Hi XMX
Sorry to hear of ur XM, hope u get it perfect again soon. Minor accidents are always a good chance to get a tired car up to scratch, with the fresh paint and all...
My td: It's an S2 bumper and S1 nosecone -conscious choice of combination (best of both worlds for me).
The chevrons are just from some other Cit, don't know which one. I've wanted to try this for ages and I tried other combinations also (other chevrons (styles, sizes, positioning))....There's a folder on my pc with plenty of photos just on this "modification"! Including a chevron-less front (painter has covered holes for the Cit original).
Is this chevron a succesful result? There are 2 issues here:
1/depends largely on the angle, the level, and the distance where the car is viewed from, and the light; from one particular angle, it looks very ugly -I almost wanted to delete that photo when I downloaded it in my pc LOL-.
2/being used to view a standard XM everyday, especially an S1 with its tiny chevron, it might initially strike u as "out of place", exactly your feelings (and mine too, sometimes). However, let me tell u, the opposite also happens: now that I'm used to it, if I remove the big chevron, the XM looks to my eyes like a semi-finished prototype of some stage where they've not finalised the front yet! Exactly the reverse of what u feel when u look at mine. Purely a matter of habit this one, an absolutely natural effect.
What it certainly does, is it adds "presence" to the frontal area. The S1 nosecone/chevron combination is quite "80s" in this respect -it's underdesigned-, while, as it happens, current automobiles have taken the opposite route, i.e. overdesigned fronts, thus the S1 nosecone looks even more underdesigned than it would when it was marketed. I do love this, but from some angles, the S1 front (S1 bumper doesn't help either) looks like a "Lada Samara" type-of car, or BX, if u see what I mean, a bit too simple and sketchy, bit like a Leggo-car?
Mind u, I used to love the S1 front and not liking the S2, but through time this has changed. One's perception of what is "modern" changes continuously, with design evolving....Perhaps one day I'll find XMs are overall looking "too old", to the point of not wanting to own one anymore, who knows. I feel this for the CX now, while a few years ago I'd die to own one. I'm certainly not viewing the XM as a "classic" -this aspet has 0 loading in my choices-, I drive 2 of them because I really want to be driving these cars.
Anyway, on my XMs I'm trying various other harmless (to the metal! LoL) aesthetical alterations, in and out, and actually it's an ongoing process that often sees the car back to "standard", if I've decided I don't like the mod -always leave it on for a good couple of months, to view it in all posible situations... I really enjoy doing this...and keeps me entretained
In fact I wish I knew how to home-mould plastic.
Wait till u see what I'm doing in the interior of this one...!!!
Reliability-wise, it's been excellent, 11,000mls since last November and not a single problem -just one day, a jubillee clip came loose and some coolant escaped
cheers
G
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). Didn't know about lambwool mits, they really are much better, such a silky feeling in comparison to a sponge. Also, cleaning any bird/tree droppings *on* the spot...Trying my best!