The Citroën XM Story 

Errata: The large bar in the chart should be "total worldwide" rather than "rest of the world" as it also included UK sales. The map showing the French design sites is majorly messed up!

I have a XM V6 12v 1990 and I love it. It flies through time and space.

I love the look and engineering of old Citroens... I'd give almost anything to have a garage filled with an XM, a CX, an SM and a DS.

A beautiful XM is gathering dust in my granddads garage. I should start restoring it to its original glory!

What I like the most in your videos is the extensive old footage, because it gives us an immersion on each era, helping us to understand the context on those 70's-80's-90's days!

I drove the XM Diesel Automatic. It had an 80 liters fuel tank and it used about 6,5 liters per 100 km. It had nearly the double of range, than MB 250D. That one used at least 9 liters per 100 km. What a car, and stunningly comfort.

A blast from the past. My parents bought 2 of them; the first at launch. This after 2 BXs I remember the comfortable seats, cossetting ride and contrived footbrake

These big Citroens and also the Renault 25 were like driving magic carpets - so comfortable.

I owned a few Citroens and i loved the ride and the strange things you got for free, special was the suspension really a class on its own !

2020, I'm 40...still love this car!

I sold these brand new and they were a brilliant car. The quality of the ride had to be experienced to be believed. It always drove level thanks to the suspension no matter what the load. The diesel version was incredible. I loved the handbrake system too that worked really well and was very practical. A great car which was very much underrated.

I can remember my dad wanting an XM V6 when I was a kid in the mid 90's, but being a mechanic he was always looking for a bargain repairable example, the few that did pop up in the salvage section of the Auto Trader were either way too battered or sold quickly. In the end he bought a 1995 (3 years old at the time) Renault Laguna 3.0 V6 that needed a lot of repairing (B pillar, sill, 2 doors and several hours on the jig). My mum loved the car but my dad was always nonplussed by it because it wasn't an XM!

When Citroën came to Brazil in early 90's, my dad took me to a dealer to see this car. I was 7-8 years old. I'll never forget how impressed we were with its design and features. The self leveling suspension, the electronics, the comfort, the ride, the fact that it went all the way down when you lock it...amazing The seller put me on the trunk and sat beside me to show the self leveling suspension. So cool. And he gave us a cassete tape with a video clip of the XM. I hope my dad has it stored somewhere. I often recall this car, nevertheless I don't remember seeing one on the streets, at least for a long...very long time. In early 90's Brazil was in a very unstable economy, so not many people could buy expensive and foreign cars. I think that's why it's hard to find these XMs around here. And the fact that it became an unreliable car, maybe was one of the factors that change the citroen mind of keep selling it here. But as you said, I think it will be a collectable car someday, and I hope to find one in good condition to buy. I would love to have one.

I loved the time I owned a Citroën BX. Considering that they had a bit of a cruddy reputation.. Mine was utterly reliable and in the 4 years of ownership, it only ever failed its MOT on a broken number plate. Not bad for a 9 year old car. Got written off in a 40mph head on crash... I was doing 40.. Wallyknob in a Granada came around the corner on my side of the road. I had seat belt marks for a while but the BX sacrificed itself and saved me.

I wish Citroen still made quirky, weird cars. The Citroen DS was one of the most revolutionary cars ever

I always liked it when you got out of your car and after a few seconds it sat down. Like a good Dog making sit....

And i thought peugeot 205 video was a treat for french car owners. Never expected to see video about XM. As a XM owner, nice way to start weekend. Thank you!

Still own a XM 2.1 diesel. I love this 1998 car. Thanks for the video!

The old feel of Cittroens comes back. Always loved the XM - there's an estate near me

I wish Citroën was as quirky today, sure the C4 Cactus exists but it’s nothing compared to cars like the XM

I have a 2L grey XM, truly an amazing car and still going strong. Thanks for the great video!

Very successful Citroen movie about a very rare underrated car! Go XM!

I remember seeing one drive passed me as a kid. I thought it was some sort of concept car at the time. I remember chasing it on my bike as it got stuck in traffic up ahead to try and see the badge. It got away and remained a mystery as to what it was. I even remember my dad being quite interested and asking me all about it when I said I'd seen a concept car on the road. The next time I saw it it drove passed again before I could see what it was. I was annoyed but at least I now knew it stayed in the area. The mystery came to an anti-climatic end when I just stumbled across it parked up one day and checked it out properly.

Just one more cool car that we can't get here in the US. I was totally smitten the first time I saw one, both in pictures and in person, when I went to Europe for the first time in August 1990. I've always been a big fan of Bertone styling since the 80's. Thanks.

I had a 'K' registered XM and did just over 140,000 miles in it. Apart from all the various "bells and whistles" it came with, people always commented on the seats - how comfortable they were. I then had various other cars before going back to Citroen with a 2009 C4 Picasso the a 2015 C4 Picasso (both 1600cc Turbo Diesels). The seats are just as comfortable in the Picasso as in the XM. Thank you for the video. Brought back some very pleasant memories.

I had a few of these - they were pretty good apart from the problems with the ABS warning light staying on - so pleasing to see it was doing just that in your video. If you turned it off and back on again it usually went out, unless you took it get it fixed and then it would refuse to anything wrong, so no fault - until you got back home.

Sitting in a French car has always been as soft, plush and cozy as sitting on grandma's lap. :)

It never ceases to amaze me that while Citroen and Toyota have both utilized the same basic aerodynamic shape, the XM makes it look classy and futuristic while the Prius looks like something my cat hurled up on my Persian rug. Great video!

My parents had a xantia, i loved it! Seeing it stand up on its wheels when you start it, the very specific sound it was doing... It was so cool! I will surely buy one after my drive test done.

Indeed hilarious translations. Thanks for another great feature. I never owned a citroen but they sure are quirky.

You have done a great job making this short documentary. Thank you very much for your valuable effort. XM sure deserves it. Warm regards from France

I worked in a Citroen garage and loved driving the XM 2 litre turbo

My overriding memory of those big Citroens is that the seats were more comfortable than my sofa. I didn't drive them very much but had a mate who had a CX followed by an XM as company cars so rode in them a lot.

The most beautiful car ever drawn.

When I was studying in Coventry in the 90s, I had 2 friends with Citroens, one had a base spec 1.4 BX, the other an XM V6. Both were amazing in their own way. I was always in awe of the XM though. That wonderful styling and excellent ride. Another Grande Damme.

Fantastic video. I was so in love with the design of the Citroën XM when it was released. For me it was the future of car design, back then at least!

I like the personal experiences in this episode. Makes it feel much more passionate.

Always loved the “starship “ Xm it made others look old and stodgy

I had one and I named mine Battlestar Galactica because of the amount of buttons in the dash. I absolutely loved it.

As a fan of Citroens, the XM is one of my favorites. Love the futuristic design. I wish they sold more here. Buy us Yanks are a picky lot. But I would have bought one even used. That’s why I like Swedish cars as well, they are also quirky. 😀

I learned a lot of lessons in my Dad's new 1982 Volvo 265GLE. When I pressed the windscreen defrost button on the over simplified HVAC and turned the heat on the windscreen instantly fogged up completely...at 110 km/h...I'd never heard him swear that much...then I learned about live rear axles and Michelin high profile tyres....I've distrusted Michelin since then. I sure learned a lot about vehicle undynamics in that car. These Citroens have always appealed. Thanks. Great presentation.

Thanks for another great video! I found this really interesting because my first large car was the Xantia and my next was the C5 which I kept for 15 years!! It's interesting to hear the history that came before them and why finding a car like them now is so difficult.

I love this Car. My dad himself owns a Xantia and both of these Designs are so nice and sleek! Why does nobody today produce cars with such a nice and sleek design?!

The Citroën XM has always been a staple car for me. I love its spaceship design, the smooth suspension and the fact that it is a large luxury car. Infact it is my absolute favorite car!

My dad got a dark green metallic 98’ V6 24V XM Exclusive back in 2000. It was like new, with manual TM, leather seats and no solar roof. He would let me drive it soon after I got my driving license with him on the passenger’s seat. We made a few long familly vacation trips in it. The car’s acceleration and overtaking performance was impressive for such an elegant sedan, and once you put the suspension in Sport mode the roll reduced a lot in twisty roads. My dad loved to that car so much. Sadly, we sold it soon after he passed away in 2013. I miss them both!

Citroën, one of my favorite makers. Rented many in Europe, back in the day.

As a teen I stayed with a host family in France one summer. The neighbors had a CX I rode in a few times. I totally forgot about the cool gauges on the dashboard!!! Thanks for posting!

I had an absolutely enormous XM estate around the turn of the century. It was my 3rd Citroen and the most unreliable heap of junk ever screwed together by man. Permanent electrical problems, dodgy hydraulics and it eventually threw a con-rod through the crank case near the German border and spent 18 months living on a garage forecourt in Luxembourg before it was scrapped. It was also the smoothest, most comfortable car I have ever been in and I'd buy another now if I could find a good one.

I owned a '89 XM at the turn of the century. 3.0 V6, leather seats, the works. Performance was great, suspension to die for. The lights really were awful though, and every mechanic that saw me drive in started crying, that's how bad it's reputation was. And it did strand me on the road more than once. Missed it for a long time, even after a decade with our trusty Berlingo. If I had a garage for it, I would still have it, quirky and all.

Citroen has the most beautiful elegant design ever and much better than new cars these days .

The C6 is a beautiful car, and it's always a (rare) pleasure to see one in the UK.

The C6 could easily be mistaken by anyone for a modern design.

Citroen XM was my first car. Bought second hand with a bit of financial help from my dad. Since then I have owned at least 9 other cars but if you ask my wife what car I should ideally get, guess what her answer is? Yes, another Citroen XM. The other 9 cars, she doesn’t even remember their names. I remember once in the lake district we were stuck in a jam because the road was inundated after heavy rainfall. Nobody dared to cross it, fearful of flooding their engines. We drove out of the jam, stopped in front of the flooding, raised the suspension to max and forded the road. Once across, we stopped again and brought the suspension back to normal. The looks on the faces of the other motorists! Gold.

Love that car, owned 4 of those

Your videos are getting better and better, Sir 🙂 The timing, the edit, the narration, the music....all good, stuff. Hats off. Best regards from a car detailer in Norway.

My parents had one, I loved it :)

i loved my 2 XMs back in the days, one of them ran 550.000km without any problems, only had standard repairings and a view electric problems which they were known of until the 92 models, the V6 (not the early 24V version which was crap!!) was great and had enough power. A wonderful car.

An uncle in law had one of these for some years. Don't think he has it now think he has a C5 now. He only ever drives Citroens as he works on them too and knows everything about them.

Had one in the 90s, loved it to bits.

Thank you, thank you!

Brilliant, comprehensive and engaging. Good car history/documentary.

I loved my XMi Turbo. Great acceleration and really comfortable for driving across Europe. It could sit comfortably and quietly at 200kph on the German autobahns. It also had a huge petrol tank. But I admit I bought it because of depreciation, it was cheap at 2 years old. It replaced my Renault 25, which my ex girlfriend called the Enterprise. I thought about replacing the XM with a Citroem Xanthia but it was very mundane.

i had a 1990 2.0si as my third car when i was 19 or 20. comfort incredible, performance perfectly adequate, technology crazy. reliability ...eerrr.... but i totally adored it. it was an adventure every time you got in it. great video!

My Dad swapped a Rover Sterling for an XM in the late eighties. He had lunch every day in a pub that was frequented by Joe Brown who tours the UK every year. He really liked the level suspension and bought an estate version which he could fill with his instruments and still have a level ride. Last time I spoke to him, he had had six XMs!

My dad was a Citroen car dealer!

Lucyperson to own 2 CXs. Enjoyed every bit of its comfort. My mother on back seat never realised, I was doing 150.

I hope the electric fairy appears in my suspension someday

Wow this brings back a lot of memories! We had 2 XM in our family! My grandpa had an entry level 2.1 turbo diesel from 93 to 2006. He was supposed to trade in his BX for a ZX but brought the XM back home. My grandma was so mad, she didn’t talk to him for a whole week! As a kid, I remember playing with my cousins with the dash. Using every button to control our spaceship through the galaxy! I also remember the sequence of the suspension when he started the car... you couldn’t drive right off, you had to wait for the car to rise. The car always had a problem and he spent about the value of the car in repair over the course of his ownership! We often moked this car but I felt sad when he sold it for a C3. My brother also had one, from 1998 to 2000. Still turbo d 12 but higher grade with electronic A/C, hydractive. This one handled a lot better, but also spent more time in the shop than on the road. It’s been a while and I probably forgot everything about the following cars but these, I clearly remember the plain wheels covers with the 4 circles, the way the suspension rises, the one spoke steering wheel, the clock at the right of the steering wheel, the lever to raise the suspension... everything that was unique to the XM!

Excellent presentation as always! I enjoy every one of your videos. I've always been a fan of these big Citroens. I'm stunned at the level of electronic sensor tech that they were using in the mid 80s, as well as the overall cost of development. Then that later model you mentioned, before the turn of the century, with wireless and internet? Wow! Seems they may have spent too much money trying to be too far ahead on technology while neglecting the basics like reliable engines, competitive horsepower, and the driving characteristics customers actually wanted at the time. If they had put their genius to work on those issues, what might they have wrought? An early hybrid, revolutionary power output, a pneumatic suspension more suited to a sport saloon?

Can't belive how much you can learn on cool old French cars from other countries, usually if you would want some info about late 80 Citroëns and Renaults you would ask your uncle who has too many dogs. Thanks for keeping it alive

Ha! I used to have a Majorette version of the Citroen XM, it had an opening bonnet.

I was overtaken yesterday by an XM on the M4, whilst in my E30. Made me smile seeing such a rare car.

Great video. How 'bout Simca/Talbot Horizon? Another "lost" car.

Thanks very much for sharing!! I 've got a Xm 2,0 L Carburettor (115 HP) Mk I and a 2,5 L TD (130 HP) Mk II and, how could I say, it's the way to road heaven.

My old cx turbo diesel familiare are one of the best cars i will ever have owned, my dad bought a xm and had it for 10 years and only did service on it so they are great cars to have!

I had a Citroën GSA Pallas (1981) in 1993 and I loved it.

Everytime I see an XM I can't help but picture Jeremy Clarkson's 3-story RV attempt Correction: it was a CX. I am a dumb yank :(

I saw one of these like 12 years ago driving around San Diego California... super rad! =D

"powered by a 2.1 Diesel from the BX" ?? BX never had 2.1 engine only 1.7 and 1.9 Diesel AFAIK ??

Great video! I remember how fascinated I was as a child with the XM futuristic design + I love these 80’ graphics!! I love how Citroen did they’re stuff so different (sometimes crazy) then other more ‘conventional’ car companies. Perhaps it was a financial failure back then, but as time moves forward and things are seen from different angle - the more you appreciate them.

My uncle had one of these purely down to him having a bad back so the sofa like driver's seat was ideal

Wow ! That was a great history of a car barely forgotten here in France! Nice job. Merci beaucoup !

As always a great video. A few mistakes: the 2,0 l petrol engine was never used in de 205 GTI, the 2,1 l diesel was never used in the BX. Both engines were the successors of the petrol and diesel engines with 1.905 cc displacement.

Remember seeing the XM at my local dealer. It was huge, it was cool, it was like The Future.

Insta-clicked when I saw this.

I remember sittning om the passenger seat in this one. The amount of space in front was jawdropping and I still remember the feeling of what felt as out-of-this-world interior chilin from Volvos and audis

I voted for this one! Thanks so much for doing this! Don’t suppose you’ve done a CX video at any point? I used to dream as a kid in the 1980s of having a CX estate because it just looked like some enormous spaceship

I had one of these. What an extraordinary car! Literally like riding in a motorised sofa, but with good handling. Mine was a burgundy red with black leather upholstery.

Beautiful looking car. For some reason, the Citroen XM was never sold here in North America. Probably because of its complex hydropneumatic suspension, among other things, it wouldn't have sold well. There'd probably have to be specialty shoppes all over the country that could service the car.

Love this channel. Very informative. Underappreciated channel.

Oh oh oh!!! Follow up video of the Citroen suspension and how it ended up in the Rolls-Royce 🤓

Fantastic video, glad to see some love for the humble XM! :D There was an XM that lived not too far from me in my hometown of Teignmouth, and I was always amazed by the low, smooth French styling of this otherworldly looking car, such a stark contrast to the mundane looking Vauxhall Corsas and Ford Mondeos that sat parked next to it. :D

From my point of view, a big engine without a good suspension is dangerous and some european companies are selling overpowered cars because of this. The only way of making a heavy but stable family car is Citroën's aproach. The Xantia was smaller, had the same engines available (including the V6) and was a success as it is the C5 after it. The video does not mention the 2.5 Turbo diesel (130cv) that came after the 2.1 which was at the same level with the BMW 525Td for example, althought it was not available in the Xantia which took part of XM's sales through it's luxury versions and it is still today the fastest car ever in the moose test. Then the minivans and SUV's came in, ending the car golden age (1960's to 90's) we still see good sports and familiy cars, but they are not as affordable/popular as they were before.

One of my favourite cars ever. And definitely a must have in my "dream garage".

I think to this day the XM is the only car that manages to merge the retro-tech-futurism of the 1980s with actual cyber futuristic design. I hope at one point, someone will merge the technology of a Tesla with this beauty and make it the cyber car it deserves to be.

superb interior and exterior design

citroen was elon musk before elon musk

Great video Ronin deserves a mention for the large screen presence of the XM doing battle with the BMWs. A great car chase, slightly marred by the continuity errors of using MK1 and MK2 XMs

Excellent presentation, as always, thanks. Will it become a classic? I doubt it, it is too complicated electronically and the hydraulics, for the average classic enthusiast, but what do I know.

Love the XM have owned 2 of them, my favourite was the top of the range v6 auto I owned for about 3 years.