What Color Is My Car?

Hi,
due to some damage on my trims (and sadly, roof http://janbenes.net/soubory/xm/IMG_5214.JPG), I've been thinking about repainting the whole car. I always thought there only was one "dark green metallic" color used, but I got a little suspicious after I saw http://www.koolhaas.demon.nl/ds-english.htm (click on Colors in the menu).

So, how do I know what color my car is? I believe I haven't found any exact color specification on Citroen Service, but don't have my VIN handy to check.

Also, has anyone of you ever changed the roof? Is that even possible, is it worth the trouble?

thanks

Citroen did offer a special order green that may very well have been specified as standard on your
24v'er. The only certain method to determine the right paint colour is the White stenciled lettering
for the paint code on the inner wheelarch wing/shelf in front of the battery box; there'll be a varied
jumble of wiring and probably the engine bay fuse box etc as well as everything off the back of the
headlight but it WILL be there somewhere in White 1" high lettering!

BTW There's an Emerald and a Triton Green listed in the Original Citroen Brochure featuring the 24v.
The pictures on your link showing the car are a difficult call as the light can alter the appearance
significantly but I'd guess it's the Emerald one!

Has the car suffered from a freak hail storm - the sides appear pimpled too!!

Andrew

This post has been edited by Andmcit on September 03, 2008 08:06 pm

Missed the comment about the roof! Guess the main roof skin could be unstitched in extremis but
bear in mind the shell is a monocoque so IIRC there will be strengthening spars to work with too.
Major undertaking and I'd guess a hefty repair bill - the pings in the panelwork could be better
treated with localised pro filling and painting... there's the whole car to do mind!!

Anything is possible if you're prepared to spend the money necessary!! A CX I've seen had its totally
rotten sunroof and surrounding panelwork removed by unstitching all the spot welds and a solid
replacement section fitted off a donor scrap Cx; cost around £2k sterling I believe.

Not something I'd do mind; I like sunroofs!

Andrew

This post has been edited by Andmcit on September 03, 2008 08:12 pm

There's a sad irony here!

Complete straight Xm's are worthless here in the UK, but labour is hideously expensive>>
I'd imagine the rarity and availability of panelwork in Prague is extreme and right or wrong
I'm led to believe skilled labour is charged at a better rate where you are!

So. When are you traveling to the UK...

Andrew

It's getting dark already but I'll definitely take a look tomorrow thanks for the info

as for the hails... 6 years ago, in germany, it even broke a few front windshields And yes, the right side is completely "bombarded"... I've been planing on replacing all the other panels (except the doors - that might prove a little byt too expansive, too) by new/preserved panels from "donor cars"... But you might well see the paint job might be needed anyway. I've sent photos of the roof to a guy who claims to be able to fix it without damaging the paint and saw some pictures of his work - looks impressive, but he seems to be the lazy phlegmatic type.. And 2k pounds sterling... that'd be a little bit... tooo much.

As for the irony there are quite a few XMs here, I see 1-4 every day, but I haven't noticed another 24v here yet (although there definitely are some).. The skilled work comes at around 13-26 pounds / hour for car repairs (whilst I bought my car for 500 EUR in germany, that's, as of today, 400 pounds... there are almost no decent XMs available on the market here, most are old cabs, having served hundreds of thousands of km, or not very well maintained pieces).

PS: I might very well be coming to the UK as an exchange student in 2009/10, is it any legal trouble driving a car with the steering wheel on the left?

Steering wheel on the left - no problem, you'll find left hookers galore around the various American airbases and there are a fair number of Polish ones around Boston.

Derek

No trouble using Left Hand Drive over here; I own several and my insurance isn't weighted against
this difference and anyhow your home country insurance may have cover but I'm not sure if it'd
cover a year mind - may have to use Uk based insurance which may be a tall order to organise;
big companies still seem to have national border mental blocks!

Somewhat of a bargain your 24v - was this with the pimples?

Andrew

Swapping doors would actually be quite easy! I've got a full set of green panels but the green
is wrong for my s1 cars; its a much more bright neon green than the car I bought them for...

A complete green Xm is offered for spares before breaking on ebay uk . I could collect and
store the panels if you wanted me to if an advantageous deal could be made with the seller
breaking the car but again the colour is wrong here too!

Andrew

<<edit - auction finished now but may be worth contacting seller - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Citroen-xm-turbo-aut...1QQcmdZViewItem

This post has been edited by Andmcit on September 04, 2008 11:26 pm

Guys,

Our very own Jorgy9 has a Left hooker remember.....

Paul

Certainly, with 24v power on tap, getting round slower cars whilst sitting on the wrong side of the far
will be a lit shorter safer procedure! Used to have drastic effect with my CX GTi! In fact, as all the
cars ahead echelon out to see past the car in front your view is clear a lot farther than you'd see in a
right hooker!

Andrew

This post has been edited by Andmcit on September 04, 2008 11:27 pm

hey, looks like I came a bit too late for the auction, seems like there's a winning bid (approx. 60 pounds for the whole car??) It's not a deal done with me going to the UK yet anyway Still waiting for the school to decide.

I looked for the numbers and all I could find was "YsR" in about 4cm big lettering right between the battery and the headlight, guess that's not what I was looking for. Will try cleaning it up a bit and looking again (I always hurry when I leave and the engine bay is pretty hot when I come back).

Yep, it came with pimples, the original owner abandoned it 4-5 years before I bought it because of the damage, but it's been very well serviced and all, plus it's only 159k km (not miles), so hopefully we'll enjoy a lot more trips together

Does the left hand drive (I'm always confused, left hand drive as in "the car drives on the left" or "you sit on the left when you drive the car".. anyway, I mean the British way of doing it) have DIRAVI?

I believe I'd have to register it in the UK once I come (I'd be staying for over 3 months). Here (Czech Rep.), registering "British"-hand drive vehicels is a no-no, they're not even keen on allowing a rebuild to local specs (I've heard they didn't even want to register a imported Skoda Estelle (which was manufactured here, but only for export), and only it being re-registered as a vintage/veteran car helped)

And yes, at 5000 rpm, taking over is a pleasure, except you're going more than twice the legal limit

PS: 7 more years and I can also register as a veteran car (provided I fix the "pimples" )

Yes thats the colour code, it should complete with YSRcR, the Cr meaning Car not estate... YSR is your colour code.

when we say Left hand drive, we mean the Steering wheel is on the left inside the car facing forward...

Being LHD it will have DIRAVI, you can also tell with the engine running, turn the steering, then let the wheel go, it should return to straight ahead on its own.

You should be ok here on your plates for 3 months I think, but Im not certain. Im sure Ive seen other euro cars here for longer then 3 months on their own plates....


Rgds
PAul

The MaxMayer Paint Refinish pdf's for 1990 on don't have a paint code that matches
- everything runs with an initial E or F.

I't'd be easier to find a car in the colour you want in the UK and transfer all the panels
onto yours and drive it back albeit with a potential mismatch of colour on the rear wings
- the beauty of the design is the roof "bubble" is separate from the main body so you
could go with a DS look and a contrasting colour...

Andrew

Mine has DIRAVI (and I enjoy it very much), I meant to ask whether the right-hand-drive 24v (or plain V6) have diravi..

I was going to ask what color that is then, but amdcit already stated the problem. Couldn't google it either. SOmebody said there were to greens, triton and emerald in the catalogue, out of curiosity, would that catalogue be available (a small scan or something), I'd be interested in seeing what kinds of colors and equipment were made etc (I was 5 years old when my XM was made)

not gonna happen, trust me

I meant visually - not as a separate removable item!!

There aren't that many cars that actually have the roof section atop a whole
surround of window glass including the rear pillars.

The DIRAVI system never got fitted to vehicles with the steering on the right
(as you sit driving) - only left hand drive. Something about the DIRAVI
steering mechanism not fitting in with an altered steering rack - more likely
Citroen knew they'd barely sell enough to justify the additional tooling of
manufacture and that big car buyers in the UK are rather conservative...

I'm sure your 24v is emerald. The brochure is really good 'in the flesh'
and well worth buying here:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Citroen-XM-Oversized...1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Citroen-XM-Oversized...1QQcmdZViewItem

(there are two slightly differing versions for 1990 and 1991)

Andrew

This post has been edited by Andmcit on September 07, 2008 12:16 am