Our old friend

[captainhaddock]

Can you put the rust issue pics on here and yes, a 2.0 16 valve with leather is a great car to drive Let me know if you need more addresses for welding on XM's.

[casalingua]

I will dig the photos out and post them a little later this evening.
Having gazed at scores of cars it seems mine is a bit unusual. Ignoring that it's a UK- market car, it seems the majority of surviving cars from the early years are either lower spec 2 litres or all-bells-and-whistles V6s. I only found one nice 2.0 series 1 with
what looked like SEi spec. It was in France.

[casalingua]

Today I drove around to my mechanic to ask him to clarify his description of the problem. He said the rust was on the floorpan/body rather than the subframe. So it seems I got the wrong end of the stick 18 months ago when he identified the problem. Here are the photos. As you can see (when properly informed) the rust is above the rubber grommet thing (is that a bushing?). I will write to Van Streukel to ask him if he thinks it will still cost €500-1000 to repair if it means cutting out bits of floorpan and all the attendant removal of trim that might entail.
It would be a bitter pill to scrap this car, not least because of the effort invested since 2004 but also because apparently it seems to be quite a rare one. The other annoying thing is that I really don´t want to have to think about what else I could drive...do I really want to go the whole hog and get a CX? Or should I just find another 2.0 litre series 1 car and be boring....hmmm. It´s a can of worms. Freedom can be oppressive. With the current car I don´t need to think about alternatives. Life is nicely simple (or as simple as it can be with a 23 year old XM).

[Dieselman]

That is very common rust for an XM.

To repair it the subframe needs to be lowered along with the mounting rubbers, the metal cut out and new metal welded in.

Anyone that can weld will be able to do this job as the subframe doesn't need to be fully removed or hydraulics disconnected, just lowered down.

To lower the subframe, remove the spare wheel carrier and exhaust for access, undo the two nuts for each rear mounting under the boot carpet and the bolts going upwards at the front mountings and that is it.
Leave one front bolt in at each side when welding the opposite side, to guide the subframe back into position. left bolt/right welding and vice versa.

Overall, I would say that car looks pretty rust free.

[casalingua]

That´s really interesting you say that and may I say I believe you are right and my mechanic is wrong. The question is whether my mechanic realises the job is not such a big deal. I think he´s an honest and competent mechanic: everything he´s done for five years has been first rate work. What I will do is report your comments to him and see what he thinks. I would love to save a trip to Holland. But failing that, the Dutch guy Wim Streuk knows what you know and Van Gompel doesn´t. Thanks for cheering me up!

[Dieselman]

A number of us have had to do this repair, usually at home without a car lift.

[captainhaddock]

I totally agree with Dieselman: my idea of the rust on your car was far far far worse than what I can see. Don't give up on this and remember CX's are far far worse for rust more difficult rust issues! I can't see why any competent mechanic let alone a competent DIY person can't tackle this rust problem!

[casalingua]

Right. I feel strengthened in my resolve! Thank you chaps!

[casalingua]

This just in: Wim Struyk, a specialist near Rotterdam seems to be game. I need to get a price out of him though. I wonder will it be under a €1000?

[Dean]

I would say a day and a bit labour to do the job really well, half a day to slap a patch on, should be achievable at 1000e no worries, as Dieselman says its a common issue even on very clean cars, do bear in mind both sides will need doing really, even if the other side looks ok i would guess rust under the strengthener has already taken hold.

Have a look at this from when i done mine

D