Tales of a C3, a Goddess and some BMW's.

Citroenmad · Unread post by **Citroenmad** » 02 Oct 2010, 23:51

I see your point about the extra features of the BMW Richard, it all sounds very nice, although a fair few Citroens tick the boxes of the spec there. Selective time delay on the rear wiper for example, ok its not manual but on C5 estates the faster you go with the rear wiper turned on the wipers time delay is reduced so it wipes faster, on the saloons the faster you go the slower the wiper goes, so its in rest more of the time as the saloon doesnt get water on the rear when going, unlike the estate which sucks it up. Xms have two washer bottles, ok, not for front and rear but for wipers and headlamps - boths are huge. You can open, slightly, the windows on a C5 with the key and also close them all too, C5s also have a slight delay between the windscreen washers (front and rear) and the wiper activating. Citroens are still up there with features, though the BMW will be no doubt much better built than a C5 and i can see why you didnt get one.

I do like that shape 5 series and i imagine the 3.0i is a good engine too. Very nicely engineered cars as you say.

Your HDi will make someone a great car, with your attention to detail and its nice spec. I wouldnt mind it myself!

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 09 Oct 2010, 21:55

I'm still settling into my BMW, I think I've driven it well all of five or six times but then that's me as I have to have a car just the way I like it (read everything working as intended) so after changing the front wheel bearings I could now detect a slight rumble at higher speeds, further detection work revealed the N/S/R bearing to also have a slight rumble. The rear bearings are a little more complicated as the driveshaft in time becomes locked into the hub which required the encouragement of a Hydraulic puller to release the drivshaft from the hub, anyway long story short all is sorted and well now. Another day of fettling and changing the Satnav from CD to DVD with a software upgrade and swapping over the Parrot (Bluetooth) kit over from the HDi to the Beemer the car is almost fit for service subject to an all round oil change including engine and diff oil I'm now looking forward to driving it

Further good news in that I've sold the HDi but that is balanced by losing the garaging for "Goldie" my VSX. Some idiot at work who's been taking he pee for longer than anyone can remember has upset the applecart with the result that I can no longer park Goldie at work. At present I'm exploring all venues with regard to garaging in order to preserve this timewarp Xantia

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 17 Oct 2010, 21:22

I put the HDi through its MOT on Monday and I'm pleased to say it went through with flying colours and no advisories

the new owner is picking it up on Wednesday evening so I'll be spending the next couple of evenings giving it a good spruce up and looking its best.

I've now been using the BMW on a regular basis and getting to know it better, the engine and box really are silky smooth with instant power available at any speed, yesterday I popped down to the south coast to visit my parents and had the pleasant surprise of seeing the fuel consumption recorded as 38.7 mpg although on day to day use its averaging 27 mpg which isn't too bad really when its size, weight and performance are taken into consideration. Today I carried out an engine oil and filter change then changed the oil in the differential which is a task I haven't done for a few years

I'm still working on finding garaged accommodation for my VSX, my parents are softening to the idea of it residing in one side of their double garage so I'll keep working on that angle for the time being. As for the Goddess well she's still tucked up in my garage and hasn't moved for what now must be a couple of months, I need to get the MOT renewed as that ran out about a month ago IIRC but what with changing/reducing my fleet I haven't had the time to get it done.

In between the car merry go round I've also been building rabbit hutches/runs

we've had a couple of bunnies for the past three years which we got from a rescue centre but unfortunately one of them recently died so we sourced another rescue bunny as a companion for our doe then Dawn had the idea of acting as a foster home on behalf of the rescue for a couple of unwanted bunnies (one has a few birth deformities). In between all this another bunny came into the rescue which Dawn fell in love with (Charlie a black/tan Otter) so I've been spending quite a lot of my time building accommodation for them, still it keeps my woodworking skills up to date. Charlie is quite some rabbit with attitude believe it or not and growls if you approach him but if he is really upset he'll charge at you and give you a nip if you don't get out of the way! He's also a great at escapology every time I feed him, this morning he had me running round the garden for the best part of an hour after he made a dash for it when feeding him. Hopefully he'll settle down when we find a partner for him, heaven help her though having to put up with the killer rabbit as he's now called.

vince · Unread post by **vince** » 19 Oct 2010, 22:17

Sounds like youve got watership down going on there Rich

Good luck with the garage finding for "Goldie" It really does warrant being garaged as im sure in a few years good Xantias will be commanding strong money

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 20 Oct 2010, 06:07

vince wrote:Sounds like youve got watership down going on there Rich

Cue a song, all together now...

"Bright Eyes...."

Killer rabbits reminds me of my favourite bit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail...

"Brother Maynard, bring forth the holy hand grenade..."

"1 - 2 - 5..."

Here's a little YouTube clip...

Richard, if Goldie should ever feel lonely, lets find a double garage and she can enjoy the company of one of mine...

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 20 Oct 2010, 20:23

CitroJim wrote:Richard, if Goldie should ever feel lonely, lets find a double garage and she can enjoy the company of one of mine...

Back parked alongside a certain red one?

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 21 Oct 2010, 06:52

DickieG wrote: Back parked alongside a certain red one?

Indeed!!!!

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 21 Oct 2010, 22:10

As mentioned elsewhere on the forum my HDi will be off with its new owner tomorrow which brings a fair degree of sadness for me as I've really enjoyed the time its been in my ownership but needs must and what with now losing my garage space for Goldie I had to reduce the size of my fleet. The upside of this is that having now taxed Goldie I get to drive her home tomorrow which to be honest I should have been doing more often if only to enjoy the sensation of driving what is still effectively a new Xantia so whilst tomorrow has a tinge of sadness there is a bright side to the story. I've already told the new owner of the HDi that should he at some point wish to sell it then I want first refusal

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 22 Oct 2010, 06:05

A sad day indeed Richard

The HDi has been a good 'un and I'll bet the new owner is delighted with her...

DickieG wrote:if only to enjoy the sensation of driving what is still effectively a new Xantia

I know what you mean. I get the same driving my new V6. Shame that because of Robyn's needs it is now laid up for six months... Still, I have kept my Activa on the road and she feels like a new car too...

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 24 Oct 2010, 12:17

Well my HDi was collected on Friday and is now residing in north Devon, as expected I was quite sad to see it go and have since been looking at adverts to see if there are any decent HDi Exclusive estates available with sensible miles

my BMW is very nice and has just about every toy imaginable to keep me amused but seeing the fuel gauge dropping to the left so quickly will take some getting used to.

I've just returned from the MOT station in the Goddess, she again passed with no advisories, the road that leads up to the MOT station has a series of speed humps but the only effect they had on the ride was a slight thump from the suspension

red_dwarfers · Unread post by **red_dwarfers** » 24 Oct 2010, 12:23

I'll keep an eye out for your HDI DickieG!

vince · Unread post by **vince** » 25 Oct 2010, 19:58

Ah the goddess...i can picture her now

I bet the MOT boys were made up when that rolled in

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 05 Nov 2010, 22:13

Well with my HDi gone I've been settling into my BMW and getting to know it well although with all the built in toys its taken some time to work out what does what, the engine really is a peach and consumption since I've owned it has settled at 28.8 mpg which considering the size/weight and performance of the car isn't too bad really. The gearbox changes are really smooth,,,,,,,,well they were until this morning when the gearbox went bang followed by the dashboard lighting up like a Christmas tree with messages telling me that the gearbox had gone into failsafe mode

I limped the car into work then later returned to discover that the fault had cleared, following a fault code reading it appears that the gearbox output speed sensor has gone pop. Unfortunately the fault reappeared on the journey home so a repair is required.

The gearbox was refurbished in July a couple of months prior to me buying the car but having examined the one year warranty it appears that electric sensors are not covered. Having spoken to a certain automatic gearbox expert (who is well known in these parts) the relevant sensor is located within rather than outside the box so a degree of gearbox dismantling will be required starting with removing the sump and maybe the valve block. Bugger, just as I was starting to enjoy the BMW its let me down with the feeling of why did I bother changing cars and not stick with my old trusty friend

oh well I'll be out on the road in the morning looking for one solution,,,,,,,,,,,,,

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 06 Nov 2010, 19:50

Further to my last I now officially be quoted as saying that Multiplex wiring systems are a complete pain in the rear, I decided to avoid C5's for this very reason and bought my BMW E39 5 series not realising that they suffer similar problems

Having spent last evening Googling the source of the fault on my BMW it appears that the ABS system could be to blame, the trouble being that when a component/sensor goes pop on a multiplexed car all manner of fault codes are then generated, for example the gearbox has gone into fail safe/limp home mode so common sense would suggest investigate the gearbox ECU which had recorded about five faults relating to speed assessment. This morning I interrogated the engine management ECU and discovered that that has now recorded a fault with one of the Lamda sensor's and one other which I can't recall. If I was to believe the codes recorded I would be spending thousands on a repair with only a small chance of stumbling upon the cause. Thankfully as Multiplex wiring has become common place so has internet forums with owners posting solutions to obscure problems so in the meantime I'm now on the lookout for a nice Xantia Exclusive estate HDI as I know I can trust them to work very well, oh how I wish I'd stayed with the one I've just sold

I didn't get the chance to investigate the BMW any further today as I went to view on a 280 mile round trip to view this Xantia it looks OK in the photo's and the seller described it as almost immaculate, however what he failed to state was that there is significant rust in the N/S/R door well/sill seam, the clutch thrust bearing rattles as if its about to let go very soon, the rear height corrector doesn't work at any height, the front height is way too high causing the car to shake violently when pulling away due to the twist on the driveshafts, several sphere's require replacing, the drivers electric seat adjustment doesn't work (£122 for a new set of switches) and the seat has collapsed presumably due to a very large previous owner, the rear Hydractive block has a serious internal leak causing the rear to sink as soon as the engine is turned off and the pressure regulator to click every couple of seconds. He foolishly tried to convince me that a new anti sink sphere would sort that out

so I gave him a quick lesson on hydraulic/Hydractive/anti-sink Citroens. The best bit was when I stated that the timing belt was overdue replacement he pointed to the fuel pump saying that when he cleaned the engine he'd removed a blob of red paint put there by the servicing garage to time the belt when they fitted a new belt (no receipts/evidence of a belt change) "Oh really I said, why would they do that as the fuel pump on a HDi doesn't need timing" bottom line is that the seller is in fantasy land (polite term) at that price as I priced up at least £500 of parts required just to make the car driveable on a daily basis and that's without even considering the rust or clutch! Hopefully no forum members will spend a four figure sum buying that car.

In the meantime any pointers to a decent HDi Exclusive estate will be welcomed, I'm willing to travel and pay cash for the right car.

KP · Unread post by KP » 06 Nov 2010, 21:32

Dickie there is a Hatchback non-HDi close to you for a decent amount of cash that could have some work done to it with your skills and server you well maybe? less complex than a HDi too