C5 Tourer Exclusive

Tell us your ongoing tales and experiences with your French car here. Post pictures of your car here as well.
Captain Slow
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C5 Tourer Exclusive

Unread post by Captain Slow »

Bojour

I've been on and off this forum for quite some time, but as I again have a Citroen its probably time to run a blog. This is also running on Pistonheads so will copy the blurb from there for now, apologies if some of it doesn't make much sense. I must say I'm totally smitten by it at the moment, it is exactly what I wanted it to be, and I'm really glad I held out for a month to find it. I went and collected it last Monday so I'm just over a week into ownership now.

Since selling my Legacy a month ago I've been borrowing cars from friends and family whilst spending all the hours looking at what to replace it with and that was a real challenge.

My initial plan was to get something smaller, as it's mostly just me going too and from work. I didn't really want to spend more than a few grand and was pretty set on a Clio 197/200 but when I really thought about it, I figured once the novelty wore off, the ride and size would get pretty tiresome. Especially as the wife's C3 Picasso isn't "quite" big enough as a family of 4s main car, especially when you throw 3 dogs into the mix.

Then for some reason I then went and had a look at a 2007 Freelander 2. It was local and cheap, but had done 177k. I passed thankfully.

I then really thought about what I use a car for, and my new commute (mostly A road and M27/M3) I realised I wanted: comfy heated seats, good lights a good stereo and decent fuel economy.

With my few grand budget I spent an absurd amount of time looking at Saab 9-3 and 9-5s as I thought this might work but had reservations about ride and the quality of car I could get for the budget. I was also fed up with putting so much fuel in the Legacy I worried a Saab would do similar (was looking at aero only).

Now anyone who's followed my car disasters over the years will know I have a bit of a thing for French cars, well Citroen mostly. This wasn't helped when my good friend Kitchski got himself a budget C6 https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/top ... &t=1891600 I've always loved the C6 and have always wanted one. The problem was, as always, was my budget. £750 ones don't come up often and when they do, they require a gearbox. The good ones with the spec I wanted and history are 3.5k upwards, with circa 120k on the clocks and from 2006/7. Call me a tart but I wanted a newer car than the car is just sold.

I did find what I thought was a good C6 in Oxford which I went and saw a couple of weeks ago. It was newer (just), it was a lignage but had full leather (important as I wanted heated seats) and it had the upgraded stereo. Unfortunately it wasn't well as you can see below.

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/jEGagFJd

What this did do for me was give me my first ever ride in a C6, which was a good thing. The ride was lovely but the inside just felt a tiny bit dated to me. Add this to my own personal concerns, tax being £565 a year, potential running costs and the fact it is a saloon, which isn't ideal with dogs and bicycles (I was willing to overlook this before I actually went in one) I was torn on what to do. I still wanted one, but my wife is so pissed off with me changing cars whatever I get I need to keep for some time and I couldn't be sure this would be the case with a C6.

Whilst looking at cars I'd also been looking at the Citroen C5 Touring Exclusive whilst considering a C6. The exclusive has the same hydractive suspension as the C6, and the tourer is the estate version....



If the title hasn't given it away you can guess where this is going.
Captain Slow
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Re: C5 Tourer Exclusive

Unread post by Captain Slow »

After looking at every single C5 exclusive on the market, multiple times over, it became clear that the exclusive trim isn't universal. Most have part leather (no heated seats) Some have nav, others don't. Some have Bluetooth and others don't. Etc etc. I could only find two in the country with full leather. One on Wales for 5k with 93k and another in Manchester with 111k for a similar amount.

Then on Friday I found another on Facebook marketplace. It had the full leather heated massage seats, 83k and was up for 3.5k. I messaged him Friday and arranged to go see him on the Monday. I'd still not been in one at this point.

So today, at noon, I set off from Southampton to Leighton Buzzard. I was concerned I'd not like the car, especially after finding out it was the 140bhp version, not the 160bhp version. There was no mention of cambelt in the description nor when discussing with the seller. It was his dads car and he'd died fairly recently, he was just selling it. With this in mind, and me still being massively unsure if I wanted the C5 or a C6, I arranged a backup C6 but it had done 130k and cost more than the C5.

My afternoon started with a half hour walk.

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/rXbhSuf1

Followed by the Hythe ferry to Southampton.

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/sKebsEbz

Followed by another walk.

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/yDJYN7YP

To catch the first of these.

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/SJs1t9Bw

It should have been so simple. A train up to Clapham Junction, then another to Leighton Buzzard. Unfortunately that train was cancelled.

So, my 2nd train was to Vauxhall. Then onto my 3rd train, the underground to Euston.

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/7h8oMCzr

Then onto my 4th train to Milton Keynes...

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/JUvHYzHc

Which turned out to be the wrong train! Thankfully I noticed before it left the station. I finally got the right train, which took me to Leighton Buzzard!

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/DcFXzDgB

Turned out to be a bit of a mission. I arrived at 1719, having left home at 1200. This was a stressful few hours. I'm not cut out for London life!

Anyway, I was met by the son who was selling his dads car. He was a really lovely chap, he let me drive from the off, and let me drive for as long as in wanted. The first surprise was that it had the optional 19s fitted which is totally missed from the advert. The car drove immaculately. Truly couldn't fault it. No knocks, nothing. He'd already said he'd take less than advertised, so we had tentatively agreed a price prior to my journey. It was more than I wanted to spend initially, but less than a C6 was going to be.

We drove back to his place, where he dug out the paperwork. I had a flick through and found out it has only done 2k in the last 2 years, and had a cambelt change in 2018 and was last serviced in 2019. The cambelt was the deal clincher for me. It's obviously been looked after and loved. It also still has his dads "private" plate on it. It should be on a 59.

I didn't haggle. Yes it needs a service and some tyres but it's was still a bargain.

So here it is. Not a remotely pistonheads car but I'm utterly blown away with it. It even had enough fuel for the 2hrs back to Southampton.

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/A7VWWQxc

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/tjdKo3gu

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/YgFGWH73

Spec wise, it's a pretty good one. Full leather with heated and massage seats. Full panoramic roof. Navidrive. Parking and parking space sensors. 19inch alloys. Electronic tailgate and Bluetooth. The only things it seems to be missing are directional headlights (fog comes on instead) and lane departure warning.

I wafted home in my new C5 averaging 46mpg, arriving home at 2030. Totally relaxed and loving my new ride. Even with 140bhp it seems to go well enough, but a remap will take it up to the 160/170 mark should I desire.

Best keep this for a few years now I guess :hehe:
Captain Slow
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Re: C5 Tourer Exclusive

Unread post by Captain Slow »

Managed to have a little poke around in daylight now.

These are the best seats I've ever sat in. Infinity adjustable, you can even fold the top half of the seats. As previously mentioned these are a pretty rare option, being heated and with the massage function, which is a rather odd sensation.

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/kaPqgZqK

The rear seats are huge as you'd expect, with the built in sun blinds.

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/P99xRfkB

There is mood lighting around the car, in all the door handles, above the center console and the glovebox along with the footwells. Apparently this was discontinued on the slightly later cars.

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/ieTXbrLW

The boot is a great size, please excuse the hedge trimmer. It is self opening and closing boot.

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/QwnaU7un

And whilst playing around with the hight adjustment in the rear I found this little light was removable.

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/9DeaoCC7

It's a torch!

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/Y4Ty7cwt

This is the view from the driver's seat. It feels quite a bit more modern than the C6 I think. As mentioned above by someone it has the fixed hub steering which houses all the buttons for everything. From memory on here we have cruise control and limiter, night panel mode (will grab a picture at night) and phone (on the left), the right hand side are your radio controls (radio and nav housed in the "dashboard").

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/kZCLNFeu

You'll also notice two scroll wheels. The right is to do with the radio dashboard, the left is to do with the data displayed on the centre console, where the speedo is. You have a needle which shows your speed around the outer ring, but you can also select between digital speed, nav directions or mpg history

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/4WXGwRLw

The vehicle parameters are also houses in here, which shows I have the directional headlamps.

One downside is that the Bluetooth is only for calls, I cannot stream music, but it does have a slot for a usb in the glovebox and it also has the built in jukebox, I'll just need to upload some music to it. Apparently it can also play dvds and you can connect VGA to it?!

So there we go, this is my new car which I'm pretty damn happy with right now. I think they're handsome things. I've no doubt that this has probably bored the tits off some of you, but as always I'll try to keep this thrilling readers car updated.

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/fTyoAB3S
Captain Slow
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Re: C5 Tourer Exclusive

Unread post by Captain Slow »

Just been out and given it a wash and some aqua wax. Paint is a little flat, it's been into a carwash more than once but nothing that cannot be recovered.

Also tried to get a picture of the panoramic roof. It's a lovely touch.

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/SreKK2nK

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/nJQWvpPo

Then on Thursday:

First things first. Decent matching tyres all round. I really hate cars having a mix of budget and old tyres. There was excessive tyre noise too, some of that down to the wheels being 19s no doubt, but I'm sure some down to the budget tyres.

Off with the one Alventi, the two Triangle M+S tyres and the one half decent Michelin Pilot Sport 3, and on with a set of Falken Azenis, which incidentally are the quietest tyres I could find according to reviews. Tyre noise is reduced but I still reckon it could be improved...

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/8xCPhQte

And then Saturday

Aren't French electrics the worst :rolleyes:

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/uGTr13AF

Took the opportunity to upgrade the already excellent lights to these. I've never tried upgraded bulbs so interested to see if I'll notice any difference, given the lights are already very good.

Image|https://thumbsnap.com/2wair7Jv

Looks no bloody different in daylight :laugh:
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CitroJim
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Re: C5 Tourer Exclusive

Unread post by CitroJim »

Magic :D Great to see a new blog on here! And this one's a great read too :D

I've only ever been a passenger in a top-spec hydraulic C5 X7 Tourer and I have to say it's the best car I've ever travelled in bar none... Knocks spots off everything :)

My last ride in one was directly after getting off a train at Westbury near the end of a very similar adventure to yours when I went to collect my Daffodil :)

For the record, never rely on the train from Clapham Junction to Milton Keynes... It's more often than not cancelled whenever there's any issues on the West Coast Main Line... It seems to be a very low priority service...
Jim

Runner, cyclist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
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GiveMeABreak
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Re: C5 Tourer Exclusive

Unread post by GiveMeABreak »

Captain Slow wrote: 27 Oct 2020, 03:34 Image|https://thumbsnap.com/4WXGwRLw

The vehicle parameters are also houses in here, which shows I have the directional headlamps.
You don't have xenon directional headlights on your X7 I can tell from the lamps and also H7 bulbs are for halogen lamps. I suspect somebody has been into the BSI with Diagbox and enabled the option so that the menu appears in the dash parameters, but you don't have them for sure.

Have a look at mine and you can see they are quite distinct (ignore the lit DRLs - just look at the head lamps):
DRL3.jpg
I'm glad you are pleased with it though, these are really great to drive.

At some point though, you may want to look at doing the Hard Disk to CF card upgrade for the Navidrive 3D before the hard disk fails as these automotive grade PATA Hard drives are very difficult to source and extremely expensive.

It's on the telematics section here:
viewtopic.php?t=57430

Personally, I would forget copying music files onto the Jukebox - as this is just going to speed up the hard drive demise with the extra reads and writes. You may not have noticed that you also have an SD card slot in the front of the unit, just below the main jog wheel. I have a 32 Gb card in there and have hundreds of hours of MP3 music on mine. This way it prolongs the hard drive by using the SD card for music playback. The benefits are obvious with no moving parts and reduced heat output.

The DW10BTED4 140 engines on these are rock solid and in my opinion far less hassle than the later 163 DW10CTED4 that was mucked about with for Euro 5 standards and resulted in lots of issues, well-documented on the Forum. I've had no issues with mine at all and this is a slightly improved version that was fitted to the previous MK II C5. They just work. :-D

Spend a little time undertaking the voice command training session - it will improve accuracy of your speech recognition if you are intending to use it.
Don't forget the car also has a built in car phone in addition to Bluetooth (part of the emergency call system) if you have the Services Module installed. There should be a slot in the passenger glovebox with a SIM Card that is uses for this purpose. I recommend a standard basic PAYG SIM from Three network (as your credit never expires) and this can be used with the emergency call system if needed, or you can switch to the internal phone and use that at leisure.
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Marc
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mickthemaverick
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Re: C5 Tourer Exclusive

Unread post by mickthemaverick »

Thoroughly enjoyed that read Cap'n, thanks. I think you have made the right choice because although the C6 is a lovely car it is also likely to be a wallet muncher!! :-D
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Hell Razor5543
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Re: C5 Tourer Exclusive

Unread post by Hell Razor5543 »

Welcome aboard :welc:

There is a major issue with the C5 X7 to be aware of, and that is the steering rack. It appears that these were built to a price, and so may start to leak. These can be repaired/replaced, and if you look on this forum you will find more information on them.
James
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GiveMeABreak
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Re: C5 Tourer Exclusive

Unread post by GiveMeABreak »

I don't think price has anything to do with it James - at £2000 they are not shy in charging enough for replacements. Having had 3 racks myself I think it has more to do with the design / slight difference in location / quality of steel / materials used for this exact model of rack for the X7 which is unique to the X7.
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Marc
Captain Slow
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Re: C5 Tourer Exclusive

Unread post by Captain Slow »

CitroJim wrote: 27 Oct 2020, 08:46 Magic :D Great to see a new blog on here! And this one's a great read too :D

I've only ever been a passenger in a top-spec hydraulic C5 X7 Tourer and I have to say it's the best car I've ever travelled in bar none... Knocks spots off everything :)

My last ride in one was directly after getting off a train at Westbury near the end of a very similar adventure to yours when I went to collect my Daffodil :)

For the record, never rely on the train from Clapham Junction to Milton Keynes... It's more often than not cancelled whenever there's any issues on the West Coast Main Line... It seems to be a very low priority service...
Thanks Jim. It's a lovely thing. The ride isn't quite as good as I expected, but this might be down to the 19's. More investigation is needed just to rule out any issues.

I don't plan to head via train anytime soon, but will certainly remember that advice next time!
Captain Slow
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Re: C5 Tourer Exclusive

Unread post by Captain Slow »

GiveMeABreak wrote: 27 Oct 2020, 12:21
Captain Slow wrote: 27 Oct 2020, 03:34 Image|https://thumbsnap.com/4WXGwRLw

The vehicle parameters are also houses in here, which shows I have the directional headlamps.
You don't have xenon directional headlights on your X7 I can tell from the lamps and also H7 bulbs are for halogen lamps. I suspect somebody has been into the BSI with Diagbox and enabled the option so that the menu appears in the dash parameters, but you don't have them for sure.

Have a look at mine and you can see they are quite distinct (ignore the lit DRLs - just look at the head lamps):

Image

I'm glad you are pleased with it though, these are really great to drive.

At some point though, you may want to look at doing the Hard Disk to CF card upgrade for the Navidrive 3D before the hard disk fails as these automotive grade PATA Hard drives are very difficult to source and extremely expensive.

It's on the telematics section here:
viewtopic.php?t=57430

Personally, I would forget copying music files onto the Jukebox - as this is just going to speed up the hard drive demise with the extra reads and writes. You may not have noticed that you also have an SD card slot in the front of the unit, just below the main jog wheel. I have a 32 Gb card in there and have hundreds of hours of MP3 music on mine. This way it prolongs the hard drive by using the SD card for music playback. The benefits are obvious with no moving parts and reduced heat output.

The DW10BTED4 140 engines on these are rock solid and in my opinion far less hassle than the later 163 DW10CTED4 that was mucked about with for Euro 5 standards and resulted in lots of issues, well-documented on the Forum. I've had no issues with mine at all and this is a slightly improved version that was fitted to the previous MK II C5. They just work. :-D

Spend a little time undertaking the voice command training session - it will improve accuracy of your speech recognition if you are intending to use it.
Don't forget the car also has a built in car phone in addition to Bluetooth (part of the emergency call system) if you have the Services Module installed. There should be a slot in the passenger glovebox with a SIM Card that is uses for this purpose. I recommend a standard basic PAYG SIM from Three network (as your credit never expires) and this can be used with the emergency call system if needed, or you can switch to the internal phone and use that at leisure.
Thank you for this info. It's a shame it doesn't have the xenons, and are not directional in the sense that they turn with the bend of the wheel like a C4, but they are "directional" as the fog on each side is activated as you turn.

I do have the sim slot in the glovebox so will add a sim into that. What does it do exactly?
Captain Slow
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Re: C5 Tourer Exclusive

Unread post by Captain Slow »

mickthemaverick wrote: 27 Oct 2020, 12:26 Thoroughly enjoyed that read Cap'n, thanks. I think you have made the right choice because although the C6 is a lovely car it is also likely to be a wallet muncher!! :-D
Thanks. I think I have too. It's not as iconic, but feels much more usable day to day. There was just something about the C6 after going in one that stopped me....
Hell Razor5543 wrote: 27 Oct 2020, 12:54 Welcome aboard :welc:

There is a major issue with the C5 X7 to be aware of, and that is the steering rack. It appears that these were built to a price, and so may start to leak. These can be repaired/replaced, and if you look on this forum you will find more information on them.
Thanks for this. Yes, it is a very well documented failure I see. The car has been very well maintained by the previous owner, cambelt and service were done last summer, only 2k ago. Hopefully this has been attacked too, but is up next on my checks. I found the thread the other night, regarding the green cap? in the column iirc.
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GiveMeABreak
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Re: C5 Tourer Exclusive

Unread post by GiveMeABreak »

Captain Slow wrote: 27 Oct 2020, 03:34 Thank you for this info. It's a shame it doesn't have the xenons, and are not directional in the sense that they turn with the bend of the wheel like a C4, but they are "directional" as the fog on each side is activated as you turn.

I do have the sim slot in the glovebox so will add a sim into that. What does it do exactly?
Ok so:
1) Those are not directional lights, nor fog lights. On the outer edges (wing side) of your headlamps you have what they call 'Angular Lighting' there are 2 versions depending on options, but essentially, when the headlamps are activated and at a corner of a junction one or the other will light up when the steering wheel ins turned depending on the direction. It helps you to see the corners. Also, on mine they activate whilst driving at certain speeds when driving round bends to light up the sides:
I had some better pictures after the upgrades, but here is the angular lighting on mine:
Marc Angular.png
Cornering-Light-Off.png
Cornering-Light-On.png
Angular Light Off (wheel ahead) Angular Light On (wheel turned left)
Your fog lights are separate and housed in the lower front indicator housing - they are only dead ahead fog lamps and are only active when you switch them on (not when steering round corders).

2) The SIM card in the glovebox is part of the 'Services Module'. It has 2 functions:

a) When it has an active SIM card in, it allows the Emergency services to be called either directly (112) or via PSA call centre when you press the RED SOS button.
b) It can be used as a telephone to receive and make calls and receive text messages.
c) In the event of an impact where the airbags are triggered, it can automatically call the emergency services and alert them to your position via the recorded GPS location automatically recorded.
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Marc
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GiveMeABreak
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Re: C5 Tourer Exclusive

Unread post by GiveMeABreak »

Do you have the owners handbook (with Navidrive)? If not, give me a shout and I can email you across a PDF I put together with all this in.
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Marc
Captain Slow
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Re: C5 Tourer Exclusive

Unread post by Captain Slow »

Ah, thanks for that. Makes a bit more sense now! The bit that confuses me is that my dash states directional headlamps. Will have to turn it off and see if the angular lights stop working?

I do have all the manuals, but thank you for the offer.