Marc's X7, C3 Aircross, Rants, Raves & Everything Else

[xantia_v6]

Is there really so much alloy wheel theft nowadays to justify the fitment of any locking wheel bolts? I replaced them with standard bolts on both our 308 and X7 shortly after they joined our household.

About 2 years ago, in our town in France, a team of (believed Eastern European) criminals came into town, and in one night removed about 20 sets of alloy wheels from parked cars around the town. They did not seem to discriminate on the class of car or wheel. Fortunately my cars were garaged at the time.

[GiveMeABreak]

That's interesting and also confirms what I've been hearing about in UK towns and cities, a few examples here:

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/m ... s-16178627

[xantia_v6]

I should add that on that same night, our friends also lost the 4 wheel trims from their bases-spec Renault Clio with steel wheels, so the thieves had broad tastes. The Clio was parked where I normally park the XM (which had new tyres at the time), so I was quite lucky.

[ksanturion10]

a team of (believed Eastern European) criminals

Come onnnn, here is the cradle of the European civilization...

[Gibbo2286]

That's interesting and also confirms what I've been hearing about in UK towns and cities, a few examples here:

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/m ... s-16178627

There was a spate of cars targeted in the Sutton Coldfield area this month with one set of wheels worth £5.5k taken off a BMW X6.

I've never paid that much for a whole car.

[Michel]

That's interesting and also confirms what I've been hearing about in UK towns and cities, a few examples here:

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/m ... s-16178627

There was a spate of cars targeted in the Sutton Coldfield area this month with one set of wheels worth £5.5k taken off a BMW X6.

I've never paid that much for a whole car.

You and me both Eric!

[GiveMeABreak]

Well a bit of a surprise today. We had the C3 in for its 2 year service (time based due to low miles), had all the filters replaced and it turns out a mouse had got up inside the air intake pipe and made a nest inside the air filter housing.

Our mechanic showed us the heap of chewed plastic bags and other crud it had brought in as well as the gnarled filter.

The mouse had obviously put his pad up for rent as he’d legged it by all accounts.

[Hell Razor5543]

Well, here is another example of somebody removing alloy wheels;

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/lon ... d=msedgntp

[GiveMeABreak]

A sad day for me on what will be the last main post by me on this particular thread as I have just sold my C5 X7.

Sad because 'The Golden Hornet' was the last Hydropneumatic / Hydractive suspension model made by Citroen and the last I will probably ever own. Although I have driven oodles of other vehicles and makes, every single one of my personal vehicles has been a Hydraulic Citroen since I was 17.

It has been a stressful 2 weeks since advertising my car, having to deal with not only the scammers, but also the odd nit-picker that wears you down over a small stone chip where the mud guard is fitted. I normally part-exchange my vehicles as I can't be bothered with the hassle that goes with selling a car, but knowing all the warranty and very recent work that has been done on my car, I was not prepared to accept some derisory automated offers that are invariably well-out.

So I was very pleased to be able to sell it to a young enthusiast in London, who made the 500+ mile round trip to Wales today to buy her. Everyone in the party who got in the car all emitted a collective "wow" and the rest is now history. I still have the occasional mild panic attack when I look outside and see my old car gone!

So now begins the long wait to find something slightly smaller that meets our needs now, rather than the big cruiser that just wasn't getting the miles. After that, it will be time for 'The Silver Hornet' to move on too.

[mickthemaverick]

[white exec]

End of an era, Marc, but also farewell to the irritations of the X7, all of which you had to master. Not Citroen's finest hour.

[GiveMeABreak]

I thought it about time to start a new blog on the 'Chili Hornet' but I've now merged my blog into one, so the new one starts from here on (on account of me forgetting where I've posted certain things ).

Here's a few small pics before she boarded a transporter in Kent and made the 320 mile trip to arrive on 30th December.

We have these options:

• Techno Pack: HiFi System with equaliser, amplifier and subwoofer in the boot, Head Up Display, Colour Dash Binnacle Matrix, and Wireless Charging*.
• Grip Control: This is the advanced traction control system. We have Standard mode, Snow / Ice Mode, All Terrain Mode (Mud, Damp Grass etc.), Sand Mode and Off. It also includes Hill Assist Decent control.
• Park Assist Pack: So front & rear parking sensors, semi autonomous Parallel and Bay Parking and exit, Top Rear Vision & Blind Spot Monitoring.

I've tried out the Hill Decent System and boy is it effective. It really does edge you down a slope (in forward or reverse) so will be really great for our 1:10 hills round here in the winter. Add the Grip control too and that should be pretty effective at getting us up the hills in the snow and ice.

As for the parking - I'm still not quite ready to 'hand over' control yet - so for now I'll leave that for occasions where I've cricked my neck or worse!

I already bought a few 'bits' in readiness.

I wanted some decent sill protectors, and didn't fancy the stickers or the plastic looking things, so splashed out on some nice shiny stainless steel ones. Even better they are made in the UK , so was very happy about that. They were packed really well and protected and arrived in a solid cardboard tube.

These are the fronts

Rears

These are custom made for the Aircross and are a perfect fit. The rears are quite small, but the rear sills only have a small flat section before it widens and curves up, so that's probably the reason why. Anyway, they went on really well and will protect the sill paint for many years I hope.

I should say the mats are pretty tacky - they're just an old 'new' set I had lying around to protect the Aircross ones underneath - which I suppose it pretty daft really - protecting the car mats . That's my OCD kicking in. I'm now thinking of getting some new custom mats with red trim to match the interior.

[mickthemaverick]

Looks nice Marc and the sills should be fine. You may have a supplier for mats already but if not I used these guys a couple of years ago for C5 tailored mats and when they arrived I was so impressed I ordered them for the MX3 and the Celerio as well. The MX3 mats they were not allowed to embroider with "MX3" due to copyright but they were happy to do them with "MiX3" which looks fine and of course is personalised for me
https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/carmatsonlin ... 2749.l2754

[GiveMeABreak]

Thanks Mick - I will have a squiz.

So far on the research side, I've looked at these three UK suppliers:

Carmats4u

Car & Van Mats

Car Mats UK

They all seem to offer a basic mat and then jack up the price according to options, including weight of the carpet.

I would like something like these - red heel pad and red stitching and outer trim to match the interior 'Urban red' trim highlighting:

I will have to start looking at owner reviews next to see if they are any good!

[mickthemaverick]

This is my rather dusty MiX3 Mat, I went for the black heel pad but I could have named my own colour,.:

Own work