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xm daily driver

Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:12 am
by cornishbob
good morning does any one on here use their xm on a daily basis i'm thinking of resurecting my old 2.1 s2 and using it for my daily commute roughly 40 miles each way mostly motorway mileage i do have afew issues to overcome first ie widows and fit a new cambelt and water pump your views would be appreciated

Re: xm daily driver

Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 12:01 pm
by onthecut
I'd guess a lot would depend on why it was sidelined to start with !

The only really bad news thing I've had with the 2.1s is head gasket trouble --- and that's a real sod of a job. If you haven't got any coolant loss or overheating issues, there's no reason at all why it shouldn't be a daily tool. One of mine got to just under 300k on the original clutch ! I think occasionally we need to remind ourselves on here that compared to the bulk of modern cars, the XM is actually relatively simple.

Mike.

Re: xm daily driver

Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:44 pm
by cornishbob
an xm exclusive came up that was the main reason my wife still use's that one daily but only for very short journeys the only real issue i have at the moment is the wiring in the drivers door for the electric windows itried to swap the mechanism out of this one to the exclusive but then found out that the exclusive was aone touch type and the sx was a normal type itried pirating some of the door loom but in the end fixed the regulator in the exclusive so this one was left however after two years icant remember what wire connects to what the haynes manual doesnt seem to be much help so ihope someone on here may be able to be of some help with a wiring diagram for the front windows cheers bob.

Re: xm daily driver

Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:13 pm
by xmexclusive
Hi Bob

I can find a complete door loom for a drivers door but it will be the one touch version.
Robert Smart will probably have a SX one plus a working winder.

John

Re: xm daily driver

Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:24 pm
by robert_e_smart
Hi Bob,

I have a door loom with a sx winder in it. I will check it out for you tomorrow.

Re: xm daily driver

Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:20 pm
by boyse7en
We use our 1993 2.1SED (185,000 on the clock now) every day to take kids to school, shopping, kids to grandma's etc. It probably doesn't do 80 miles per day very often, but we have only come to a grinding halt at the side of the road once - when the head gasket went at about 160,000 milrs (natch).

I wouldn't say it is reliable per se, as it seems to have a list of minor rattles, clonks, wiring issues etc that crop up occasionally, but I guess it depends on how 'perfect' you want your car to be. I just write things down on my list to do, and I'll get to them when the mood takes me.

Re: xm daily driver

Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:13 pm
by Peter.N.
I was using mine for work, up to 30k per year at one time and has been our prime mover for about 15 years, has now been relegated to second car but did about 80 miles in it today to collect a greenhouse (dissasembled).

Peter

Re: xm daily driver

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:56 am
by normantilbury
Mine Takes me to work every day about 10 miles and back also the supermarket and general running about as it is the only car i have.

Norman.

Re: xm daily driver

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:02 am
by messerschmitt owner
I bought mine in April 2010 - it had 104k on the clock then - it nudged 131131 on the way home from Cheshire yesterday. I'm doing 15k a year in it.

It's a car, it'll cope.

Re: xm daily driver

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 1:30 pm
by rowanmoor
I commute daily in my 2.5 - nearly 30 miles each way, mostly motorway. It has some rattles and niggles, but the ones that annoy me get fixed eventually. I've had it for over 8 years now doing that commute, and it has only let me down a few times - battery, core plug expiring, high pressure hydraulic pipe and AutoGlass unable to fit a new windscreen after taking out the old are the only things that have had me unable to commute. I doubt I would have had any better from a new car over the same period and mileage.

I don't have time to service it etc myself so I even pay a local specialist to do the maintenance - and a very good job they do too.