does anyone know anything about my CITROEN BX 16 TGS METEOR

[pkwebb]

hello i purchased my CITROEN BX 16 TGS METEOR about a year ago for 100 quid, it is great car and my first. I joined this club to find out more about my car, the internet says there are only 17 bx's of this type on the road ? and I am always approached by strangers saying " wow you don't see them any more".
My questions to anyone are

is this car really that rare ?
why is it rare ?
how much would a good one be worth ?
and why does it keep lowering the back suspension when i take the key out and leave it for an hour ?

Phil

[Paul296]

hello i purchased my CITROEN BX 16 TGS METEOR about a year ago for 100 quid, it is great car and my first. I joined this club to find out more about my car, the internet says there are only 17 bx's of this type on the road ? and I am always approached by strangers saying " wow you don't see them any more".
My questions to anyone are

is this car really that rare ?
why is it rare ?
how much would a good one be worth ?
and why does it keep lowering the back suspension when i take the key out and leave it for an hour ?

Phil

Hi Phil - well you are definitely in the right place to find out about your car - and welcome . What this lot don't know about BXs probably isn't worth knowing!

Yes, your car is rare - you probably had a look at 'howmanyleft' to get the figures of precisely how many Meteors are left? - That site can't tell you the figures exactly but it is a good estimate.

It's rare because although Citroen managed to sell huge numbers of BXs in the UK, as residual values fell the cost of repairs required to get cars through an MOT didn't stack up and equally huge numbers were scrapped - they are very long lived cars if you maintain them correctly but they don't take kindly to being neglected (who does?!). The most dramatic fall off in numbers was between 2002 and 2005 if you look at the graphs on 'howmanyleft'.

The petrol cars (like yours) tend to be rarer than the diesels as the engines tend to be less reliable - The Meteor was a limited edition - which basically means a higher level of trim than a basic car and was available as a 16 petrol a 19 diesel (both in manual and auto-box configurations). Was there a turbo diesel anyone?

Values depend (like all cars) on a number of factors and 'rare' doesn't necessarily mean 'valuable'. BX prices have been steadily rising over the last year or so but nice ones can still be bought for relatively modest outlay. Prices start at around 200 quid (for something that's narrowly avoiding the scrapman) up to 3 or 4 thousand pounds for A1 low mileage Mk1 cars ( the Mk1s are particularly sought after, as many of the original design features - like the interiors - are more idiosyncratically 'Citroen'). Yours is a Mk2 and the value will depend on mileage, service history and overall condition. Given all those variables the value could be anything from 3 or 4 hundred pounds to a couple of grand - post up some pics with a few more details about the car and someone will give you the low down.

As to the suspension - it's supposed to do that! The suspension runs on a hydraulic system - not springs like a conventional car (which is why we love 'em). I'm sure someone much more qualified than me will be along shortly to explain all about hydro-pneumatics!

Regardless of how much your car is worth - it's there to be enjoyed, and if you want to know how to get the maximum enjoyment from it and share your enthusiasm with a load of other nutjobs - like I said - you're definitely in the right place!

[mds141]

/\ Nicely described Paul.

Re your sinking feeling. Can you hear a 'ticking' sound from the engine bay? This is the accumulator sphere, which stores a reserve of hydraulic pressure. If the this sphere is "flat", then your 'tick' will be increased from say 15 seconds to as little as 5 seconds. Once the engine has stopped the hydraulic pump is no longer supplying hydraulic pressure into the system and the car will start to sink. A new accumulator sphere can enable you to keep it up for longer and will prolong the life of your hydraulic pump.

Another cause of a sinking rear end is a defective doseur valve. These can be rebuilt, but most people just live with it, as it is not as critical as a flat accumulator sphere.

Hope the above all makes sense.

[Paul296]

A new accumulator sphere can enable you to keep it up for longer and will prolong the life of your hydraulic pump.

.

Are you sure? There's this guy down the market who's been trying to sell me these little blue pills - works wonders he says!

[mds141]

A new accumulator sphere can enable you to keep it up for longer and will prolong the life of your hydraulic pump.

.

Are you sure? There's this guy down the market who's been trying to sell me these little blue pills - works wonders he says!

I tried some of those. They just gave me a stiff neck!!

[Paul296]

A new accumulator sphere can enable you to keep it up for longer and will prolong the life of your hydraulic pump.

.

Are you sure? There's this guy down the market who's been trying to sell me these little blue pills - works wonders he says!

I tried some of those. They just gave me a stiff neck!!

You just go and get yourself a new accumulator sphere and try not to worry too much - worrying about it will only make it worse!

[pkwebb]

cheers guys i have no interest in selling it, your responses are very welcoming and helpful thank you
phil

[Caffiend]

Welcome, pics please, and do stick around to talk about BXs. Sometimes that comes with "ollo" in the middle, see above. Look out for events (in the Events section surprisingly, and some of the posts are even about the event. Sometimes.) and come and show off that Meteor at some point? People are just as friendly and helpful as online, and often slightly less bonkers so the men in white coats don't get them.

[Tim Leech]

Nope no turbo diesel Meteor. It then basically became a mainstream runout model renamed a TXS/D which was available as a 1769cc turbo diesel aswell as 1.9D and 1.6 petrol.