My Weapon of choice....

Deanxm · Unread post by **Deanxm** » 15 May 2009, 22:34

Hi all

Well ive been reading through all your blogs and its all very interesting, so i thought i would start one too since ive been on here a little while..

This is my baby

I bought the car on the 27th sept 2003 from a dealer in Ringwood, i couldnt really afford to insure it at the time (£1200

) even though its only a 2.0N/A but i wanted an XM so badly and with 45k on the clock, FCSH and 1 owner from new i couldnt resist

Ive made a few mods along the way with 17" alloys, drilled black diamond discs all round, morretts, CD player and DVD including new speakers all round, sat nav and some upgrades including secondary rear glazing, electric armrest and a few other bits and peices.

The car has now been fully resprayed in its original colour to freshen it up a bit and a few more mods are on the cards which will include a full rebuild and transplant of the PSA 2.0 Turbo engine i have recently aquired.

The underside, whilst rust free like the rest of the car, was waxoled last year (im still picking the damn stuff out of my hair now

) and is lasting very well although i may have the rear subframe off this year and treated in the hard to reach areas before any of the dreaded tin worm starts.

Here are some other shots of the car, including my favourite at preists leap in Ireland on hols last year

D

Sl4yer · Unread post by **Sl4yer** » 15 May 2009, 23:07

Although I'm sure it's not to everyone's taste, I'm always pleased to see an XM, especially a well-loved one!

James

Toby_HDi · Unread post by **Toby_HDi** » 15 May 2009, 23:15

Not usually a fan of Morettes but I quite like those. Looks very tidy.

Which dealer in Ringwood was it purchased from?

Deanxm · Unread post by **Deanxm** » 15 May 2009, 23:27

Hi Gents

Roadere ltd is the garage, never been there as i met the guy off the ferry from the island, i was in two minds over the morretts at first but the more XM's i saw with them the more they grew on me, also being able to see at night with them is a massive bonus, unlike the standard XM lamps, you were almost better trying to light the road ahead with a match.

D

Koukku · Unread post by **Koukku** » 16 May 2009, 15:07

Very nice XM! The 17" wheels look surprisingly good on it.

Just one thing about the brakes: drilled discs are bad for you. They look good, but you should steer away from puddles after heating them up.

Deanxm · Unread post by **Deanxm** » 16 May 2009, 22:33

yes, very scary considering how much they cost!! but so far no problems. i guess drilling holes in anything is going to creat a week spot.
The main issue i have with them is the noise, a kind of pita pata can be heard under braking with the windows open but they do improve the feel of the brakes noticably at high speed when braking heavily.

D

Koukku · Unread post by **Koukku** » 17 May 2009, 10:48

Deanxm wrote:yes, very scary considering how much they cost!! but so far no problems. i guess drilling holes in anything is going to creat a week spot.
The main issue i have with them is the noise, a kind of pita pata can be heard under braking with the windows open but they do improve the feel of the brakes noticably at high speed when braking heavily.

D

Grooved discs should do an equal job, and they look nice as well. They also provide better initial bite when wet. Pad wear may increase though, but I guess the same goes for drilled discs too.

Drilled discs were invented back when brake pads released gasses under heavy use, and brakes would fade unless the gasses had somewhere to go. Current pads don't have that problem. Nowadays holes are mostly for looks.

Anyway, I've heard that Black Diamond replaces cracked discs quite willingly.

Deanxm · Unread post by **Deanxm** » 18 May 2009, 00:07

Grooved discs should do an equal job, and they look nice as well. They also provide better initial bite when wet. Pad wear may increase though, but I guess the same goes for drilled discs too.

i did look at grooved and drilled but thought that maybe it was too much bits cut out of the disc and went for drilled only, as far as i can see these drilled ones do eat the pads a little quicker than usual but im pleased with them so far.

Got the proper single spoke steering wheel in there friday thanks to a fellow XM nut, its one of the best thought about steering wheels ive used which came as quite a suprise! im well happy with it.

D