I've been having an issue with condensation in the headlight on my V70R.
It's already burned out two ballasts, and I need to replace the entire headlight assembly. Since this headlight assembly seems pretty rare (the R version has a silver background while all the others are black), I can't seem to find a used one. The cheapest new one I have found goes for $858.
Has anyone tried switching from the xenon headlights to halogen? It looks like the options for replacing it with a halogen are plentiful (and I could replace both of them for far less than the cost of buying just one new xenon assembly, but what would be the problems associated with doing that.
In studying the wiring diagram for both the xenon and halogen versions, the xenon version has one additional wire. The rest of the diagram is identical.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

I am facing the exact same problem. What have you learned? Is it possible to "downgrade" the headlights to a simpler and cheaper set?

 

In researching the headlight problem, there really isn't a way (at least not an easy way) to change to halogen. I ended up buying a xenon replacement assembly (at $858) and changed it out myself.

 

Thanks for your reply. I was coming to the same conclusion myself, but was hoping I was wrong! Are you allowed to tell me where you purchased your replacement assembly?

 

I bought it at swedishautoparts.com. They delivered pretty quickly and it was as low a price as I could find.

 

I took a chance and bought a salvaged assembly on eBay for around $200. Haven't installed it yet. In the meantime, the condensation in my original unit has cleared-up and the lights are working fine now. I don't expect that to last for long.

 

98 99 00 Volvo V70 V70R oem LEFT Headlight Lamp | eBay