in here!For months I read all I could, learned as much as I was able to, all the while letting cars slip away in classifieds and on Ebay- I definitely had some XM "fear". I loved the idea of owning one, but wondered how I'd cope.
Then I attended CXM this year. Ruined all chances of escape. Vince took me for a short trip in his S1 2.1 manual and I was enchanted.
I decided to scratch my Xm itch- by buying a reasonably-priced example. That way I could see if I liked the basic character of the beast on a day-to-day basis without too much involvement or heartache should it all go wrong.
I nearly ended up with a TCT, but fate intervened and I found myself facing a much different proposition. A car I had previously written off as being too lethargic for my needs, the one XM I couldn't own. A 2.1 TD Auto.
After a good chat on the phone with Bob (cornishbob on here, whose car it was) I mulled over it, sent a deposit, booked my train tickets for a long trip, and held my breath.
On Monday this week at 11.30am I got on a train in Glasgow, by mid-evening I was in Kent sitting behind the wheel of what was now my XM, paperwork completed, about to drive off into the rainy darkness in what was completely unfamiliar car.
I needn't have worried, a trip up the A2/M25/M1 showed me exactly why you all love your XMs.
Composure. Stability. Comfort. A relaxing self-assuredness, quietly assiduous in drivng characteristics, a subtle brilliance.
Through completely unfamiliar roads and pretty rotten weather, the XM glided in the way I always imagined it would have done, long before I ever got behind the wheel of one. I'm lucky enough (touch wood trim) to have gotten an XM without any big suspension problems.
I made it to my rest point in Buckingham safe and sound.
I suppose you all want me to shut up now and show you a picture or two.
This was my first daylight view of my new XM....
), suspension all as it should be. He also noticed that my fuel preheater had been disconnected.
