New to the forum

[Peter.N.]

I have run XM estates for over 15 years and done some serious mileage in them, apart from the surperb ride they are one of the roomiest estates ever made and the 2.1 manuals that I ran were excellent on fuel. I only have one left now, they are becoming a bit thin on the ground, I have now bought a C5, nice car but not the same.

Welcome to the forum by the way.

Peter

[Brian]

Hi Peter.

Thanks for the welcome. May I ask if you had a phase 1 or 2 XM? I’m most interested in a phase 2 car.

[Rommel]

Hi Brian,

I don't yet have an XM either. Like you I'm reading and learning. And yes, I think you will be sucked into the XM universe as some of the guys have said!


Rohan

[messerschmitt owner]

with four wheels and 13 panels of glass!

^ tells me everything I need to know...Your Doomed...

no offence to those with it, but that thirteenth pane is a pain!

I hated it on the two cars I drove with the extra glass. I'm strictly a twelve pane man!

[Brian]

@ Rommel. Hello. It’s hard to describe the appeal of them isn’t it? I think people think I’m mad half the time with my ideas of dream cars!

@ Messerchmitt owner. I can imagine that it would get in the way on a hatch...kind of defeats the purpose of a object. At that wouldn’t be issue for an estate

[messerschmitt owner]

Brian

yes it is a pain - for those of us who regularly load the boot of the car with big objects.

The estate doesn't have one but what you do get in the estate is buffeting inside when you only have the sunroof fully open and no windows part down.

I like the estate but it is huge .... strangely, I actually prefer the look of the estate version too.

Campbell

[Brian]

That 13th panel. Is it shatter proof? I can imagine all that glass would be pretty lethal if you ever had to slam on the anchors and were loaded up.
I prefer to look of the estate as well. They’ve got the What The Heck is That? factor is you’re not in the know. The estates also remind of the Xantia estate my Dad used to have "back the day".

[messerschmitt owner]

Brian

I think there are a decent amount of estates out there - but they do tend to have had a harder life. I believe the thirteenth pane is hardened glass rather than laminated so lots of little bits to clean up. You can in theory tie it up but it is not designed for removal of the parcel shelf and to be left dangling. It can be removed very easily though!

Having an estate, I would thoroughly recommend one - make sure it has both parts of the rear load cover in place though. It's also a bonus if you get the cargo net for the floor.

My towbar wiring kit has just turned up so am going to finish fitting the towbar and have a proper load lugger. Of course, do watch out for rust at the rears of the estates. They can rust alarmingly in comparison to a hatchback.

Depending on the mileage you do, you may want to consider a petrol estate over the diesel ones. I'm doing 15k a year in the diesel hatch and probably going to reach 7000 in the petrol estate. For a small mileage you can cope better with the 25-30mpg average you will get out of the 2.0 turbo (and it is a lot of fun at the lights - as this behometh sees off lots of other cars). For comparison, the petrol gets 33-36mpg on a run at 65 and the diesel manual gets 45-50mpg at that speed

I'm very very tempted to debadge both my cars - it's not difficult to do - and it would be my one and only modification. My smart roadster is debadged and almost no one knows what it is.

[Dieselman]

The inner pane is no issue, it can be lifted with the hatch so is out of the way for loading and it can be left in with no parcel shelf in place or removed by pressing back the hinge pins and pulling them out.

I can't ever recall removing it when loading the hatch up.

[messerschmitt owner]

Will,

perhaps you should see the 1/2 ton that goes in my hatchback every weekend - the glass screen is an utter, utter pain and restricts the loading, as I am often carrying stuff up to head rest level in the rear of the car! It restricts the loading and unloading of the cases that I use.

WHy do you think you got the one from the K plate Sei?

Campbell