Big Al

I recently had the same dilemma on my '03 2.2HDi Exclusive estate. I ended up fitting Dunlops (same size as yours). They were GBP85 each and seem absolutely as good as the Michelins (GBP135 each). A bit early to tell about wear, but grip, comfort and noise is as good or better than the Michelins.

Hello Randombloke, 5-speed. It's the later 5-speed box with reverse to the left and up. Actually I think it is the 6-speed box without the 6th speed if you see what I mean. But the ratios are the same as for the earlier 5-speed (as found on an '02 car for instance)

I have an '03 C5 2.2 HDI manual estate and am averaging 44mpg over a mixture of town and fast A roads plus the occasional motorway stretch. These aren't trip computer numbers, but actual tankful to tankful measurements. This gives circa 630 miles per tankful (my best was 650). I drive pretty gently, just using the performance to overtake (on boost the car is pretty fast). Driving with a heavy foot all the time will lower the range to closer to 500 miles per tankful/36mpg. These cars are sensitive to driving style which is why I think some people are disappointed with the mpg. My old 2.1 TD Peugeot 406 manual estate was less sensitive to driving style, but didn't have the performance of the C5. However, even with relatively small throttle openings you can make decent progress and keep up with the traffic no problem. My verdict on the car after 6 months of ownership (2nd owner from new) is very positive. It's done 75k miles and shows no signs of being unreliable. Only fault so far is a defective tyre pressure sensor (which I think may have been damaged by a tyre fitter). As long as they are serviced properly (including the DPF) they are fine. If you can find a good local Citroen specialist you will probably get better service than from a Citroen main dealer at around half the hourly labour rate.