First off, barge!!!!!! Heresy.... careful you're not banished from this forum on your
first day (second post!!)
OK, 24v's in s1 guise which appears to be your top choice only come in manual.
I'll get that one in next!

Auto's may make sense in an Xm if you know the box is
well looked after and you drive in the centre of Leicester ALL the time and judging
by the endless chatter here about auto's being bliss in an Xm, a guy could get
brainwashed.
OK, don't tell anyone I said this, but they're bloody awful things and a real prehistoric
relic in constant usage and a permanent irritant with speed stepped changes out of sync
with whatever speed you are actually forced to drive in rather than the prevailing
speed limit. The clever autoadaptive 24v on the later s2 is a masterpiece in comparison.
Gold is a fab colour on an Xm and suits it very VERY well. Rare mind as most were
the mandarin red maroon, green or blue. In many ways having owned/driven every
permutation of Xm the one that should be a first Xm and could be the best al lrounder
if you like petrol would be a 16v although alas only available in a s2 bodyshell.
Best DERV, (sadly another s2) is the petrol like 2.5D!
Best s1 after the obvious manual 12v/24v leads you firmly to the 2.0i Turbo CT in
auto guise (if you must) and you should have no problem falling over dozens of them
if you're patient. Happy hunting!
Dismissing a green Xm because of an old green BX is a tad harsh.
You can't generalise
that far!!
Worth passing on more info on that 2.0i you mention near you here on the forum in
case it whets the appetite of someone here currently looking too.
Andrew