Buying Guide
Citroën XM
Citroën sold almost 1.2 million examples of the CX, so it was always going to be a tough act to follow. The job of acting as Citroën’s flagship model fell to the
XM, the sharper-edged Bertone styling a notable departure from the previous, rather more curvaceous look.
Launched on 23 May 1989 – making it 30 years old this year – it shared its platform with the Peugeot 605, with an emphasis on space and comfort, and picked up the European Car of The Year award the following year. The saloon was certainly spacious, but opting for the cavernous Heuliez-built estate that arrived in 1991 bought you an enormously useful load-carrier. The cabin is a nice place to be too, with plenty of standard kit even in base trim, although splashing out on the top-of-the-range SE brings with it all manner of luxuries. And when it comes to ride comfort, that is taken care of by the clever and complex computer-controlled Hydractive suspension – although there was a firmer edge compared to previous big Citroëns, which benefitted the handling.
There was also a plentiful choice of engines, starting with an eightvalve 2.0 petrol unit in carb-fed or fuel-injected form and progressing through a pair of V6s with 12 or 24 valves and a 2.0 turbo. A 2.1 diesel in normally-aspirated or turbocharged flavours, meanwhile, catered for fans of oil-burners.
For the 1995 model year, the Series 2 model arrived, bringing tweaked exterior styling and a heavily revised dashboard layout incorporating airbags. Trim levels were now SX, VSX and Executive, while engine changes included a 2.0 16-valve petrol, a revised V6 allied to a switchable automatic gearbox and a 2.5 turbo-diesel.
Although improved in some areas over the first-generation model (although not necessarily more reliable), interest in the car had waned and production ended in 2000 with just 333,775 having been made. Far fewer remain in the UK today, though, so be prepared to buy on condition rather than specification.
‘Opting for the cavernous estate brought you a useful load-carrier’