[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

Videos to come... I've been super busy with the salvage part out and getting this car ready for the CO meet. But this weekend's additions were upgrading the pre-facelift tunnel console to a facelift tunnel console with R-design trim (P1 interior facelift, which occurred in 2008, not the C30 facelift which occurred in 2011) and installing a racing seat.

I only swapped the driver's seat since this is still the friends/family transporter, but it makes such a nice improvement on the mountain roads...
Yes, the power/memory still works, just like on my C30. No, there are no SRS warnings or faults.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

From the number of people asking, I thought I'd at least share what I did to make the facelift mirrors work on my V50.

The biggest setback I had was installing C30 mirrors on a V50. The triangle shaped piece that attaches to the door was a completely different shape, so I had to disassemble the mirror housing to swap it over (breaking a lot of parts on the original V50 mirrors in the process).

I would suggest finding S40/V50 mirrors if you attempt this upgrade, as the triangle door pieces should line up no problem.

Also, the earlier mirrors are only held on with a single bolt, while the newer mirrors (on the 2008+ C30s) are held on with 3 screws. These screw holes did not line up with any of the pre-drilled holes on the V50, but a facelift V50 mirror housing might line up perfectly. If not, it wouldn't be too hard to drill the holes you need.

Again, I am comparing my facelift C30 mirrors with old V50 mirrors, I can't confirm that this will be the same for all facelift mirrors and pre-facelift cars, but the wiring diagram did say it was for all P1 models and not specifically the C30 or V50.

The following pictures should be pretty self explanatory if your donor mirrors have the same color wires that mine had.

This first picture shows the wiring harness from my stock V50 mirror which had puddle lights.

This second picture shows the wiring harness from the stock C30 mirror which does not have puddle lights (and I did not wire that part up).

This third picture shows the V50 plug but with the C30 mirror wires running to it.

I assume that the black/red wire on the V50 was for the puddle lights. If your new assemblies have puddle lights, then that first row - second column pin hole should be for the puddle light wiring.

Turn signals, motor adjustment, and defrosting are all functioning properly on my mirrors. I will say that the adjustment motors don't seem as fluid as they used to, but they still adjust as needed.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

Here's my video on the tunnel console swap. Feel free to ask any additional questions:

Shoutout to daim for the excellent write up on this. Unlike his instructions, I re-used the original hand brake cable and did not have to crawl under the car to disconnect it.
Looking at his pictures, I think I cut out a few more of the brackets from the original tunnel console. Things weren't lining up otherwise.

In the end, it looks great and I love the cupholder cubby storage. But this was a lot of work and I don't know if it's really worth the trouble.

 

[Jirv0id]

Center console looks 20x better definitely worth any extra effort.

 

[LittleRedRidingHood]

Just saw your coolant flush video on YouTube - how much distilled water and coolant did you use? I would assume just over the total system volume of each.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

Just saw your coolant flush video on YouTube - how much distilled water and coolant did you use? I would assume just over the total system volume of each.

I went through 2 gallons of distilled water until it started draining clear enough that I felt good about putting in the fresh coolant. The cooling system holds about 9 quarts at dry fill, but having done 5 coolant flushes on these T5s, I have never put in more than 6 quarts of fresh 50/50 mixture. That sounds really low, but it seems like a common amount on a lot of Volvos. I know my heater core is fully flushed and there are no air bubbles in the system.

After a week of driving, I've taken a sample out of the reservoir and it looks and reads almost the same as the fresh coolant in the bottle. Maybe I'm missing something, but it has never been an issue for me.

 

[LittleRedRidingHood]

I went through 2 gallons of distilled water until it started draining clear enough that I felt good about putting in the fresh coolant. The cooling system holds about 9 quarts at dry fill, but having done 5 coolant flushes on these T5s, I have never put in more than 6 quarts of fresh 50/50 mixture. That sounds really low, but it seems like a common amount on a lot of Volvos. I know my heater core is fully flushed and there are no air bubbles in the system.

After a week of driving, I've taken a sample out of the reservoir and it looks and reads almost the same as the fresh coolant in the bottle. Maybe I'm missing something, but it has never been an issue for me.

Sounds good enough for me. I'll just be sure to test the mixture after the flush and add undiluted coolant as necessary since it gets very cold here in the winter.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

After living with this seat for a week, I personally prefer the Spacro seats in my C30. They sit a little more upright and the driver's seat is fitted to my body.

But I'm not complaining! The Corbeau was "free" and it has greatly improved the driving experience in the V50. It is just a significantly different seating feel, so it takes a second to readjust to which car I'm driving.

 

[Guest]

Good to see this coming along Mike. How are the headlights holding up after a year with that Meds Restorem kit I sent ya home with?

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

Good to see this coming along Mike. How are the headlights holding up after a year with that Meds Restorem kit I sent ya home with?

The first year was great! They're just now starting to get a little hazy again, but after going on 15 months and having spent all of last summer parked outside, I'm very pleased. I recent applied a second application on the C30 and will probably hit you up for another kit by next spring.

 

[Guest]

Right on, that's what i like to hear! I love that stuff, by far the best product t I've found. Lmk and i can get one in the mail for ya asap

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

Finally put some decent tires on this wagon... The Federal 595 RS-R Racing tires.
Most of you have heard my opinion on these (been running them for years on the C30).
140 tread wear rating, but for the price, you get more miles per penny than you would with Michelin PS4 on Continental Extreme Contact Sport, with significantly more grip than those tires as well.

I usually get 5-10k miles on the front and have managed to get 20k miles on the rear (I don't rotate on lowered cars with "extreme" camber differences front to back).
Considering that the last three sets of all seasons (Continental DWS06, Falkens, and Toyos) didn't last for more than 5k miles each, this will be a welcome change. Especially on a Stage 3 car, even driving carefully we would frequently chirp off the line and we enjoy the mountain roads too much, always getting them to break loose in the turns. All season tread disappears quickly when even slightly pushed.

These Federals are racing tires... More grip than is allowed in many classes of racing. Both wet and dry grip are unmatched. The compound is super soft, so it actually has decent grip on snow/ice too. Not as good as a real winter tire, but these outperformed plenty of good all season tires in the last ice storm we had, never slipping... I go through tires frequently enough, that I am not concerned with cold damage to the tires, especially since the car is parked in a garage most of the time. As long as you're smart enough not to expect summer-level grip when it's below 40°F, they still grip better than all season tires in the cold.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

Despite the new project, there's still love for the V50!

After stripping all the wire loom off the wiring on top of the cam cover, I discovered that the wires leading to the exhaust cam sensor had lost their sheathing and could occasionally touch. I replaced the wiring with the harness off my parts car and so far, there has not been any failed starts or "misfire detected at start up." Fingers crossed that I finally found the issue to this.

Since we're running a Stage 3 tune, I swapped in step colder spark plugs. NGK Iridium LFR7AIX. The previous plugs weren't very old and still had proper gap, but the car runs a lot smoother with these new plugs.

I swapped over the Miller Motoring concept skid plate from my C30 and a few other little interior trim pieces. If anyone is interested, the iPd plate is currently listed in classifieds.

On the downside, I did make a stupid. I usually change the oil with the car on ramps, once it has drained, I push the car off the ramps to a level surface and then top it off with fresh oil.

Well... When I went to release the parking brake, I failed to realize that the back wheels weren't completely in the garage and allowed the car to immediately start rolling off the ramps. The driver door was open and caught the wall of my garage, bend the door backwards and denting the front fender. Accidents happen... Luckily, the local junk yard had a silver S40, so I got a replacement door and fender no problem. Swapped over my door card and R-design mirror, now we just have a few solid silver parts on the arctic camo car. But we have plans for a new wrap this winter.

 

[mercdude]

Since we're running a Stage 3 tune, I swapped in step colder spark plugs. NGK Iridium LFR7AIX. The previous plugs weren't very old and still had proper gap, but the car runs a lot smoother with these new plugs.

What?! I thought you were staunchly OEM-only on the plugs. Glad to see that you found reason. I still like the denso plugs over NGK.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

What?! I thought you were staunchly OEM-only on the plugs.

Me? No... I've been running these NGKs for years in the C30 and ran Denso plugs in my S40. NGKs could be purchased from FCP Euro with their lifetime warranty, so that's why I went that route.
I just suggest OEM plugs for anyone running a stock or stage 1 tune, since those are tested and proven and can be purchased for a reasonable price.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

I forgot to mention that I also swapped over the iPd HD coil packs from my C30. I'm not convinced they make any difference that you wouldn't see with fresh Volvo coil packs, but they should last longer than any of the Volvo options, so they're a worthwhile replacement once the Volvo ones fail.

 

[MadisonC30]

did you check the gap on the ngk’s? mine were .040 and I left them like that.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

did you check the gap on the ngk's? mine were .040 and I left them like that.

I always gap my spark plugs (even Volvo plugs can come with improper gap) to 0.026.
Volvo suggests 0.026-0.028.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

Nothing has changed, but I'm tossing around a few ideas...

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

Just passed 2 years of ownership.

The only recent update was the H9 bulbs finally going out after about 11 months and 25k miles of use on them. I replaced them with the Morimoto HID kit, which is definitely worth they money. Even with stock projectors, they perform nearly as well as the factory bi-xenon low beams, which leave nothing to be desired.

At this point, the V50 build is done. It has been a great car and we don't plan on adding anything else to it. There were a few ideas for a refresh, but other projects are taking precedence.