terryb

I am driving one for the short term whilst my car is sorted.

Would just like to ask those in the know about the suspension settings. The lever next to the handbrake has 3 settings - High/ Self-Levelling/ Low - or so I believe.

Should it be left in a certain position (ie low or self-levelling) overnight?
Can it be driven safely in the low position (ie for better handling at the sacrifice of comfort)?
Anything I should be aware of at all?

Cheers

Terry

gingerboy

Step away from the lever!!

Best left in the middle position, don't believe me try the others on low it will bottom out and on high it bounce around like a pogo stick - good for a laugh and thats about it!!

Handling - me thinks not!!

Paul

skinters

never thought BX knowledge would ever come in handy -

The lever should always be run in the centre (normal) position. High pushes the struts up as high as they will go = no springing.
Low empties out the system - more for servicing as you then have no suspension. It will not 'handle' on low.

Leave it on mid all the time. It will sink down slowly overnight (especially at the back) as the weight of the car slowly forces the oil back to the reservoir. Nothing to worry about.


"Anything I should be aware of at all?"
1) Suggest an inventory of all components after each journey - many leave the vehicle during even short trips. Main mechanics are not too bad at all. Mine did 180k miles before the head gasket went.
2) Anything electrical tends to break when you need it most. I had about 3 fires - yes real smoke and flames- with the button switches around the speedo. (eg rear wash wipe)
3) Hydraulics are strangely reliable when looked after even though most of it is made of Lego surplus components. If you see green ooze on the road you're in trouble. Never top up the hydraulics with anything but the Citroen stuff (eg normal brake fluid)- it will destroy all the seals.

gingerboy

Spot on skinters

pugoetru

The only thing i can add to this is that if you see green puddles walk away!

Call a tow truck

Game over

Frosty The Snowman

I had one ages ago, my second car in fact, and liked it. Yes it looks odd but at least it's unique.

As the others have mentioned suspension should be left in the centre position unless some nubbin blocks you in and you're forced to drive over a 2ft privet hedge type thing to get out of the carpark thne the high setting is useful

Mine was pretty damned reliable I have to say, there was no annual service as such I just did the occassional oil and filters change and I thrashed the nuts off it as it was my boy racer faze.

The turbo diesel was a reasonably fast car, relative I know, and it's one of the more comforatable cars I've driven.

Sport160

Watch out for the handbrake, my dad had 3 of these and all had a habit of rolling away as the car sank on its suspension settings.

He never use to remember to leave it in gear, so hit neighbours car once and then lost one when it rolled into a river (river wye IIRC)

Rgds
Neil

scoobynutta555

Jesus that's funny.

Gary C

Note to other road users, dont follow a BX diesel too closely.

A freinds BX engine let go proper F1 stylee. I could not see a thing, not the road, the car, the pavement or even the end of the bonnet ! total whiteout

terryb

Cheers Guys - will leave it in the middle - mind you am somewhat tempted to tackle the slalom course (at the driver training day we're organising at Bruntingthorpe tomorrow) in fully raised mode. Would be hilarious to be captured on video - just worry that the suspension would let go and break and also the fact that it isn't my car - so it won't happen. But I do think it could be funny though..

skinters

Oh - how did I forget this one! Cunning design - The handbrake is on the front so if the discs are really hot, they contract a lot when they cool and on a decent incline - hey presto the car rolls away.
I recall my friend finding a BX in their front garden for this very reason.
Luckily citroen learned their lesson and not only didn't fix it but transferred the design to the xantia. ho ho ho

skinters

Ah - try it on the lowest setting. The car will drive on the bump stops with no spring or dampers. If it's a smooth surface the results should be entertaining.
You get the same effect on high really except the centre of gravity is raised massively and I think the CV joints will probably complain. Much higher chance of blowing a seal or something if you rally it on 'high'.

terryb

Yeah my thoughts too - and seeing as the steering and brakes share the same fluid (so I believe) then I don't think it is a good idea.

the moose

I did 100k miles in one, never a problem. One of the most reliable cars I can recall, strangely enough, and never varied from 45mpg (1.9 n/a diesel)

Meetgrinder

Mine p!ssed green stuff all over the road every chance it got. A ticking regulator thing at the front generally means (as far as I know) that your pipes will pop off and you will lose... suspension, power steering and brakes.

It got so common for me to lose those things that I wasn't surprised any more when it happened. Got used to driving home from the centre of Leeds in rush hour (so not high speeds) with all sorts of warnings flashing, using hand brake to stop/slow down with (it was on the front wheels I think, so not bad, but if you left it parked on a hill you were asking for bother when the discs cooled). Steering would only turn half a lock when no juice in it and the ride was like a trampoline except it was bone jarring hard at the bottom.

Lessee... engine would cut out (stall) every 4-6 weeks then be fine again whilst driving, central locking solenoid went, electric windows packed up, lights sometimes worked, a hard bash on the dashboard might sometimes fix it, the clutch cable snapped, meaning one day I ended up driving from York back to Harrogate with no power steering, foot brake or suspension, and no means to change gear other than thrashing the engine and slamming it into gear at high rpm. Not really an eventful journey. My first car, a mini, would bleed it's brakes dry if you stamped on the pedal too hard (and you needed to with crappy drum brakes) and taught me how not to die when your brakes failed (even down a steep hill. That was kinda scary mind.) all of which stood me in good (and regular) stead with this french pile of crap.

Engine wasn't too bad otherwise. It was the non injected GT but went quite well, and really cheap to insure (presumably because the insurers thought you or a thief would break down long before you got up to any dangerous speeds. They were probably right.), plus bits were cheap. Got on first name terms with the parts dept at Sh!trun dealer.

Since then, I've had two more Sh!truns, both nowhere near as bad (ZX td, I messed about with the fueling screw all the time to make it go faster, and AX 1.5d, did 100 miles on a gallon once. And ran out on the way to the fuel station, needing to walk a few miles - serves me right for being clever.) Neither were as bad as the BX, but both were crumbly with age, bits of trim falling off in your hands etc, and uncureable creaks and rattles from new.

The french lost their way years ago with their diesels, and there isn't a french car I would buy now except maybe one of the Pug GTIs as a dispoable (it will dispose of itself if you own it long enough) toy for weekends.

Uk registered French cars... built on Friday afternoons by people who hate the English.

All in my humble opinion of course :P

GC8

There are four positions: top and bottom are for 'workshop use' leaving normal ride and high ride for use on the road.....

bigsinky

the bx gti 16v was a nicesish car. 165 bhp as well. the hydrolic (sp) suspension was a complete bastid to fix though. same engine went into the 405 Mi16 which was miles better. diesel engine would go on for miles, the turbo variants markedly quicker than the no turbo ones (gutless i would describe them). having driven all three of these cars i can say they offer no redeeming qualities whatsoever

GC8

I had two Series 2 BX16v's from new and I thought that it was a cracking car. The later Mi16 shared the Citroens superior hydraulic suspension too.....


Simon

aggs

The "High" Setting is for checking the hydraulic fluid level,
Park on level ground and set lever to high setting.
The float in the tank should read between max and min marks when the car has raised itself to full height.Should check regularly to make sure you do not have any leaks,and/or sufficient fluid in tank.(Should be in handbook)
A tip to see if car is levelling it self correctly is to have the car idling and set on normal ride height and then sit on front or rear bumper, the car should fall as you place your weight on it and then the hydraulics pumps up and lifts the car back to original height, if you get off the car will rise for a few seconds and then re adjust to lower back to original height,a service maybe reqd. if this does not occur.

matchmaker

I had a BX TZD turbo-diesel. Reasonably rapid and economical. Apart from that it was an unreliable heap of doo-doo. Worst experience was driving 25 miles to the nearest (only) Citroen dealer in Shetland to have blown suspension seals fixed. It went through 2 litres of LHM fluid on the journey.