Ebay XM Kettering

[renault760]

Having owned an early CX Prestige and knowing what a huge difference there was between a regular CX I was disappointed when I discovered that an XM Prestige wasn't a long wheel base luxury model.

Still, Bendito, I'm glad you've bought it and have plans to get it back on the road. You've obviously now read about the alarming decline in numbers.

I'm sure that it will be a big enough job on it's own but at least it sounds as if once the engine is sorted you should be able to start using it. I have 2 that have stood for far too long and I know I'll end up spending more on each of them than either will be worth when back on the road.

Good luck, LG.

[jamescarruthers]

Yes, well done on saving this XM. I am a big fan of LPG powered cars, so I wish you luck getting this running on gas.

[renault760]

As it happens, the CX Prestige I owned, (a March 77 model), had a gas conversion. Unfortnately, when I had it in the early 90s you couldn't find the stuff anywhere.

LG.

[Bendito]

It's back at mine. Bit like a skip inside but will have a proper look in the morning

[Bendito]

Some interesting discoveries today.......

I wondered why there were many tubes of superglue amongst the rubbish inside the car.....that's right for sticking the rear window shut! Self tapper to hold the wing mirror on, why not?! All fixable, I guess when a car becomes a cheap banger stuff like this is inevitable. It's still a great car though my list of parts is growing though so stand by everyone!

[White Exec]

Hopefully someone didn't do too good a job with the superglue - a tad drastic! A block of wood inside the door is the usual temporary fix if the cable goes ping.
Good luck with getting to the bottom of it all.

[MTXM]

Yes well done for saving the car and I remember seeing it at a CCC rally at least once when owned by Chris Andrews up north. In answer to your earlier question about the 'Prestige' label, the late models were basically top spec or sei with auto box as a no-cost option. Regards, Matthew T.

[Bendito]

Well today it was taken to Mick Avery's garage locally for him to take a look at the car generally. I nipped in to see Mick who showed me his amazing SM and talked about selling Ami's, Dyane, 2CV, GS, CX, XM etc etc over the years. Fascinating. He then said he had an original unused owners handbook for an Ami which he duly gave to me.

Anyway the recovery truck bloke said 'oh it will be £2000 to fix the damage if the cam belt broke' needless to say I wont put my response on here. Obviously its not going to get repaired if it costs anything like that, idea at this stage is to get a clear picture of what's wrong and the general condition of the thing. Clearly there will be a list of parts appearing soon and a swift change of mechanical help if common sense isn't forthcoming!

On another note the carpets on the drivers side are wet (front and rear) as is the boot carpet. Any ideas? Drains for sunroof blocked? No obvious problems with the seals around the doors.

[sdelasal]

Check the condition of the horizontal roof seal, that the top of the drivers door seals against. This seal needs to be bonded to the roof, originally it was stuck but due to age the seal can fail and water run through and then end up running around the inside of the door seals onto the carpet.

[Dieselman]

Knowing XM sunroofs, that would be the first port of call, A poorly fitting tailgate seal can be another point of entry, the plug in the suspension mounting on the inner wing another and lastly corrosion at the front of the sill area, but I wouldn't expect that to cause a wet boot carpet.

If repairing the petrol engine is deemed too costly, I have a crashed TD manual with all mechanical parts in excellent condition.