Just perhaps to make you feel that your XM problems could be worse, here my little report. I loved my S1 Sei XM which gave me almost no trouble, (after of course fixing the odd electrical problem, of course). A month ago the clutch started to wear badly so no more motorways or accelerating in 4th gear.

Then suddenly on the way home from work (,the handycross triangle,) white smoke was coming out of the tailpipe like a fog grenade. Stopped the car almost immediately - headgasket came to mind. Let it cool down and then home. Couln't find anybody to fix it for reasonable money and kind of chap I am I thought I'd do it myself. Got all the bits, ripped the cylinder head off, reconditioned about everything (2 weeks work). Wanted to do the clutch too, but I gave up because I couldn't safely jack the thing up. I had almost everything diconnected that was doable. But anyway then, back together again, new gaskets, new waterpump, cambelt, air filter, even had new leads and spark plugs ready. Started first time. Lovely sweet engine, better than before. After 5 minutes (just after pouring the LHM back in) white smoke again! Arghhh! So that would then mean a crack somehwere in the engine. I didn't see one while working on the engine. Today I bought some miracle remedy made in USA to see if that would do the job. Let it run for 30 mins but still no change. Wet tarmac under the tailpipe. Another £10 down the drain. Wanted to do a test drive to get the juice more circulating but broke down only 300m away because the gearlinks got unhooked. I knew the rubber was about to fail. Didn't expect the journey to be so short, though.
In essence if I don't find a suitable S1 2l petrol engine you will probably see the car or the bits here on the forum shortly. If anybody here has one for sale that is in half decent order please contact me.

Michael (originally "Michael P" but can't re-activate my account for some reason).

Where are you based Michael?

A Cit/Pug breaker like Edwards & Son in Essex would likely have a 2.0i engine or 2. If you're really lucky they'll still have the one from my old 2.0sei which went there 2-ish years ago and had just had the head rebuilt a couple years before. If they still have that with the gearbox attached, it had a new clutch too....

Good luck, hope you manage to sort something

rgds
Dave

Thanks, I am in South BUCKS. The question is how much re-engining costs. I'd have to get the engine here, move the car to a shop and have it all done there. Guess around £1k all together.
Also this morning I found a puddle underneath the car. Didin't have the time to figure out what that was. Guess it's more pain to fix it now than to go for alternatives. Shame, it's been a nice car.

Michael

Hi Michael,

To repeat a point that's been made before on the Forum. You've estimated £1k to have it fixed, how much would you have to pay for a replacement car? Would the replacement be as good as the XM?

I think the answer to those questions is what keeps us all soldiering on with our XMs.

Derek

At the moment £1k would get you in the bidding for very tall brads very nice white 2.0 turbo XM on ebay (current price £670).

Aha! I was assuming a replacement other than an XM. Silly me. There you are Michael, a good XM and a source of spares with your existing car.

Having had both 2.0 litre cars (an Si followed by an SEi) and a 2.0 turbo I can tell you the turbo is a delight to drive, much more power and it is also more economical. Even better, if you fancy the exercise the reconditioned head from your car should fit the turbo - but check the compression ratios.

Derek

Well, I am considering all options at the moment. I like my SEi, the black leather interior and it kind of looks nice. The car has barely 70k miles on the clock so I am very hesitant to scrap it. There was not even rust or dirt in the sunroof as I bought it. Sure, there are some problems but nothing really that would cause great concern. That is until now. So I will keep out looking for a new one while also checking if there are supplies of potential engines. I need to figure out how the underneath of the car looks as I had an accident jacking the car up. If the puddle underneath was LHM then it is probably for spares only
Yes indeed it is not easy. Thanks for help so far.

Michael