UK XM for Ireland

[Riley9]

My wife and I have had several Citroens over the years but it was in February this year (2026) that I bought our first XM.
It went straight to Chevronics in Hitchin where the faulty automatic gearbox was pulled and delivered to Herts & Beds Transmissions in nearby Radwell/Baldock. (Chevronics serviced the car under its previous owner.)
I will report the full story later.

For now, I would benefit from a little info/help from any member who lives near Radwell because Herts & Beds is not responding to my current emails/calls/text sent from my home in Ireland.
Although neither its website nor its telephone system has announced "closed for summer hols", can anyone tell me if it is temporarily closed?
I am ready to travel over next week (from Ireland) to see for myself.
To avoid misunderstanding, I am pleased to add that I have been highly impressed by my conversations with Ian Gibbins, owner of Herts & Beds Transmissions. I continue to look forward to meeting him in person.

Some years ago, this car was the subject of a “Flipping Bangers” TV panto.
Here are car details and pictures that are to hand.

1992 2.0 SEi, Automatic, (Prestige?), Hatch, Silver (colour code xxxx), Black Leather interior, sealed-up Sunroof, RPxxxx, Eng. No: HJ372000019, VIN: VF7Y3AH0005AH0331, 110,000 miles approx, Reg. No: K686 KGF, UK (car will be exported to Ireland), new MOT June 2026 (with no advisories).

Brian M
---------------
GS Pallas auto; DS20 (semi-auto); CX 2400 Pallas auto; 2CV x2; Dyane x1; AX van; BX x2; Xantia x2;

[Dieselman]

I can't answer for Herts & Beds transmissions, but surely, as your contact is with Chevronics, shouldn't they, not you, be chasing their supplier.
They are shown on Google as being open at 7:00am today, try giving them a ring...or have Chevronics chase them.
I would be surprised if any UK business closes for Summer holidays.

We know the car well, it's a very nice example of a 2.0 Se, unfortunately with 4th gear slippage.

[Dieselman]

I've just noticed from the images of your car, it is riding high at the front and have copied information I gave to another recently joined member.

Your car appears to be riding a little high at the front, which is common for Xm that have been laid up but the height selection control left at normal ride height.
Over time, the spring rod deforms and makes the height corrector setting incorrect. I always set mine to low before switching off, if leaving for an extended period of time.
The height should be:
Front; 144 +10 / -7mm from the ground to the flat of the subframe.
Rear; 431 +10 / -7mm from the ground to the rear chassis rail just behind the rear subframe mount.

Measure with the engine running and after manually lifting and holding the body up until it sinks down, then allow it to raise itself to height.
The adjustment is by loosening the clamp on the anti-roll bar and operating the height corrector, then tighten the clamp.

A quick visual check is to imagine a line from the chrome trims in the doors and bumpers, which just meets the top of the wheel rim for the standard 15" wheels.

It's worth reviewing the Citroen training material to understand the Xm hydraulics systems.

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=10291

Apologies, you are probably going to be a bit overloaded with technical information initially, but will end up with a perfect running Xm. Just let us know how you are getting on and what we can do to help.
Using only basic hand tools, there is nothing you cannot fix yourself on a Citroen Xm.

[Riley9]

Thanks for this advice. BTW the car passed its MOT last month (June). I spoke with Herts & Beds yesterday and will collect the car (which I have not yet driven) next Wednesday.

[Riley9]

When I bought the car I had found the ride to be less supple than I had anticipated.
I thought that was because of my mistaken expectations and/or its non-Michelin tyres.
When I discussed this with Chevronic, they suggested replacing the unworn tyres with a set of new Michelins.
I decided to defer that decision until I was able to drive the car myself (which will be this coming week).
Chevronic had the car from Feb to June, yet failed to spot the ride height issue, which you identified from a photograph.

[Dieselman]

Tyres do play a part in Xm ride quality, but I would ensure the rest of the suspension system is perfect before blaming tyres.

It's true that Xm with Hydractive do transfer minor imperfections more than Hydro-pneumatic Citroens, which is due to the corner spheres being lesser volume and the dampers being set tighter. This was a design choice to combat criticism of previous Citroens rolling too much in bends.

Being a 1992 car yours will have the first generation Hydractive-1 system. Hydractive-2 came in in Feb 1993 and does give a more compliant ride, not as commonly perceived due to the electronics, but the sphere specifications changed: corner spheres became larger with more relaxed dampers and overall front axle gas volume increased.
The spheres provide the ride quality, the electronics control the state being soft/hard mode.

During the Xm's production life the suspension spheres changed gradually becoming more and more relaxed, at the expense of the sharp handling. A late Xm is a super gliding wafto-barge.

It's possible to modify Hydractive-1 spheres to give a softer ride by drilling the centre damper oriface out. I find an increase of 0.1mm makes a noticeable difference. Sphere gas pressure/volume also makes a difference. The two features are what makes different spheres the correct ones for a particular model of Xm.
The centre sphere plays a large part in ride quality, it's the one that provides the huge wheel travel when in soft mode, and is often neglected.

In essence, you can tune a Hydractive suspension setup to be however you desire by changing/adjusting the spheres.

I am aware the previous owner had new spheres fitted and believe them to be IFHS brand, fitted by Chevronics. It would be worth checking they are the correct ones, as being lighter and less sporty, the 2.0i has softer suspension and thinner anti-roll bars, than higher powered models. They may have lost some gas pressure, but the car hasn't had much use.
The brand of spheres fitted can make a difference, Obviously Citroen ones are correct, however I find IFHS to be the same.

Ride height will make a difference as the suspension bushes will be twisting from their relaxed position, so becoming stiffer.

Sphere tables are covered in the threads:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10270 and
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=11023

I'll hang my anorak up now...