WHY is this Citroen BX 19TRS so special?
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- čas přidán 1. 04. 2023
- #citroen #bx19trs #retro
Why is this Citroen BX such a special car (to a BX nerd, anyway!) Can you C if you can B X-rsed to find out!
No? Sorry. But seriously, it's a very special BX.
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Did I mention I own an SM? - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Love the wobbly headrest.
back in the mid 90s I bought a BX for my partner at the time. a very practical car and typical of the real Citroens it was excellent on fuel yet quick for its little engine. I had a GS roughly 15 years earlier and it was quite a nostalgia trip in the BX
This was not a bad car, very reliable and easy to drive. I bought a Citroen BX after a Peugeot 309, and its gearbox and clutch was not so tricky as on Peugeot 309. Not forgetting of course ride comfort, negatively it had less steering feedback, that's typical for hydropneumatic suspension.
Man, me knowing very little about BXs, I am loving that seat cloth and interior. Whish you could get something similar in cars of today, just looks so cosy.
I do love a mundane BX. I thought this car was the future when I first saw one. I still do, in 2023.
The CBX geeky tomfoolery just made me giggle. Like a child.
This sort of motor geekery is above rubies. Chapeau!
I've got that gorgeous chunky PSA tweed in my 1983 CX GTi. Love it! Citroën did strange factory things. There has been debate on line when I've put photos of my car on. Someone once said that fabric wasn't offered on the GTi and that it must have a CX diesel's interior. Except it has GTi seats and head restraints and other GTi interior features. I've never found mention of that fabric in Citroën 1983 dealer docs. Another anomaly is my ignition, which is distributorless, leading to a lot of head scratching because officially that system arrived with the 2500 engine in July 83. Mine is a 2400 from March 82 according to the ORGA no. There are mysteries in Citroën world... I sometimes imagine them sitting around a big pile of parts in Aulnay smoking fags and deciding which parts they should use and in what order they should put them together today!
I’ve had two, both red… a 1.6TRI with multipoint injection and after that a 1.9 TZI. The TRI was more fuel efficient… 1 litre 14-15Km. the TZI was always consistent 1 : 11….greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱👍
Can't remember the last time I saw one on the road.
I had a D plate 1.9D BX estate (pretty gutless, but bags of room for a growing family) for a few years followed by a J plate 1.7TD estate for around 5 years and that went like stink.
The only problems were brake discs and pads, they'd be chewed up every year or so, but back then cost around £50 for all four corners and easy to replace.
I know that early 1.9Ds suffered with camshaft problems because the hydraulic pump was belt driven off the end of the cam and if the gas spheres were dodgy, the pump was working overtime and overloading the cam causing it to fail.
No problems with the LHM systems on them or the 2 Xantia estates that followed for many years, other than the cheap 50p plastic link to the ride height corrector at the back, and when that went, boy, did we know. The whole back end went to max height and zero suspension compliance, my fillings are still suffering!!
The combination of suspension compliance and seat comfort made for thousands of effortless miles and we always used Michelin tyres, as they worked best.
Happy days and we were never let down by having the LHM dumped and leaving us without suspension, brakes or steering, but I could fix most things at home, not the case any more. Have been a loyal Skoda customer for many years now and the reliability is as we expect from what has become a very reputable brand.
Happy motoring.
Glorious. I have a (January 31st) 1992 TGD estate in white - fabulously slow and drives like a dream, does something in the region of 5000 MPG! The love for a BX is a mysterious love, but it's true love. Thanks for the video, a delight to watch. x
I’m digging that seat fabric. Thank you for briefly explaining the plate lettering/numbering system, so I don’t have to google it or just shrug my shoulders and have to guess what year the car is.
I love the BX. It's like an octagon on wheels from the side profile. Wish I had one.
My dad ran BX as taxis in the 80's 150k in 18 months was pretty much normal was featured in local papers lol, Superb Cars.
My grandparents had a 19TRS, with auto box, D107 AAB. Bought new to replace a Silver Shadow, which was fitting in view of the suspension similarity.
I'd love to have been at that garage when they chopped in a roller for a Citroen!
@@UPnDOWN well, as I remember, the Rolls was infact sold separately to the owner of the Subaru garage in central Worcester (or what later became Subaru) and the BX was bought from the Citroen dealer in Kidderminster, Stanley Goodwin motors. They loved the BX and found it a good substitute for the Rolls, as they were older it was easier to live with. They kept it until they stopped driving in the late 90's
It's always interesting to see something a bit different. Also good to see another BX sacred. Nice.
Oops, meant saved not sacred.
I take it that’s the one that was on the ramp last week… My only **mk1** BX was an ‘86 on a C-plate, and was a 19RD Automatic. Great car, and the only problems it gave me were rear spheres - which I knew about when I acquired it (I took it as a part-exchange for my TZD Turbo estate) - and a hose had been rubbing against one of the HP hardpipes from the main accumulator, and chafed it so thin that it pinholed; my wife thought I was trying to execute her, as she lost all hydraulics whilst out shopping!
My other five BXs were all mk2s: 17DTR Turbo estate (F343 NPO), 16RS, 19TRS estate, 17TZD Turbo estate and a 19RD. Utterly brilliant cars!
Really enjoyed this, very interesting and informative, great knowing about car’s history
Great video and well explained, such a beutiful elegant car I love the BX, got one myself a 1990 16 TRS
I used one in 90's as a minicab, was a very good reliable workhorse and super comfy
Thanks for the ride along and explanation of this nice car. Just be lucky you don't drive in the USA. I live in New Jersey and road repair crews take great care to replace pot holes with giant lumps of asphalt when they fix them. My favorite is when they don't raise the manholes before they pave. Keep up the interesting and informative videos.
Oh yes, this was the BX you were telling me about on Twitter. Glad to finally see it on video :D
I owned a D reg BX19RD from new, the start of my love affair with diesels which continues to this day. I sold it to buy a CX TDR turbo 2 because I needed a bigger car to pull a caravan. Both were reeliable cars though the CX tended to rust along the seam between the doors abd the roof. PSA made some great diesel cars but there is llittle of appeal in their current range. My wife has had a 2007 Peugeot 307 hdi for 15 years and it still runs well
We had a cx2400 safari which my dad traded in for a bx19rd. I learnt to drive in that!
A nice video and it's great to see such an ordinary French survivor from the 80s in good condition. At the same time, my father had a Peugeot 505 which was a fantastically nice car. In 1986, as a new driver, I bought a new Peugeot 205 and the atmosphere in that car was not unlike the BX in question in the video. These are really nice cars, but Citroën for my part came a few years later with a bit of maturation. First a C5 mrk. 1 and then a C4 Cactus mrk. 1 and now a C4 Picasso mrk. 2 (all with an HDi engine).
Me too, sort of. Had a couple of BXs diesel autos, now also because of advancing years also now in C4 Picasso 2,0 HDi proper auto. Just walk in and plonk down on a heated cow seat.
Lovely to see a BX again, no frills, good for 10 years and as many miles as you could put on it. Too right about the roads,.
This channel (and Number 27 to a lesser extent) have made me fans of BXs despite me having absolutely zero connection or history with them. I've seen one in person my whole life.
Would love to own a GTI 16V some day, way out of my comfort zone for maintenance though, but maybe that's not necessarily a bad thing.
The maintenance on a BX is quite easy. It is all Peugeot 405 stuff. And the hydraulic suspension is really quite simple. Much less dangerous to work on than a normal suspension. The hydraulics need to be depressurised, which is only 1 minute work.
Oddly, the whole thing about the BX is that the 16v is the LEAST BX-ish of all its siblings. With the BX range (and some other Citroëns, the pie is upside down. The purest are the cheapest ones with the least power.
@BanjoLuke1 I would like a estate 19RD but in the UK the road tax would be £325 until its 40 years old and tax + mot exempt.
That reminds me so much of the BX I owned in the late 90's a 16tzs which was the same exterior colour and interior as that one, I wish I could find a good one.
TZS would have had a velour version of that interior, but with the GTi-style front seats. TZS replaced TRS, so a 16TZS is the spiritual successor to my own 16TRS.
All hail Kitch, the King of the Citroënerds, the BXpert of experts.
Great vid, your love of Citroëns makes me realise I'm not wierd.
So can I get out of this room now please? The soft walls are starting to squeak!
However weird you think you are, there is always someone weirderer
I had 2 a mark 1 which was a beauty i can't remember the model now " pasage of time and all that " but it was luxury , then a mark 2 ,,, 1.4 laydown engine it was in white and with no extras but such a happy moter.
Needles to say how i wish i had them now particularly being a french car fan 👍
Thanks for the video
my dad had a 19 TRZ, almost as good as the GTI
Cool, I had a 19TRS in the same colour on an F plate a long while ago, not seen one the same spec for years, loved mine it was pretty fast for a big motor but mine suffered a big failure that Citroen uk wanted to investigate, the hydraulic pump pulley sheared off 😮 they did a warranty fix even though it was 8 years old 🙂
Niceeee! Happy as muck with my recently acquired 19TRS!
Great video, fabulous cars
Had a brand new 14RE 'Preview', then a 17RD, 19RD, and finally a 19GTI (basket case which I never got running, and can't remember why, it must have been outside my budget at the time to fix it). I eventually scrapped it, which I regret, but I do still have both front bucket seats, mounted on wooden bases in my den, I can always close my eyes and dream!
My dad's C reg 19gt did not have a sunroof, the dealer put in a pop-up, dads F reg TRS had a standard electric roof as did my f reg GTI, another bit of trivia, the C reg car's quarter window delaminated within months, the later cars didn't, I think they moved the foil from the outside of the polycarbonate to the inside to protect it from the elements. Great channel.
Just remembered. My mate Tim had D reg GTI which did not have a sunroof.
Been doing some more research, and I *think* the earlier 19GT didn't have a sunroof (tweed interior, no side repeaters) and the later one (velour Chevron interior, with CX side repeaters) did. Mad that there is early and late for a model made for about 18 months...!
@@UPnDOWN Hi I hope I'm not being too nerdy. The GT was registered August '85 and had tweed and no sunroof, the TRS was registered in August 1988, It had the same type of tweed upholstery, but this was slightly different. I only noticed when I borrowed his car and found the rear headrests that my dad had removed from the GT so that he could see any threats in his rear view mirror in the boot, and saw a subtle difference in colour. the GT being beige, the TRS being slightly blue Probably because the Gt was red and the TRS blue.
the number plate discussion took so much space. Totally unrelatable to people outside the UK :D
The number plate was kinda central to the whole video, though.
I'm definitely a car anorak I just live all these little details that mark a car out as special.
I had a TZD Turbo and it was lovely to drive. Supremely comfortable. It wasn't my first Citroen, that was a rare ZX 16v. Often wondered what the BX 16v was like. 2 cars I'd love to own.
The BX 16V is all the good bits of the ZX 16v, and all the good bits of the TZD Turbo. It's epic.
I personlly feel BX's are just special. Very nice, maybe there is an untapped market for Export Anglais, RHD with Hydro Pneumatic. Thank you for another fascinating insight.
Your comment about the front struts reminded me: when the 1989 BX19 TZS came out, me and the other drivers all thought it had a stiffer front suspension ride than was normal, particularly in comparison to the BX14s which always seemed to 'waft' better, perhaps because they were lighter. Great vid, thanks!
True, but the wafting got better when the spheres wore out. But you could buy new spheres with greater openings that were softer (or smaller openings than standard that were firmer). I miss hydropneumatics.....
@@ronaldderooij1774 Aha...! Thank you Ronald for solving this 25 year long mystery in my brain and clearing extra memory space by removing obsolete files 😎😸
@ronaldderooij1774 - I can't let it go! That's not true; When spheres wear out, they lose nitrogen gas and actually get stiffer, until they go completely solid. You're right about the damper valves, though (which I assume is what you mean by "openings.")
BXs got progressively stiffer as the years passed, due to the obsession motoring journos had with body-roll. They were all pretty soft, but by the time the TZS trim came out, they'd stiffened up a bit. Wider tyres, too.
@@UPnDOWN Yes that is what I mean. I noticed in my BX that with each renewal of spheres, the car was very much stiffer and it wore off with age. So, I really must trust my own experience here.
One of my favorite car mate, thank you😊
My pleasure!
Well, you've just shown me how easily false memories can be implanted. Back in 2007 I had a Citroen BX19 TRS auto and I was sure it was a C-reg and that I could remember the 20mph increments on the speedo. Well, I checked my photos of that car and it was an E-plate with the 10mph increments on its Veglia dials. At least I don't feel so bad about the fact that it was on its last legs and ended up being broken for spares by a BX enthusiast.
You are awesome Rich 😀, a Citröen champion
Of all the cars I regret passing on, My wonderful Tizydee estate, Grolliffe the Ice Dragon is the most regretted. Sixteen years on from owning it, I am looking for another this weekend.
Superb cars, my sister had a beige 16 TRS and I've had both a GTi and a 16v GTi. My mate had a very rare GTi automatic - yes ther was such a thing.
There was, yes. The GTi was more of a tourer than a hot hatch, so the auto option didn't really hamper it.
What a beauty 😍
My first Citroën was a BX 16 RS registration A949 RBX. It was a mark 1 car purchased new by me on 1 Aug 1983
I think that might have been A949 RBK. I'm not trying to be a stalker or anything.
@@UPnDOWN Yes, that's correct
I learnt in an 8 year old 1984 1.9TD top speed 98mph, went up hills at low revs so smoothly but I couldn't appreciate it at the time.
Wouldn't even had been a TD, just a naturally-aspirated diesel! Firebreather!
My first BX was A 873 EAU
I always enjoyed the eau on my French car
Another good video 🚗🚙🚘👍👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My First car, a 1985 CX GTi Turbo 1 series 2 was originally C101 NAN and was ex-Citroën Slough, it was re-registered for some reason when it was sold on and I had it as C387 TVV
If you search up the registrations of various cars used in marketing etc. by Citroen, many of the registrations are no longer valid. This could be why, because if they'd been scrapped, the reg would still work.
I enjoyed this episode as it brings back fond memories of my late Dads mk 1 1.9 rd an later his mk 2 19 rd, lovely cars to drive and be driven in.
could the passenger head rest be causing some of the rattles?
The source of one, maybe!
Niiiice. My dad got the 305 version of this in wagon form, GTX. Was a torquey thing and felt quite sporty. Never ever see them anymore
Your knowledge and obsession for detail for BXs is way beyond that which could be considered healthy. 🤣
Fair.
I remember when the saxo first got introduced. All the dealer demonstrators where plated up n***sax.
Very cool and very Citroen.
Also very rare now sadly
They were! There was one at the show at the NEC a few days back.
Another great video Rich. Gearbox oil question - when did the BE1 ‘box change to 75/80 oil? My Horizon (with the same type box) had 10w40 engine oil on its lubricants list
I've never seen a listing for 10w40 in a BE1 box. My mk1 BX is an '83 build, and that's down as 75w80. Horizon probably had the BE1 before the BX, though?
@@UPnDOWN My Horizon was an ‘84 model and had engine oil in it when I drained it to remove the driveshafts so I could change the CV joints and boots. It got refilled with a bottle of MA/BE transmission oil from the local Peugeot dealer when I finished, which didn’t have any other details on the bottle apart from the quantity!
A friend of mine had an almost identical 19TRS auto - same colour and trim, but on an ‘E’ plate - a lovely car - and considering we were both around 20 at the time, an unusual car for a youngster……
Nice! I had one too in the Netherlands. The 19 TRS was never even sold with automatic gearbox in the Netherlands (only in Belgium from which it was imported on a special customer's wish). I loved that car, and it was quite reliable too after I had all the defects repaired initially. Only the rear suspension struts wore out every four years.
I had one when I was 16, though that's probably not a surprise.
Bit of history here this pre production BX Mk2 👍👍👍
Junior School Teacher had one of the 1st MK 1 BX's back in 1983
School friends Dad had a couple of BX's when i was growing up, always thought these were quite futuristic in the early 90's.
Great Hoodie by the way 👍
in my old BX manual it states "Do not drive the car in the top position it is only for changing wheels it may damage the suspension, if you wish drive in the midd position do not exceed 15 mph.
This is true, but I wanted to make sure it didn't take any flood water in, so went high and slow.
about gbox oil: i had a very similar experience with my '61 Peugeot 404. It was realy hard to shift when cold (column shifter) so i cahnged the oil whch was supposed tobe motoroil so in went 20W50. No improvement. Zo i changed to 10W40. better! So is changed to 5W30. Fixed!
French cars are sometimes weird when it comes to lubrication. That Peugeot had a diff with a wormdrive and a bronze crown gear. That bronz meant it needed very special (ricinus?) gearoil.
Loved my BX TZD Turbo here in N.Z. Should never have sold it. You don't see many on the road here nowadays.
Pure real passion
I'm looking forward to differences between mk1 and mk2.
thanks
Had one about 2000 for about 6years..sleepable in the back,I'm 6'5".Ran it on 50% chip fat during fuel drivers strike.Cable clutch is a pain to replace. Otherwise great car..till gearbox went bang and blew a piece out of the box!!!
You Brits are lucky.No Citroens or other French cars have been available here in Yankistan for decades.The last intriguing car I've had was my mom's handed down Peugeot 505 in the eighties.After,it was Saabs,who vanished.Now it's another VW Golf,great car but nothing extraordinary.Now only GTI and R Golf are available in this stupid US-I just want the normal Golf.I guess my next ride will be Fred Flintstone's rockmobile.
My GT is number 3440! Only two months between these two. We call these types of early pre-facelift "Millésime" here in france, which has nothing to do with the BX trim sharing the same name, but with wine!
does it have that blinding digital dash 😂
@@dantheman6698 The GT was the only mk1 to have a boring dash sadly :( Shared with the facelift CX to have a "sporty" look, or so they said at least
@@ulrich_badmecanique my dad had a 19GT with digital dash, was a C reg iirc
@@dantheman6698 It might have been a Digit then. They're the same car
As far as I know all BXs with larger engines and/or higher spec have the range extender fuel tank. My 1989 model year 19 TRD has it, as did a 16 RS I was eying at one point.
Not so, the 19GT doesn't. Neither do the n/a diesels (in estate form, at least).
That's some super geeky shit, I llllove it
I had a bx 1.4 st tropez, took it in px for a guilia quadrofoglio
I'm amazed they took it! Do you remember the reg of the St Tropez? I've only got to find 6 more and I've got all of them!
Better off without the sun roof as for me it robbed too much headroom. My 19TRS offered increased fuel capacity with something like an expanded filler neck - different from vid? Brim it and it took a while for fuel gauge to drop from full. Very quick car. Looking as some of places where once did overtakes and think - how did I pull that off?
The second fuel tank is part of the filler neck, so it sounds like yours might have had this too. Need to find out what the deal was with those, I think!
A carb TRI ? My 1987 Swedish sold 19TRI break had the injected XU engine, but without catalytic. It was white with brown interior.
Great Cars Citroen BX’s in Petrol & Diesel I Wanna Own Them All TXD / TRD / TZD Turbo Diesel Especially
Like you do love a BX, the trs actually stands for Tres riches which means very rich. I remember that the trs had over the rs electric sunroof and electric rear windows
It does. I cover it a bit in my BX myths video.
A revolution and a cry of Liberté, égalité, fraternité means that the French would never have a class based system of model nomenclature Richard
Hey, very interresting video about the 'special' BX 🙂 I was wondering about the transmission oil comment. GL-4 75W-80 was suggested for better gearchange. Any particular brand or type? I have a 1993 1.9 TZI Break now and the gearchange could be smoother.. Does it take any GL-4 75W-80, either synthetic, or semi? Thanks in advance..
I use Comma, but most swear by Total. I believe it's a mineral spec, but to be honest it's just the book spec for that gearbox.
@@UPnDOWN thank you for the suggestion on Comma. Seems quite a bit cheaper then a Castrol variant (Castrol Transmax Manual V 75W80) they mentioned on a Citroen Forum. Considering your experience in the matter is the difference in costs explainable?
@@frankwiersma5163 Marketing/branding, I'd imagine.
I can remember my dad had a mk 1 BX16RS Brake with a rotary speedo registered new in Aug 86... I guess it was on sale as Mk 2 were on the way and it was a company car!
He eventually bought it from the company and kept it till around 1998 and it had 170k miles on it.
I look forward to the video of MK1 and Mk2 Differences as I have seen a BX 16v for sale I am interested in which was first registered in 1989. Is this a Mk 2?
Yes, all 16Vs are mk2. Not to be confused by what is normally referred to as phase 1 or phase 2, which describes the version of BX 16v (small bumpers vs. big bumpers, basically).
@@UPnDOWN Thanks, Yes. I think I was getting mixed up like you mention on Phase 1 and 2. I was comparing it to your video of JM's BX "Tomato" and it looked the similar.
Also thanks for the Videos 🙂
Woah woah woah hold up there for a second. No-one has ever entered the UK coming from Belgium and thought ''wow the roads are terrible here.''. Clearly you've never been in Belgium hahahaha
Been to Belgium loads of times.
@@UPnDOWN Same here. And every time I cross the border the highway immediately gets way more bumpy. Especially around Brussel it's just terrible, like driving on cobblestone.
Cool
I used to own a citroen bx diesel with the reg k129 ban long since scraped think the engine ended up in a pug 405
K***BAN was a common reg on a lot of late BXs.
Maybe it's rattly because it was a press/trial car and got just beaten to absolute hell.
Had to see what the number was on my GTI, its 3518, So also June 1986 then if I'm correct
Also has Jaeger dials
If it's 3518, that's technically four days pre-production too. Is it a UK car?
@@UPnDOWN No it's Dutch
We had a 19dtr
I bet the collectors value us through the roof! I have struggled hard to keep my Kia rio on R plates 100% original, to preserve it collectors value, which should net a pretty penny i reckon, maybe even retire from it. Possibly trade with a Ferrari/Rolls or similar. Kia rios are becoming very uncommon nowadays.
It doesn’t have the upper glovebox?! When was that introduced? Never seen a Mk2 without one.
RHD cars don't have it.
I had the same car, same color BX 19TRS (left hand drive) Automatic from 1989. One of the last before the TZS came with fuel injection. It suffered from oil consumption because of the valve rubbers were hard. I had them replaced (without lifting the head). It had a host of other small problems. But when I solved that, it ran Japanese reliable for 6 years before I had to sell it. My then wife had a medical condition where she needed air conditioning, and someone (drunk?) decided to hit the car in the middle of the night when it was parked, so yeah.... I still regret having to sell it. The sunroof was an option. Mine had no sunroof either.
In the UK, the elec sunroof was standard, but I expect it was possible to order it without one for better headroom. Apparently it makes quite a difference.
I have had 5 bxs in the past
A man of great taste.
What a beautiful car, why would you of bought a Escort or Astra when you could of had one of these great cars.
"Don't want that funny suspension m8"
Hi they are speed checkers, and i got caught going through Boarhunt. I got a warning.
Belgium good roads??
Maybe not in general, but compared with the UK, I'd say so.
the lack of sunroof could be down to not being uk spec- irrc alot of euro spec cars had fixed roofs whereas the company car ladder meant sunroof= i'm beter than you!
Actually that's a good point - the pre-prod cars might have been built to European versions of the TRS spec.
not really a special bx, just an early facelift car. plenty of cars have a later model year because they were built early.
A pre-production car is more than just "an early facelift car."
Have both a Veglia and a Jaeger equiped car and the Veglia is WAY better... Better lighting, better quality eletrics... But the speedo is unreliable in both!
I can help you with Veglia. It's pronounced 'Vaylia'. You're welcome.
But with a slightly closed throat, giving a very slight gurgle but no actual 'g' sound.