Our old friend

[casalingua]

Tomy´s Citroen Service in Dortmund, Germany has come in with an offer of €800-1200, including the rusted front wing repair. I asked Streuk in Rotterdam to break down his price but he has not replied. While Tomy seems a bit dearer than the Dutch garage, driving to Dortmund is a lot easier for me and fits in with some other travel plans I have. I have asked both how they wish to be paid. No reply just yet.
I had a look at Dean´s photos. Thanks for showing those. Where did you learn to weld?

[captainhaddock]

What you need is a (citroen) friend who will do this for you.
I would never spend that kind of money on this. If I couldn't weld myself, I'd go to a Polish guy around the corner, who would do this job for little money.

[casalingua]

Wim Streuk has phoned to offer to do the work for €1000. Both prices are similar so I need to work out if I want to go to Holland or Germany. The problem with Tomy´s is that he can´t offer a guide for the rusted wing. Is this worth it? Yes, if it saves the car and also because I don´t have a reliable cheaper bodger nearby who understands XMs.

[casalingua]

I took my XM to Wim Streuk in Bergschenhoek, a suburb of Rotterdam. He repaired the underbody and the front, right wing for €700. For €20 I picked a R and L front running lamp assembly. I spent another €200 on fuel: I had to drive 600 miles there. Interestingly, the car never reached the point where the fuel warning light came on. What an amazing range. Thanks to those of you
who suggested I should search for a Dutch specialist. In the light of the rather sad "how many left" thread, Holland is heartwarming for old car enthusiasts. In two hours I saw a CX, two 504s, a Granada 2.3
Ghia (circa 1982, square body) and a De Lorean (quite ugly). In 1200 miles I saw inumerable W126 Mercedes and two XMs
(tellingly, few 1988-1994 BMW 5s). So, I'm driving a rarity now. It's official. But if you are in Holland there seem to be a lot of odd cars. If you have one you're not a freak. I get the feeling that there's a kind of antipathy in the UK to also-ran cars. In Holland it's okay. So, this worry about the impending exctinction of XMs is confined to the UK and Ireland.

[captainhaddock]

Good work Casalinua! Happy it's sorted now. Off topic but thanks to all sorts of old Diesel W12... Mercs who are tax free, the tax exemption for old timers older than 25 years (including mine) are going to be cancelled. It means that many of those old timers younger than 40 years, will soon disappear from the streets because people won't longer be able to afford them Big issue in the old timer world back in the old home country. But there are many XM's still left over there.

[Charles M]

Another Citroen specialist in Holland is http://www.Renard.nlbetween Rotterdam and Nijmegen. I dropped by earlier this year to discuss doing some work on my SM - Nard van der Meer there is an SM fanatic, but works on all sorts of Citroens. A really nice guy too.

[captainhaddock]

I've heard he does blue LHM:) To explain, he's got a replacement for the well known green LHM. Don't know much more about it though.

[russ92xmsed]

Blue? Wonder what he has concocted then.
Cor look at that DS....

[CitroJim]

Really pleased to hear all is now good Casalingua

Blue LHM? That's just so wrong Actually I recall several years ago when our Antipodean cousins was after an LHM substitute that a blue fluid was mooted as being suitable. So long as it's mineral based and has more or less the right viscosity across the range of operating temperatures then it'll be good...

Ohh, I can see that DS is going to upset a few purists... It is a bit appealing though; I like it...

[casalingua]

I forgot to mention that the €700 included a new length of exhaust muffler. I've waxoyled the car every two years since 2009 and it's been in a garage since then too. I do about 5000 miles a year, mostly in summer. Should I be annoyed it has these problems? Does anyone use those anti-rust products that you dab on out-of-the-way places like under the bonnet's leading edge? I dab these with oil at the moment. Today I used 40 minutes to pull the centre console apart to clean out those annoying and probably yukky crumbs and beige-grey accretions that accumulate in the gaps between the parts. The centre console looks new now and I found a cigar that had fallen down below the ashtray. I only do this sort of thing once a year on holidays, by the way.
The essay on the XM at Citroenet repeats the myth that the Peugeot 605 was a Type 4 car (which would make six cars with the Alfa 164, Saab 9000, Lancia Thema and much-loved Fiat Croma and the XM). Is this really the best essay on the XM there is?