Right i've been underneath the car having a good poke around and familiarising myself with things(im new to XM's),couldn't believe what i saw,the block/brake compensator looking thing that has five pipes going into it(below accumulator sphere/pressure regulator at the front),four of them were extremely slack!!Now initially i saw fluid leaking from one union,said to myself if its anything like a brake union on a normal car they don't go slack?But i tightened it and it was really slack?Then i thought i'd be as well checking the rest of them,four in total were really slack???This must have been part of the reason for the pressure loss i was experiencing getting the front up,now,question is,what effect would this have had on the hydraulics/fluid etc drawing in air at these unions all the time,or letting pressure out all the time,will anything be damaged or needing bled?To think i drove the car home a couple of weeks ago like this when i bought it!The car has a huge service history,pile of receipts but not from the guy i bought it from,he had only had it 6 months.It was the guy before really looked after it:-)I've just keeping it off road for a little while giving evereything a thorough check,just as well i did.

The Citroen pipe joints are not like ordinary brake pipe joints, they have a neoprene sleeve/seal in them which quite effectivly seals itself under pressure, so you dont need to do them up very tight. I did have a similar problem on my car when I bought it but the fluid loss was only minimal and just nipping the joints up with a small spanner is usually sufficient.

Slow rising suspension can be caused by anything that causes the fluid pressure to rise to slowly, dirty LHM, clogged filters, or a worn pump, also make sure that the belt is not slipping, but if it drives OK I wouldn't worry about it.

Peter.N.