Ahoy there!

It's been a VERY long time since I last posted as I had a C70 SE Geartronic 2.4 diesel which I should never have sold, but that's history now. So in no particular order, I would welcome any assistance/advice about any of the following:

I bought a 2011 V50 1.6 DRIVe diesel (s/w) *estate (*I'm in the UK) a few weeks ago and looking down the line of each side of the car from the rear, it appears to me that the rear wheels are angled inwards from the top compared to the front wheels. There are additional questions, so I'm hoping I can get any help from others so I can get things done.

1. Can the rear wheels be adjusted as having a 4x wheel alignment check done will be pointless should the rear wheels be non-adjustable.

2. The DRIVe button is on, and when in a queue at traffic lights for example, how long does the car need to be idling with handbrake on and in neutral as the on-screen info says the DRIVe function is activated?

3. My headlights are Xenon without up/down adjustment but has the auto cornering light function according to the user guide. I had the car serviced 10 days ago and I asked the to adjust them to the correct height as the left beam is close to the car and the right is either too high or correct, but they advised me that neither light could be adjusted as the adjusters just turn and nothing happens! Is this a common issue with the Xenon lamps and/or the Halogen units as well?

4. On evilBay, there are vendors selling packs containing plastic nuts/other components and 2 or 3 metal threaded long screws that have at least 2 with Allen key heads. Does anyone know if these work or do I need to sell bits of my body to buy 2x OEM or generic headlamps or if there's anything that can be done using screws, super or hot glue and maybe blue-tac should it be possible to align them to the correct height and set it? You can buy a light control panel that doesn't have either adjusters as the lights are fixed, though is it possible to start cutting wires and using clips to change the lamps to Halogen from Xenon?

I have others q's, but I think these's enough to get on with. Any and all advice will be much appreciated, so whether a URL, forum thread, anything you did, what (if any) parts I need and/or a YouTube video link that may show in detail what's needed and how to do it would be a great start, plus what tools (specific/special/general/lubes/grease types etc) are also included.

A long message I know, but to get the right help/advice, you need to have all the info, else how do I or anyone else get the right info etc?

Have a good weekend and I look forward to reading your messages.

 

Don't know much about the diesels (wish my V50 had been one!), and never had to mess with the headlights.

But the rear camber is something I am familiar with. My V50 had excessive camber (kind of "boy racer mode"), which is ridiculous on a 2.4i wagon! I put in some Moog K10009 camber-adjustable devices, and dialed that camber down to reasonable specs. I made a quick video - though do note that I got the "installation bias" kind of backward, though IIRC I put a note in the video to tell you the correct way to install the things...

 

Hi again,

I contacted the parts department of my nearest Volvo dealership to get a price for the headlamp units of the type fitted to my car (beams following steering) and they gave me a price of £714.00 incl. VAT . . . . EACH ⚰️ 💀 ☠️

I REALLY could use some serious help as the price is just insanely high for 2 bits of plastic. I don't care about the follow the bend/corner feature as all I want is a pair of RHD lights that can be adjusted to the proper height and direction, so I'm pleading to all who may be reading this that if you know how to adjust the headlamp beams due to the adjusters just going round and round, any specialist UK Volvo breakers, could you provide their contact details, offer whatever info you can or if your car is going to a dismantlers, I'll buy your lights as I'm desperate!

Also, I reported the garage who did the original MoT to the DVRA, and they're inspecting the car on 1/11/22, so I'll post an update about that, though if they agree with me that the car should've remained as failed, they could withdraw the MoT testers license or even revoke the MoT testing license from the garage, but I won't be told anything about that, though if they give me supporting documentation, I'll apply to the County Court, and should they find in my favour, I'll escalate it to the High Court so their Bailiffs can go and get the cost of the new lights if it comes to that.

Is it possible to use a Halogen unit with Xenon bulbs? I ask because the handbook says my lights are Xenon and it would be useful to know if that's a possible option. Being disabled is bad enough, but Volvo must be determined to have me sent to a psychiatric unit because I can't take the stress this is causing, though in 3 years time, I can apply for residency at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea as I'm ex army.

So, there you have it. I'll pass this over to the floor and pray that another Volvo owner and member would be able to help, and with that, I'll close this post.
​​​

 

Don't install Xenon bulbs into a halogen unit. You'll just blind other drivers, and throw less light down the road than if you just left the halogen bulbs in them. The bulbs have VERY different light output profiles, and are not interchangeable (as evidence, check out all the boy racers who've done the "upgrade" and light up around the front of their car like a traveling circus). ;-)

It might be necessary to "code out" the steering headlight option if you want to install generic (cheaper!) headlights. You should be able to find something at a boneyard (junkyard) or eBay (I buy a lot of hard-to-find auto parts there - had good luck over the decades).

 

Hi Habbyguy,

Thanks for your reply and advice. I've also been informed that the *adjuster screws (*I don't know what the correct terminology is), can strip their threads resulting in being unable to manually set the lamps to their correct height and direction, and having watched a few videos on YouTube, I wouldn't know which adjuster does what, and unless you have a beam tester, then how can you know if you're adjusting the correct one or not?

I can't believe that there aren't OEM or generic replacement kits, but there are several variants of the same light, and mine are Xenon units with auto cornering but not with the height adjustable motor, so my initial thinking is to set the correct height/horizontal level and not to select the cornering setting. Having looked on evilBay, there's multiple lighting panels to choose from as not all have front fog lamps or either height and/or cornering functions and the light switch control selector don't show the symbols for those options so it seems logical that if you can't select a function then you're left with a non-motorised static light unit that just needs to be correctly aligned for height and direction and that should be that, or in my small world it should be.

IF there's a replacement headlamp adjustment pack, do you know what it's called or by a part code? Sure, I can use pliers, blu-tac and super glue, but it would be really helpful to have a guide about the which, how, what etc, though if anyone else is reading this and can offer additional info, then that would also be a wonderful thing, so in closing, right now I'm in a VERY bad place and looking for any qualified advice and a 'how to' so I can at least try to start or have a garage carry out the work needed.

I've found two more things I want to get rectified (if possible) which are:

1. Sunroof forward mesh screen. When the sunroof is opened, there's a mesh screen that's attached to the front of the sunroof. On mine, it seems to have separated from the bar across the front at each end by about 1" or 25mm, so it's a 'how to' question in order to try and re-fit it.

2. Rear tyres wearing on inside edge. Standing at the back of the car and looking down the side, it's clear to see the camber is very noticeably out of vertical. I haven't looked (yet), but are the rear wheels adjustable, and if not, is there a kit that can be fitted to reduce the angle or maybe using shims? I remember one episode of Wheeler Dealers when Ed China used shims, but I think you need to take bucket-loads of measurements as you go, but it worked, so advice about that would also be welcome.

3. The DRIVe button is on, but the engine remains on at idle which isn't supposed to happen according to the manual. My bit of research suggests it's to do with the battery not being at 15v (+), which I find hard to follow as batteries are 12v and alternators charge at around 14v, but it was also said Volvo's with the s/s system need a specific battery by type so they can do the s/s as it needs the additional battery power to do the s/s. Is this correct?

TIA.

FAO UK Members
If anyone has or know where I can buy/find/acquire a pair of Xenon headlamps for my 2011/11 Volvo V50 1.6 DRIVe SE LUX *s/s (*which mine doesn't), could you please let me know? Since buying it a month ago, its had a full service, 4x new high rated tyres fitted, fully fuelled and a new key battery and silicone key cover. I'll likely list it which is a huge shame as it's a very nice example irrespective of the mileage, so this is for info only.

 

Good luck finding those lights. You'll be limited to either aftermarket, or used from some country where they also drive on the wrong side of the road. ;-)

Check my previous post / video on installing camber adjusters. I didn't find the whole process difficult - I used a phone "bubble level app" to measure the before and after camber. Basically, I drove the car so the suspension was settled, measured the camber, calculated how much I wanted to change it, lifted the car, took the wheel(s) off and measured at the brake rotor to get a "relative camber number", calculated the difference between the starting and desired camber number, installed the Moog device and cranked it until I got the right "relative camber number".

Easy peasy.