Last week I ordered the KYB comprehensive kit from FCPEuro.com along with the rear shocks. I also bought a set of rear rotors and ceramic pads from Advance Auto and we installed it all today. We did have a lift, so that helped a lot but we'd also never done this job before on a Volvo. Everything turned out great and it took us approximately 4 hrs to complete the entire job. We = my dad and I.
We changed struts...every piece of it with the exception of the spring and the ABS line hold down, we put new swaybar end links, new strut tower brace bushings, new rear shocks, new rotors, and new rear pads.
Car is an 2008 and has 124k miles on it. We've had absolutely no problems out of it but have done a lot of maintenance on it this year. All of this plus a new set of tires this week, Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus'. We've put a battery in it, changed the timing belt and all of the bearings, water pump, etc.
I'm taking it Monday for an alignment...hoping it'll last another 124k.

 

Noticed that you installed the Bridgestone Turanza tires on your Volvo. One issue with our 2008 Volvo S40 is that the tire noise with the OEM 17-inch rims and 50 series tires is really high road noise. In fact, so noisy that I insisted the dealer swap them with 16-inch rims with 55 series tires. The S40 was in an side impact accident (low speed) and the body shop did not get the alignment (or totally forgot to align the rear end) so I had to replace the original Michelins due to severe cupping on the left rear tire. Did some research and went to Costco specifically looking for the Turanza since Bridgestone notes that this tire is desired for "low noise". They were telling the truth - tire/road noise significantly lower.

 

The noise is lower because there is no cupping. Do you know the alignment readings, specifically rear camber?

 

We replaced the original Michelin's at 47k miles due to high road noise. The tires were just fine structurally and were wearing evenly, but they were loud. We bought the car with 31k on it and were just trying to wear out the Michelin's but just couldn't take it anymore. I gave them to a used tire dealer I know and he resold them to someone.
The original Turanza Serenity's lasted 77k miles and would have gone longer but my wife was forced off the shoulder of the road by an on-coming driver and it put a bubble in the right front. I would estimate they could have made it to 85-90k before being on the wear indicators.
The new tires are just as good as the old ones. I've been a Bridgestone fan for a long time...running 3 sets of Potenza RE910's on a Camaro I used to own. Bridgestone hasn't let us down yet.