I have been for 3 years contemplating the idea of HID on my 2004 S60. Ofcourse like everybody it seems (no insult intended) I had and have been misinformed.
At first my obstacle was price. Then when I decided I would make the investment came the typical questions, temperature, color, brand, slim ballast, ebay, etc. What I wanted was very simple, I wanted the same exact system found on BMW, and Lincoln. I wanted OEM.

So I went to the experts, or so I thought. I visited respected accesories and performance oriented places to get the answers I was looking for and hopefully walk out with a box that read HID and installation instructions. Instead I came out of these places with more questions and doubting the so called "experts".

As you all know 2001 - 2009 S60 including the "R" have reflector headlamps. 2001 - 2004 use the lens optics reflectors and models 2005 - 2009 use the reflector optics, hence the clear lens. These reflector housings I found out were illegal to use with HID. But why I asked, if the Lincoln Mark VIII that came with HID used reflector housings?
Anyways, it seemed everything was illegal. Then as I started doing my own research I later came to understand what was involved, the self leveling setups, the projectors etc.

Once again and after all this I decided yes I'm going to do it but then came the Volvo issue. Thanks to the input of those of you who have run across this problem and fixed it I am now trully ready to purchase my set.

I wanted to do some last minute research as I wanted OEM equipment and color and was able to confirm what was once told to me by a friend that worked at BMW. Every single car that comes stock with HID lighting from the factory uses Phillips equipment (made in Germany). No if and's or but's, that is the bottom line. And the temperature? Well 4100K
And yes this is exactly what I wanted the same exact thing that I have seen for years on BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Lincoln, Audi, and yes, Volvo. Pure white beam with hints of purple depending on the angle your looking at. I will comence my installation as soon as I can spare the time and will post pictures for everyone here to enjoy

In the meantime and without further adue, here's the link to this very informative research that will sure answer any and all questions you may have about HID in specific detail, called
"Introduction to HID"

Enjoy!!!

http://www.team-integra.net/sections...?ArticleID=973

 

Just out of curiosity, where do you live that they (inspectors or leo) monitor headlamps so closely. Here in Texas, headlamp aiming isn't even checked any more at inspection time. Police could not care less as long as they work and do not blind oncoming traffic.

 

I live in Miami Florida. We don't have inspections here any more, haven't had it in Florida for over 15 years now, however like California, South Florida is a hot spot for auto tunning, mods, performance, etc. Becasuse all this is conducive to some sort of non street legal stuff the authorities enforce most laws and regulations pertaining to vehicle safety and equipment more so in the last few years that they have done away with yearly inspections.

It isn't rare to see here specially in the Miami/Ft Lauderdale/Palm Beach tri-county area vehicles pulled over for blue lights, dark tint, loud stereos, etc.