I have an 03 Volvo S60 2.4 NA. Ok this post will involve three things: the installation of Volvo Front Foglights, some questions about running an inverter in the car, and new headlight bulbs. The lighting questions are shord so Ill clear them up first: I am looking to install the volvo made front foglights, available from the volvo website. Has anyone done this before and is it worth it?

Second, I would like to install Sylvania Silverstar headlights in my car. I found compatible ones and was wondering if anyone had previous experience with them?

Ok now onto my real question. I am interested in installing a Xantrex 1000W inverter straight to my batterym which, conveniently, is located in the trunk. I added up the wattages for all the fuses combined, which worked out to be 1000W. My alternator, according to the owners' manual, is a 140 Ampere alternator, which should provide me with 1680 Watts of total power. Thus, I should have 680 spare watts assuming everything is running at full load and I am not charging my battery. Considering this will not happen very often, I have opted for the 1000W inverter. However, I am afraid that I will A. ruin my alternator by running it too hard, B. mess up my battery, or C. do something bad to the car that I haven't thought of. My question is has anyone installed an inverter in their S60, and if so, what are the results/experiences? I would appreciate if someone with more elctrical knowledge than I could give me some advice here.

Thanks!

 

I'm going to install fog lights (OEM) on my 01 S60 2,4T the cheapest place I found them is http://www.autowebaccessories.com/ they run arround $120, in order to make them work you areto take the carto the dealer to upgrade the computer otherwise they won't work.
Also I installed sylverstars ($45 a pair) on my car but they didn't last too much, they ran for aprox 15k freeway miles in six months since I travel a lot and they are always on due to the day running lights, after that I put sylvania Cool Blue and I didn't notice any change on color or amount of light on the road and the price is arround $30 for the pair. By experience inmy previouscar, my silverstar lasted one year, and the cool blue lasted more than three.

 

I use Sylvania Silverstars in my 1999 s70. Loved them. Now I have HIDs. WOW what a difference. If you just saved up $125 and or $260 you could have a decent or a very nice set of HID's. I had zero problems with my Sylvania Silverstars. A lot of people will tell you they are crap and not worth it. I can agree with them that if your going to upgrade to them you should save your money for HID's. Because the difference is just amazing.

 

Where could I get the HIDs from? I've been wanting those, but I didn't know that you could use them on my car. I would also like to replace the headlight lenses with the newer, clear ones, but I don't know if that would make a difference or if I should or even could. Also, do any of you guys know about inverters or have any experience with ones that hook directly to the battery?

Thanks

 

There are tons of places to get HID's on the internet. I suggest this place for a few reasons.

1. The owner of the site is a Volvo enthusiast.

2. LIFETIME Warranty

3. Great customer service.

The place I am talking about is, http://www.sharphid.com/

The price might be high, but compared to what HID's used to sell for this is a bargin. Not to mention the LIFETIME Warranty. I bought the APEXCONE 35W Plug and Play kit. $280 and I got it for $260 because I was a Volvospeed member. Payment must be sent through PayPal to obtain that $20 discount.

The second place is MyDepots. They are doing a lot of sales over on Volvospeed. The price is $125. However the warranty is only 14 months not to mention that they are coming from China and take about two weeks and they make you pay for replacements etc... MyDepots has a website and also an Ebay name as well. www.mydepots.com
And their Ebay name is, flashplus

I highly suggest the SharpHID kit it is well worth the money. John is a great guy to deal with and will answer all your questions. You will need to know what bulb type you use in your car. I have found it for you and it is an H7 style bulb. Then you have to pick your color temp. 4300-6000 K is great. Anything over 6000K and your only getting color change no more light output. To be honest the highest light output from HID's comes from the 4300-5000 K HID bulbs. They produce the most LUMENS. I have 5000K HID's and love them. Again anything higher then 4300-6000 K your loosing LUMENS and only getting a color change

 

wow thanks alot! Im still curious about inverters and is my car can handle a 1000W one at full draw...do you have any experience with them?

 

oops i forgot to add....I would like the lights to be slightly blue tinted, but would still like the most light output. What color temp should I get for that? Also, I see that sharphid has hi/lo kits....if I dont get that, would I use my halogens as hi bulbs?


Thanks

 

I would go 5000K best of all of them, but if you want slight blue tint get 6000K. If you don't get their Hi/Lo kit the HID's you do buy go into your LOW BEAM spot and your HIGH BEAMS will remain Halogen.