I have owned french cars since I passed my test, with my first 3 cars being Citroen BXs, followed by a couple of 205's, a 208, and my latest french fancy being a C2 1.6 16v Code.
I'm pretty hands on and so far there's nothing I haven't been able to tackle myself. Think the years of BX ownership taught me most things - everything is simple once you've tinkered with hydraulic Citroens!
Anyway, I've finally registered on here as increasingly, more and more issues on my C2 seem to require a decent knowledge of OBDII. As part of my job (Calibration Engineer) I have actually set up the OBD features and strategies for a couple of well known British motorcycle manufacturers, but its a different proposition trying to diagnose things from a consumer point of view with only a code reader to hand and no development dataloggers and software, hence needing advice from you guys!
Anyway, on to the slightly more interesting bit, here's the list of French cars I've owned so far, from first to last:
Citroen BX 1.6 TXS - First car at 17 years old and paid £450 for it. So much car for so little money, and way bigger/faster than typical hatches and insurance was cheap.
Citroen BX 1.9 GTi 4x4 - Second car. Felt like a lottery winner, driving a 'gti' with 4 wheel drive, electric everything and plush velour interior as an 18 year old. The reality was it wasn't all that fast, but felt cool all the same. Sold the 1.6 and the 4x4 to fund.....
Citroen BX 1.9 16v - Rusty shell, good engine. Was a parts and engine donor to....
Citroen BX 1.9 16v - Good shell but had no engine as previous owner destroyed it by messing up the fueling in the Emerald ECU it was running, so it received a new engine from the above car. Converted to run on individual throttle bodies and was a glorious thing to drive. Sold to a fellow French car geek only a few years ago, and still in contact with them. This was meant to be a life long keeper, but financial issues meant I had to sell, but if I ever came in to some money, I would buy it back in a heartbeat.
Peugeot 205 1.4 XR - Car for getting me around at university, while I worked on putting the BX 16v together. Bought for £60 after seeing advertised with no picture in the local paper. Was covered in green algae and had a dead battery, but was sound underneath the muck. Fitted a silly exhaust to it, and a twin choke carb and drove it everywhere. Probably the most fun I've ever had on 4 wheels. Fond memories of jumping humpback bridges loaded up with 4 mates and a boot full of groceries on the way back from Tescos
Peugeot 205 1.4 XS - Impulse eBay buy during uni. £200. Only subtley different to the XR, but enough little differences to make it feel much faster and better handling.
Peugeot 208 1.6 GTi Limited Edition - Fast forward about 10 years, and after a VW Polo, Ford SportKa, a Volvo 360 GLT, 4x Alfa Romeo 156's and 2x BMW E36's I lusted after a french hot hatch again. Mind blowing economy for something so potent, but the fragility of the engine meant I'd had enough of breaking down on my commute. Quickly fell out of love and sold on.
Citroen C2 1.6 16v Code - Last minute purchase to get me back on the road after selling the 208. Found for sale locally for £600 with 2 months MOT. has since passed another MOT and continues to entertain. So much so, I've decided to keep it, and have started on the mods. Currently has a set of 16" Compomotive MO6's, fully stripped down interior, sound deadened, and refitted replacing all broken clips, along with a decent audio system. Probably one of the quietest cars I've owned, and tackles my 100mile round trip commute well. Visually scruffy, but mechanically sound.
Here's a few choice pics from the years:
- BX 1.6 TXS - first car
- 205 XR - Scrubbed up well, considering it was green with Algae when I got it
- 205 XS - Did not scrub up well, but was a blast to drive
- Citroen BX 16v with throttle bodies
- 208 GTi - Such a capable car and should have been the perfect all rounder, but just kept letting me down and I fell out of love with it
- Citroen C2 1.6 16v Code
All the best!
Sim
EDIT: Just noticed some of the images now no longer show even after I checked them in the preview before submitting. Not sure how to fix!
to the Forum. With your wealth of experience and knowledge you are probably going to become a valuable resource!
