Volvo XC70 D5 - yet more comfy bargeness

[Faust66]

Good to see the old bus is still going along nicely Rob. Love your cost breakdowns etc. as they give an excellent real world view of these cars.

My XC70 is in for an MOT later this month... always a nerve racking time.

I've also managed to source a pair of decent used Xenon headlights for mine (they were replaced by cheap knock off halogens before I'd bought the car). New they £1000 + for a pair got mine for £177 for the pair off eBay. The difference is, well, illuminating... dark country roads? Pah!

[TurboRob]

Faust66 said:

Good to see the old bus is still going along nicely Rob. Love your cost breakdowns etc. as they give an excellent real world view of these cars.

My XC70 is in for an MOT later this month... always a nerve racking time.

I've also managed to source a pair of decent used Xenon headlights for mine (they were replaced by cheap knock off halogens before I'd bought the car). New they £1000 + for a pair got mine for £177 for the pair off eBay. The difference is, well, illuminating... dark country roads? Pah!

You're welcome. I'd be interested to find out more about the xenons you've fitted...


March, April and May have flown by - but still encountering flooded roads this late in the year:



Plenty of posh 4x4s abort on this particular road (the same one that had the flooded RS6 in it) but so far I've had no issue taking it easy and knowing where the intake is. The water is about 12" deep close to the wall, getting up to 2 foot deep over by the hedge.

It hasn't stopped me thinking about fitting some type of snorkel, ahead of next winter though.

[S100HP]

The wading depth of the XC70 is only 300mm, just for info.

[Faust66]

TurboRob said:

You're welcome. I'd be interested to find out more about the xenons you've fitted...

As far as I'm aware, you can only easily fit Xenon headlights if your car came from the factory with them as an option.

It is possible to retrofit them to a car with Halogens lights, but it's a lot of work: you'd need the light units (obviously!), correct dashboard light switch, a vida dice code reader set up (you have to crack the CEM module and enable the Xenon option), a rear level sensor/s for the rear axle and associated wiring (this is what the system users to auto level the lights so you don't blind other road users), a front bumper with headlight wash facility if you don't already have this) and a few other bits.

My car came with Xenons from the factory, but a previous owner had cheaped out when replacing the light units and gone for cheap knock of halogens, so all I had to do was drop the bumper (10 minute job), remove the old units, replace with the 'new' ones, plug them in and put it all back together.

I fitted all new bulbs as they are a PITA to do with the lights mounted on the car.

My headlight wiring harnesses were the same, so no issue there (the harnesses do differ from the pre-facelift to facelift cars... i.e glass headlight lenses or plastic, model years 1999-2003 ish/2003 ish to 2007).