seefive

The passenger sun visor courtesy lights failed on my 2006 c5 the other week. When I flipped off the lenses I was disappointed to find they were non replaceable LED bulbs. (contrary to Haynes, which is evidently referring to Mk1's with sensible festoon bulbs) Not only is this a crazy way to maintain a car - replace the whole visor for the sake of a light, but Citroen won't even sell you one. They want £160 for a pair!! I was too shocked to check if this included the VAT.. Managed to get a pair on ebay for £30, so I'm covered for the driver side when that goes. Fitting was dead simple - even I could do it.. Still , £30 is a lot for something that should have been a 5 minute bulb change. Wonder if a Mk1 visor could be adapted to fit? (different connector I think) .

Thanks for clarifying this

Just to make you feel better..I get 32mpg in my 2006 2 litre auto. That's because I live in a hilly area and most of my "journeys" are less than 5 miles. I've given up worrying about the numbers, and they're about right anyway, per the official consumption quoted above by Paul As my monthly fuel bill is around £50, my scope for saving with a more efficient car is not exciting. MPG has become an obsession with a lot of people, and they lose sight of the true cost of owning a car.

Hi Last year's service bill on my C5 says front pads 30% 9mm remaining rear pads 20% 10mm remaining So assuming front and rear are same thickness, this means 70% remaining and 80% remaining?? What does that translate to in terms of mileage? (ballpark) Thanks

Looking at the autodab site, they quote oem version for C3 to 2009 only, but no end date on the aftermarket version. Aftermarket is actually better, as it is controlled from steering wheel controls and connected between the car radio wiring and the radio via quadlock connection. The OEM version is wired into the fusebox and controlled by a separate remote.

Mk2 handbook states that a sunroof cannot be retrofit to cars with side airbags. It seems cars with factory sunroof have a different airbag configuration

Looked at the Citroen site recently. They now list a total of 2 C5 saloons, VTR+ and exclusive, both with the dreaded 1.6 hdi engine (start stop), That's it, unless you count 1.6 auto as another version, ( on exclusive only) Can't be long now before it's dropped completely..replaced by a new DS something? What a shame. Citroen/DS are really losing their way. Gone are the quirky, high value offerings of old. (cactus excepted) They are trying to be premium, and it doesn't really work. the DS range is over priced and under-spec'd, (eg DS4 with non-opening rear windows - come off it!) Don't know what i will buy next, probably just hang onto my Mk2 for as as long as possible...

Try the "TA" (traffic announcement) button..

Just did mine yesterday too (both sides) The official way is to strip the bumper and remove the headlamp units , then pull out the bulb holders , having twisted them away from their locked position. - crazy.. Luckily on mine they had not been locked into position by the previous owners/s , so a quick pull on the wire brings out the bulb holder, and as Mike says, they can be jiggled into position by watching the lens until it lights up bright . With the rubber cover replaced, the bulb will sit quite securely. Lucas bulbs should last a year or so. The nearside is the worse one, with the battery being so close, but still possible with patience. It took me about 20 minutes to do them both

The radio also controls the screen displays and functional menu, so can never be fully switched off. If you want to lose the display, you will need the dark, or nightlight button.

Time setting is under 'international parameters" for some reason - a bit misleading

You can use an internet site to translate post codes to coordinates and input those, as a work around. A modern portable is way better all round though.

Thinking about this again - when i tried an external screen mount aerial on my Mk3 I could not get a signal to pass through the screen at all. I think EziDab uses such an aerial?

I use a dedicated sim card on a PAYG tariff, and set my mobile to forward to the car phone if not answered. That has the added benefit of displaying all incoming call numbers, which the main unit doesn't do (can't display land line numbers) I use the car phone to make calls. There are bespoke bluetooth options (Dension etc), but they involve MP3 readers which use the cd multichanger slot, quite fiddly to fit The sat nav falls a long way short of modern units - i use a Garmin ( recently posted a report on this) Regards

Looks like things are getting worse for diesels. The sh**storm engulfing VW has a long way to run, and Mercedes recently dodged the question when asked to give assurances that they were not playing the same game. Latest worst case estimate of the cost to VW is a staggering 68billion Euro, enough to bankrupt them for sure. The real question here is - how clean are the engines without dodgy software? I read somewhere that most diesel cars are emitting around 6 times a much lethal pollution as their official measured emissions, which is not acceptable. I guess Governments will ultimately tax diesels off the road, and use that revenue to hasten the switch to petrol electric hybrids?

Hi there I have had autodab ( the other Citroen option) in Mk3 and mk2 C5's and it works faultlessly, provided you throw away the screen mounted aerial they give you and install an external aerial. (magnetics work fine, and the lead can be discretely fed through the tailgate opening on the hatch or estate) If you have a sunroof, you should not mount the aerial close to it , as the opening/glass degrades the signal. Citroen seem reticent about fitting DAB to the C5 for some reason. UK sales of the Mk3 have been disappointing to say the least, so they probably don't want to spend money on it, who knows...

In case anyone is interested.... After struggling with the stone age RT3 sat nav in my 2006 C5, I finally got round to buying a Garmin, so I can play my MP3 discs in the main unit (which is map disc dependent) The Garmin works superbly - picks up and holds signal without a blip, gives me lifetime map updates and traffic service (accessed through the power cord) and has vastly superior mapping, traffic presentation and POI searching, And of course post codes! It sits neatly in the bottom right hand corner of the windscreen with lead tucked out of sight, and switches on and off with the ignition (cigarette lighter) Great value at a little over £100, recommended, model 2599 LMT-D

First time since 2001, apparently. I've seen it at a few garages Also quite a few have the same price for both.

Finally got this sorted- pretty simple really - just moved the screen connectors from the original quadlock connector to the radio end of the adaptor lead. Although the Dension now works with the screen, there is no text display, so I've abandoned the USB project - no point having a mass storage device connected with no idea what's on it! Evidently the RT3 is not text enabled, although it will read MP3 id tags when playing an MP3 disc in the main drive (but not the cd changer).Can't use the sat nav without a map disc in the main drive Very frustrating. I've decided to stick with MP3 discs, and invest in a decent portable sat nav ( with post codes, hurrah. )

A cat c will require a Vic check to confirm it,s not a cut and shut. Insurance shouldn't,t be a problem with this and an mot (even if under 3 yrs old)

Finally got this sorted Bought a regulator with motor from ebay/breaker for £30. It took my mobile technician about half an hour to fit, and works perfectly, for very small cost.. ( Citroen wanted £400!)

Hmm not easy with the colour screen. Any add-on which uses the quadlock connector won't work because of the screen connection - they are designed for the RD4 without nav, and mono screen. Xcarlink sell something which is described as RT3 compliant, but when I ordered one the seller cancelled and refunded my order, saying there were "issues" with it. You could try a Dension lite (non text enabled) which plugs into the cd changer port and doesn't touch the quadlock. You would need to speak to Dension to figure out which one would work - their compatibility chart is a bit lean for Citroen. The only audio upgrade I've succeeded with was a dealer fit autodab DAB radio adaptor, which takes its power from the fuse box and works with a small remote control. I used a magnetic aerial and reception is superb.

Sorry to bang on about this, but if you disable the system, I think you will get a message saying "Tyre pressure/s not monitored" on the screen, which will be a fail. Not sure if this can be erased from the car's "DNA"

You will probably have problems with the mot if you disable tyre sensors. They are a legal requirement on new cars and have to work if installed on older cars.

2006 C5 exclusive hatch - getting major suspension noise on the back ( loud creak when going over bumps, and when you push down on the boot) If i run it in sport mode for a while, it all goes quiet again, and stays quiet when running in normal mode. I guess that's something to do with the "5th sphere" on H3+. Is this normal? Thanks