Ho-hum, dear me...

[jonathan_dyane]

It's gone!

Probably for the best, as far as I am concerned...

[Dieselman]

Shame, as this was a genuinely nice car and a very genuine seller. He paid £700 for this car, drove it 48 miles home and the very next morning the strut top ruptured. He didn't think he would get any interest at all on the Bay, but in the first 4 hours he was innundated with queries and calls....

At least Mrs Dm will be happy.....

Maybe I'll revert back to plan A....

[Friar-T]

Take a strut top - fit it and drive her home and watch their faces while they see HOW easy it can be

What a daaamm shame... Im sooo full up at home!!

Would be a nice one to fix and pass on to Johnathan

Paul

Being new here I don't know anyone, but now i've got an image of someone in a bobble hat with a few spanners wrapped in an Aldi carrier bag in their anorak pocket with a smug little expression on their face - until they realise that any vehicle coming down with that kind of force has probably done at least some damage to a wishbone, driveshaft, wheel, hydraulic pipes.

[citroenxm]

No it doesn't tend to do damage in that area, as the strut goes upwards, and theres just enough stretch in the pipe its useually just the bonnet that gets the damage, it might rip out a couple of pipe securing clips...

Always looks worse then it really is..

[xmexclusive]

Hi All

With the XM there is minimal clearance between the plastic cover cap on the top of the front suspension and the fibre insulation on the underside of the bonnet.
In fact a small wear circle on the bonnet insulation over the strut is one of the signs that the rubber in the strut head has problems. When the strut rubber finally escapes from its fixings it is immediately restrained by the bonnet that creases on taking the load to support the car. The fact that many final failures seem to happen to stationary cars suggests that it is usually the static weight of the car slowly causing rubber creep through the corroded support collar rather that the sudden catastrophic failure due to dynamic loading. Most of us can imagine and dread the thought of the results of that dynamic failure while driving but does it happen in practice or does the hydraulic system just see a rather large pot hole on the failure side and immediately apply pressure to extend the strut until the bonnet disorts while holding the strut rod top down and carrying the full load for that corner of the car.

John

[Dieselman]

Most of us can imagine and dread the thought of the results of that dynamic failure while driving but does it happen in practice

This particular one made a bid for freedom as it was being driven. The owner thought he had hit something until he realised what had happened.

[xmexclusive]

Hi Dieselman

Thanks for that. Have looked back through the posting and just realised you spoke to the owner about the car.
Am collecting information about strut head failures.There are a good few photos of the results but very few factual reports.
Did you pick up any information on car speed at the time it failed.
The reason for my interest is that in the long term this is likely be a component that will no longer be available as a new item.
That could be critical for XM's as classic cars.

John

[Dieselman]

He said he had just put fuel in and was close to getting onto the M5 and was very concerned it could have happened at speed, so I take it the speed was around 30mph.