Another one!

[DerekW]

Hi George, I'm confused (nothing unusual there!), what happened to the V6 that you spent so much time and effort sorting?

The 2.0i with autobox is a gutless monster but with a manual box it should give reasonable performance and economy. Relatively low miles too.

Derek

[jorgy]

Hi Derek

The V6 is doing well, the "new" waterpump is clocking 60miles/day since installed about 2 weeks ago, and it's not lost a milimeter of water in the expansion tank gauge (literaly), so fingers crossed.

Story is, I had decided to LPG the V6, but when this 2lt came up, the alternative scenario of owning 2 XMs started taking form in my head -the 2lt uses about half the fuel the V6 uses. Further, I could later LPG this 2lt if I like it, and get an 80mpg-equivalent car -and for less money than LPGing a 6-cylinder! The V6 is a keeper, of course.

The factor that's critical in this case is the low mileage and seemingly good condition of the car, otherwise I wouldn't touch it -prefer to spend all my cash on perfecting the V6.

Regards
George

[jorgy]

Hi George

Everyone goes on about the 2.1 but to be honest as an all round car taking into account running costs, reliability and engine bay layout i would say its the one to have, ok we all want a 24v and the 2.0 isnt going to set your trousers alight but it really is an underated powerplant.

Hope you get it

D

Hi D

Hope so!!

Totally agree with u, I'm very reluctant of buying any 2nd hand turbo'd XM -whether diesel of petrol- because of the added factor of possible turbo-trouble. Plus, with diesels, there's the added factor of the diesel pump. This 2lt lump really represents simplicity -and can't accomodate more complexity in my life right now. If it didn't have a sunroof either, I'd be 100% happy! -Andrew, do u want the sunroof???

Also, plenty of, and cheap, parts available as u said -see what I went through till I found a solution for my V6's (obsolete in the UK) waterpump...

Not slow at all either according to my data, in fact totally sufficient for my daily needs, and I'm sure it'll be great fun around the bends -it's an XM-. 10kg/hp makes a swift car, and I've had plenty of fun with much slower cars in the past. It will just need some more revving than the V6, prob using 1,000 revs more at any given moment, that's all....

One good point of the XM -based on my V6 experience- is that the engine bay is decently insulated from the interior, so revving a bit more is okay -no way I'd buy a petrol car with a "just enough" engine AND a noisy cabin.

Cheers
George

[DerekW]

Hi George, the V6, I'm so relieved, I thought you might have given up on it,

" It will just need some more revving than the V6, prob using 1,000 revs more at any given moment, that's all...." .. yes,it will certainly do that because of the lower gearing . It's a good reliable engine, the only problem that occasionally surfaces is the ignition amplifier and they are relatively cheap and used by lots of other cars.

Derek

[jorgy]

Hi Derek, no, not giving up on it, and if I did, I'd have offered it on this forum first.

cheers
George

[jorgy]

Right guys, I need some help -got some info on this XM.

Other than the bodged fuel pipes that Dean spotted, u may have spotted there are some red cables running from the battery's (+). I asked the seller if he knew what they r for and his answer is:

Hi George,

Attached are the pictures you requested of the XM. I also had a look at the red wire from the battery + terminal and it goes into two relays on the front panel, then back round into the cabin of the car. I haven't a clue what it connects to.

My guess is it overrides the immobiliser, but a guess is all I can give you I'm afraid as I don't 'do' electrics (If you can't fix it with a socket set, I'm scared of it). It doesn't affect the operation of the car in any way, and the central locking still works off the key.

Thanks

Afaik the relays at the front should either be radiator fans (lhs) or headlights (rhs), right? Is there anything else there? It is also remarkable that this XM has no immobiliser keypad -I thought all the earlier ones had one? There is an alarm though.

I wouldn't worry if the red cables go to any of the said relays, but would worry if they were suspension-ecu related -don't want to get a car with a messed up Hydractive. Sellers says "he can feel the hard mode switching in when cornering".

He also sent these photos of the sills (very good) and the strut tops (not so good -what do u think?)

cheers
George

[jorgy]

SILLS

[Dean]

The strut tops look ok, really you need shot from underneath in the wheel arch and one looking up under the top cone but tbh you will only see major problems in photo's you need to physicaly have a look yourself to be sure its very hard to tell in a photo and i have yet to see a MK 1 with an key pad, they exist and im sure someone may say different but i have not seen one so dont think its that common and certainly not on the sort of models that have DIY rear windows.
Cills are perfect, again like every 1.5 i have ever seen, no damage to the visable jacking points so that seems good.

D

[andmcit]

I'd peel that rubber coating off the topside of both strut tops as its stopped protecting anything and actually festering
moisture although there's a good chance the metal bearing plate is solid; get anti rust and some enamel metal paint on
to stall any further nasties and it could last very well with regular updates in protection.

The sills look fine though its the other side that gets the aggro and corrodes though the sill lips look like they've
never seen a tyrehouse muppet trolley jack.

Keypads only see s1 action on V6's - my 2.0i TCT of 93 vintage doesn't use one and I have a cubby for my mobile instead.

Nice looking car! Hang on, we've all said that already...

Is the seller prepared to sell out of ebay or is it a better deal to bid on the auction? I've not checked the auction lately.

Andrew

[robert_e_smart]

Those strut tops look fine, I have seen worse.

As for the key-pads the Onyx in my yard has a key pad, but my early Si doesn't