begin with was a little frustrating. But I got there in the end and as of last Wednesday now have them on the car. The old tops weren't about to fail, but they were starting to crack and splits were starting to appear. I had a significant amount already in euros left over from the Citroen challenge last summer, so I bit the bullet. They aren't cheap, but you get strut tops that look OEM.

This is them.... I'm very pleased, and they have the an anti pop through ring welded in. Aad prefers to exchange them rather than rebuild your own tops.








I have also been doing some repainting. The caps above the rear quaterlight Windows and the little bit of rear wheel arch on the drivers side which was lightly dented and the paint rubbed off when the car was rescued from the national last year after the headgasket went, have been repaired and had new paint. So far no horrible reactions with the clear coat. Note to anyone wanting to dabble in painting cars. Do not use Simoniz laquer.

New front pads and discs have been fitted after a little mishap with an escaping calliper bolt. Went for Ferodo discs and Bosch pads. Have to say they seem very good indeed.

Jobs to do next, reseal rear lights on the boot lid. They appear to be letting in some water. Will do spoiler and wiper too just to make sure.
Spheres, inparticular the centre and rear ones need doing. The ride is now a lot firmer, and looking at the service history, they are due. I had two genuine Citroen ones which came off the grey XM, which Will kindly pressure tested at the Chevrons rally. 44 and 42 I think they were. Can they be fitted to the rears, or shall I let them go flat a bit more?!!

So that is that really! Nothing else to report

It was good to see you on the weekend Russ and to catch up and those strut tops certainly do look impressive, both on and off the car - a hundred times better than the other firm I used!! The other jobs that you have undertaken and planned on the brakes etc. also sound very sensible. With regards, Matthew T.

Russ I do believe if the spheres have a higher capacity of nitrogen then the ride will be softer.

The car was looking good Russ. My offer of a bit of pit time and the RG Draper spray gun still stand

Rob

Bite his hand off Russ... But not the one he uses for painting

Oh yes!! I know this from experiance... many years ago I had a go at a re gasing kit. I did some rear xantia spheres and over pressured them.. fitted them.. the result was a back end that was sooooooooooooo light and soft.. accelleration had the back on the bump stops.. (it was a 1.9td sx sinker) and braking brought the back right up.. it was fun..

Those strut tops look really good, can you share details of cost and how to make contact with Aad?

Regarding the spheres:
Those multi membrane ones you have will take an age to lose more pressure and would be incorrectly damped for the rear. My advice wuld eb to fit them to teh front as is, or have htem recharged first, then fit them

I have read that multi membrane spheres shouldn't be fitted tot eh rear of cars due to risk of cold weather causing the impermeable membrane to crack. i'm not sure I believe this as saucer spheres use multi membranes and are fitted front and rear to C5 and C6.

My understanding was that the more expensive multi membrane spheres were only fitted to the front end of earlier cars to combat the higher leakage rate due to the weight and heat of the engine.