jaykenneally

@jamesinc I originally only registered for just myself, but my partner as it turns out could get the time off, so I need to add a second person? How do I go about that?

Haha I assure you it wasn't cheaper the $2850, PM Sent.

Ex850R;c-142658 wroteI haven't seen or heard of any other conversions?

Les, see the comment literally above mine haha

drvolvo;c-142645 wroteDid similar recently, check out: https://ozvolvo.org/discussion/7665/p2-enhoerning

The costly bits are the box and driveshafts, but given enough time they can be tracked down for the right price. Use an 850 single mass flywheel to keep the cost down.

Has to be pre mid 04 to do properly.

(And Im not having a go at anyone, everyone is welcome to do their own conversions I wasn't the first nor the last but I felt I copped alot more criticism over mine than anyone else has so I just cbf with it anymore)

I paid a lot of money, Ive never wanted to put the final price up as some people are very judgemental on this forum, hence why I basically never come on here anymore. But I was under time pressure so I had to buy a lot of new parts, if you have the time to wait, the correct parts can be found on the used market for way less $

But its been like 2.5 years now since conversion and the car is still going strong, no complaints at all. I am in the process of updating my YouTube channel with some more info about the conversion after many people have requested it. I may write up a guide too but eh, I feel like my crown has been somewhat removed in recent years with other members doing similar conversions so I almost don't see the point anymore.

Just before I go ahead and order brand new seat heater elements from Volvo directly, does anyone have a pair of second hand seats for a Phase 2 (01-04) model S or V40. I don't give a crap about what condition the leather is in or colour as I can just transfer the existing upholstery over. Must be heated. Would be nice if the drivers seat was electric (but lol good joke).

Have looked around everywhere I can think of and cant see any so I'm about to march my way down to Volvo to order new elements.

Sister wants heated seats in her poverty-pack V40 :sweat_smile:

Ex850R;134028 wroteTry the GPS Racing alloy radiator if they do s60? Ebay.
I have their intercooler and it's very good for bugger all money.

I have one of those radiators in the XC70, and its been great! I was so sick of breaking the plastic tanks (I went through 3 radiators in a few months) so went down this path and its held up solid af over the last few years of abuse/off-road work etc. It was reasonably easy to fit, perhaps a touch fiddly but definitely worth it.

If you're in a position to trade it in for a new car, I'd be thinking about it.

Professional full auto rebuild anyway from 4-8k depending where you go.
New box from Volvo about 6-9k, and even then I know of a few times Volvo sent a "brand new" gearbox only for it to be in the car for all of about 5 minutes and then "nope that ones also f**ked lets try another"
Decent second hand auto plus fitting can range upwards from 1.5k to about 3k, you never really know what you're going to get.
Have heard of people having some luck with replacing just the valve body and/or solenoids, I tried on mine, did not work, but do know a Melbourne guy whose quite experienced and had a bit of luck. At the very least might buy you some time.
Mums car hasn't survived any longer with the external cooler than I think it would have survived without it, 87k and we have problems (I have advised her to buy a new car but as she has been in hospital for the past year its not high on the priority list. The car hasn't even done 5k in a year now so I think you get my point).
PM me if you want me to go balls deep into it, had lots of issues with my 01 XC70 which I solved by removing the auto all together and putting a manual in it instead!

^ Exactly this, I'm having issues in the XC now (no communication / no starting) because either the ECU is fried (I am awaiting on a few new ECUs to come back from the states) or because I cut and shut part of the CANBUS wiring when doing the man conversion, it no longer has the correct resistance it used to. If ECU does not fix it I will be forced to replace the entire wiring loom in the car. Best advice, don't touch it.

Yep cooler on mums one, regular changes, heck we did the big flush at 67k when we got it, I did another at 75k, a change at 82k and due to the trans cooler line blowing off it got another at 87k only now it will have to get yet another at 90k. I even fitted an external oil filter to it to prevent gunk from entering back into the auto. Mums a slow and steady careful driver, she took it to Volvo had all the software updated.

But here we are at 87k, it makes some really quite dreadful whining noises at times, it will go into limp home mode at any given time for no real reason, usually it will give you 1st, 2nd and 3rd and thats it. Maybe 4th if your daring enough to above about 120km/h, 5th yeah good luck it ain't gonna happen. Manual mode becomes completely useless. Makes some average sounding noises whilst changing gear and it certainly aint smooth.

Still, could be worse I suppose. At least it's still going.

Yep can confirm, mums 2005 which was going great at 67000 when purchased, starting to have issues now at 87,000, Ive advised her to flog it whilst she still can, she refuses so watch this space for auto replacement at 107000 xD

PM'd you on FB my friend :)

Xemodex refurbish them as well

Mine is broken up a bit but it's pretty much 45k. Every 2 years coolant/brake fluid (so 30k but really it's pretty often so I usually leave the coolant at least to 45), every 45k is spark plugs, every 60k air filter (which for me is usually too long so it gets done at 45). That is straight from the Volvo service documents given to me by the dealer, which also matches what VIDA says. 02 XC70. Interestingly enough though Volvo specify my mums 06 XC70 (which is essentially the same car) as coolant/brake fluid at 30k, and the full major at 60k. They use exactly the same spark plugs so I wonder why they specified mine at 45k and mums at 60k. Seems a bit confusing but I just follow what the book says cos I don't really care that much if things get done slightly more often on my car, it's not exactly going to hurt it.

I think that works okay with the newer cars at every 10k, but its worth noting with older Volvos the "major" service is every 45k so you either do it early at 40 or late at 50, hence why I do my services every 7.5k, so the "15k" intervals are still met as required and it gets an oil change at the halfway mark.

Hello conversion friend! Congrats on the swap! Cars an awful lot better to drive now isn't it? Wish my thread was as comprehensive as yours, I just forgot to take photos. I also wish I bothered to do something about my turbo while I was in there, but still the old 13T is in healthy condition and is plodding along okay.

My ECU is on its way back from the states as we speak now, getting tuned so the cruise will work again. I see you wired all yours correctly as I did so it will be possible for you to do the same. Did yours start without the TCU? Mine did not, still has to have it. Although now with the tune I should be able to remove it.

Ritual: I tore my auto transmission apart (I was interested to see why it died) but that's fairly messy haha

Mum bought her 06 XC70 off these people, they don't really budge on price but they're really pleasant to deal with and very honest.

As for the value, my car went from 4500 to 8500 as soon as I told them it was a manual not an auto, with Shannons agreed value.

The genuine one is awesome! I have one and can't break it. I found mine second hand for slab of beer money!

Hey Emma. Good to see someone doing their research!

There are mixed opinions about Volvo's and European cars in general. European cars are known as more technically advanced and this does lead to some reliability concerns. However, Volvo's are really not too bad. Volvo tend to play it safe a little bit and not experiment too much with their technology, and the basic powertrain systems are well designed and have usually all been around for a long time and are tried and tested. In terms of safety, there will be no other car on the market of that age in that price range that would be safer than that Volvo.

I'm a Volvo mechanic at Berry Motor Group in Mitcham (VIC) so I work on different models all the time. I've driven hundreds of V50s and their sedan/hatch/convertible twins (S40/C30/C70 respectively) and they are, generally, really solid cars. I've also owned a V50 before along with the fleet of other Volvos we currently or formerly owned.

Things to look out for on a V50:
• Front lower control arm bushes: Someone already mentioned this. During a road test, press the brake hard and let go of it again rapidly (hope that makes sense). You basically want to just jerk the brakes and the car, you don't actually want to slow down. This procedure puts a lot of stress on the control arm bushes, as such, if they are worn you will hear an audible thump coming from the front as you brake. You have to brake fairly hard to make the noise, unless the bushes are totally stuffed then it will do it all the time. If there are no noises no matter how hard you try, the bushes are in good condition. These bushes can last as little as 50,000kms if you live in an area with lots of speed humps and like to fly over them. But generally they go longer than that. They don't take very long to replace them, actually they're probably the easiest control arms to replace out of any car I've ever worked on. If you shop around for the part you can also get them for reasonably low prices, so not a big issue by any means.

• Engine mounts: the most common one is the drivers side. It's a bit hard to see it but it's there, it has a metal bracket over it which hides it a little bit. It's a hydraulic mount, so filled with fluid (oil, essentially). When it splits it leaks everywhere. A car with a failed engine mount will exhibit more vibrations when driving and idling. These cars are fairly smooth but most will have a very slight vibration when accelerating. That's normal, but if it feels really bad, that's not normal. When I say the most common, I've only replaced about 2 of them in the last year. The other one on the passenger side, I've never done that one. Theres also a big bush down the bottom which I've also never replaced.

• Coolant expansion tanks: I replace these on just about every V50 I service. It's the coolant reservoir on the drivers side (actually it's close to that aforementioned engine mount!). If its all yellowy and horrible and has cracks in it, replace it ASAP as they can split and leak coolant everywhere and that could lead to serious overheating issues, obviously. It's not an expensive fix at all so I wouldn't even worry about it if you buy a car that needs it.

• If you can avoid the 2004 model. The really early cars seem to be the most prone to failure. This is fairly typical of any new car that hits the market, that first year is really ironing out the creases. So try and shoot for around a late 05 onwards car.

• If you buy a car with a sunroof check for leaks as the drainage system is pretty poor to be honest. Where the drains connect inside the car, over time they shrink and pop out so it leaks water inside the car. We've become pretty good at fixing these now and have done many of them and they never leak again. But you'll need to take it to someone like us who is familiar with the problem and have tested many different ways to permanently fix it. You're average Jo mechanic won't know our little secrets ;)

• Also check for windscreen looseness. Volvo seemed to have a bad batch of windscreen seal on a few different cars as the windscreens start to come loose. You will be able to push it from the inside and feel it lifting off the car or even see it a little bit. This also results in water leaks. We have the windscreens removed and re-sealed, no need to replace the actual windscreen as it's just the glue that is faulty.

• As for most of the technical gizmos, the AM part of the radio seems to be an issue for some as is the CD player on occasion, but I've only seen about 1 or 2 cars with those issues. All of the buttons and switches we're new to the V50 at the time, hence why I suggested to avoid the very early cars, but Volvo have had little issues with them as most of those switches and electronics continued into the later cars such as the newer V40 and the XC60.

• For going over 200,000kms. Many of the ones I have worked on are getting very close to or have already gone past the 200,000 mark and to be honest, if I blocked out the odometer I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a 50,000km V50 and a 250,000km V50 assuming both had been well looked after. They are solid cars and very well built, the engines are well proven and had already been around in one form or another for about 15 years by the time the V50 came out. The highest mileage V50 I've seen so far was at about 320,000 and was still going fine, the owner had no interest in getting rid of it anytime soon.

Other makes, can't help you I've only been dealing with Volvo's for the last 4 years. Since I bought my first Volvo (V70XC) in Jan 2014 I've never bought any other brand, only Volvo's, and my friends and family are starting to follow suit as well. Other models in the Volvo range however I can definitely help you with.

Your real only other option is the V40 for size and cost. My sister has one (I actually chose it for her). My sister used to have a horrifically unreliable Mazda 323, then she traded that in for a near new Honda Jazz on finance. A year with this tiny buzz box she ended up wanting to, like you, consolidate her finances and get a older/cheaper car so she could go travelling etc... My sister wanted a nice small station wagon. She liked my Volvo because of all the things you can do with a wagon. She goes camping all the time and wanted to sleep in the car instead of a tent. However, she was adamantly against buying a Volvo, soooo I bought it for her and told her if she didn't like it I'll just resell it. Well 8 months later she doesn't like it... she absolutely loves it and wouldn't part with it even if I tried. She says she'll only replace it wayyyyyyy down the track with another Volvo. She's put like 20,000kms on it in the last 6 months!

I chose a 2003 model V40. If you go for a V40, look for a 2003 or 2004. They are the last of the breed and the best ones to get as they have all the upgrades and facelifts and are the most modern and well sorted of them. I found a lovely metallic red one (my sister loves red cars) in good condition with 128,000 on it (at the time). It's a base model (2.0L non-turbo) but that's what I wanted. My sister is only really interested in a car that works. Even this poverty pack though still had: Alloy wheels, 6 airbags, ABS and traction control, power windows, power mirrors, power steering, climate control (not just air conditioning, legit climate control), leather and wood everywhere. And it was just, nice. All the materials are so nice to touch, the car is quiet on the road and handles well. My friend had a Corolla hatch of similar age (2004) which I considered buying but the difference between the two cars was chalk and cheese.

So why did I choose a V40 over a V50? Mostly budget. The V40, which is a really nice example, cost my sister $4,500 when she decided to pay me after falling in love with it. A V50 at the time was at least 6 and was usually at the "not so well looked after" end of the scale, with a million miles on them and dents everywhere. To get a V50 in similar condition with similar mileage at the time would have set me back at least $8,000 and we just couldn't justify that kind of money when the Jazz was only worth about 12. Also because I had to pay for it and I'm a poor uni student, I could barely afford the V40 led alone anything else.

But more than that. Like I said my sister came from a very unreliable Mazda and she was afraid of a European car because of the stigma which I talked about before. So I needed to make sure that if she was to keep this thing, it would serve her really well and not have anything go wrong. The V40 simply just does not have as much to go wrong as a V50. I mean, something could go wrong in the V40 as well, I just know that theres less chance of it happening and it's usually easier to fix it if it does. Almost nothing involves going to the dealer on a V40, whereas you replace any electrical component on a V50 and you'll likely be up for a trip to the dealer to have it "programmed".

Also, the Jazz she had was great on fuel obviously being so small, so the thought of getting her out of a 6L/100km car into a V50 which will usually sit on about 12 as a conservative estimate would have been a bit of a shock to her. The V50 has a 5 cylinder engine, the V40 just has a 4. The V40 is not that fast if I'm honest and if you are a fast driver, get a V50 or a turbocharged V40 as my sisters non-turbo is pretty ordinary. My sister is such a careful driver that it doesn't make any difference to her and it's certainly not a slug by any means. I like scrolling through the trip computer on all of our customers V50's and most seem to sit on about 11-13L/100 so my conservative estimate was pretty on the money but is around 2-3L more per 100km than my sisters V40 gets. It's not a huge margin, but the margin becomes far greater in traffic. It seems the extra cylinder in the V50 can cost you up to 5-6 litres more per 100 than the V40. It adds up.

Anyway my helpful advice is rapidly turning into a works-thesis so I better wrap this up. Good luck with your search and buy a Volvo, once you buy one you'll never buy anything else as they're just so damn good.

Philia_Bear;114311 wroteSo much digging in vida required to work out just what I have to replace in addition to the box to swap a m56 to m66 in a P2 S60... (with space ball shifter)

Theres not heaps... If your S60's already a manual then most of the work is done, even the driveshafts are the same. You'll have to convert to dual mass flywheel, different clutch etc, you'll need a shifter from a 6 speed model (easily sourced from the UK, I do have a spare but I'm keeping it in case my 585,000 mile one that I currently have decides to break!)