[Arith]

I've been on here a month or two now, but haven't gotten around to doing a proper introduction. Mainly because I didn't really have any pictures of the vehicle until recently. But we never intended to get the XC60, let alone a Volvo! But it was a great decision as we've been really happy with it so far. Unfortunately I'm not one to leave things well enough alone so it had to 'adjusted' a bit to make it a more unique drive.

But it's been a modest change as this is the primary family vehicle after all. So it's just the Heico body kit, quad tips, Eibach springs, Philips 6000K HID replacements. Then a set of 20" wheels and blacked out grille for a bit more aggressive appearance.

I've gotten my own S60 now and this is now the missus' car, but I still drive on the weekends during the family outings.

 

[coachrick]

Good on ya! VERY stealthy looking, especially from the front! Hope the missus won't mind the extra attention!

 

[GrecianVolvo]

Arith,

I think you and wdimagineer have a great thing going with your Volvos!
Your XC60 looks amazing!

 

[mhc2007]

WoW! Very nice car.

 

[volvo2424]

Great looking vehicle!!! Is painting the grille difficult? I think I'd like to paint the diagonal bar and the "male" symbol in the volvo logo only (leaving the surrounding chrome trim). Is it feasible as a do-it-yourself'er if I've never attempted it before. Or would you recommend paying a shop to tackle it?

 

[jeprex]

Nice!

 

[ayman]

Arith where did you get the rims from, Tempe ??

 

[Arith]

Arith where did you get the rims from, Tempe ??

Yup! 20x8.5 with a +45mm offset with Bridgestone Dueler tires. Cheap! But I think Tempe are the only ones who carry the full range of Lenso's.

 

[ayman]

Add on t o the subject: I just purchased a HID kit for the XC60 from the US yesterday thru Ebay. Chose 8000K, I simply could not resist the temptation. Not too expensive but todaoriginally y,loking at some posts, I started to freak out because of legality of driing HID conversion.

What is the situation in NSW? And to ARith, where did you get that nce lens in the headlights, or was it originally xenon??? I have the standard headlights and not quiet sure if I should install that kit.
That is the link of what I purchased:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/320757806627?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 

[Arith]

I just purchased a HID kit for the XC60 from the US yesterday thru Ebay. Chose 8000K, I simply could not resist the temptation. Not too expensive but todaoriginally y,loking at some posts, I started to freak out because of legality of driing HID conversion. What is the situation in NSW?

Unless someone's having a bad day, you normally won't get pulled over just for headlights, not unless you're producing a lot of glare and annoying traffic. However if you are pulled over for something else, and again, if they are in a bad mood, they can technically defect you for the HID conversion for not having:

1. Headlight Washers - To clean the headlights when they're dirty to reduce glare
2. Self Leveling - To reduce glare towards oncoming traffic when driving on slopes

Hmm, 8000K? Sorry to say but that increases your chance of getting pulled over. 5000K is good and 6000K is pushing it already as it's got a hint of blue. 8000K is quite blue and you'll be spotted almost immediately. It's a nice effect, sure, but not the attention you're probably after. On top of that, road illumination is reduced by 30% or so compared to 5000K. If you can, try to get replacement bulbs from the same seller (stick to the same brand if you can). I'd recommend 6000K if you're after white/blue.

And to Arith, where did you get that nce lens in the headlights, or was it originally xenon??? I have the standard headlights

The projector style headlights would be perfect for a HID conversion. However if your XC60 comes with reflector style, glare will be a worrying factor. Some of the better brands out there will have 2 versions of their kits. One for projectors and one for reflectors. The reflectors have a metal bar that wraps around the middle of the bulb, which helps to cut glare in such configurations. But if the XC60 halogen headlight is similar to the S60 halogen headlights, there's a metal circle around the bulb already, which should help reduce glare. So you should be ok. I've been runnning the HID conversion on my S60 which has halogens for a few months now and so far no one's yelled at me or threatened my life.

 

[idmd]

That's a nice looking car!

 

[ayman]

It has a circle as you said, deliberately was driving yesterday at night looking at all upcoming cars headlights, almost 1:15 cars got some sort of a dodgy HID lights on.I asked the seller to replace it with 6000K kit if it's not too late, otherwise I might replace them or just stick to the original 55 or 80 watts.

 

[Arith]

Yeah, considering a HID conversion kit is so cheap these days, everyone has one! Unfortunately they do it the dodgy way and now there's a lot of cars with glare on the streets.

Once you go HID, you'll never want to go back. So yeah, just stick with HID's. Even if it's too late, just buy another set of 6000K bulbs from the same seller as it should be cheap enough.

 

[ayman]

Purchased HID bulbs 4300K, play it safe!
They already sent the shipment from the US with the HID kit. I probably will use the 8000K globes on my E class, aleady has xenon factory, it will look Awsome!

 

[RootDKJ]

Great looking vehicle!!! Is painting the grille difficult? I think I'd like to paint the diagonal bar and the "male" symbol in the volvo logo only (leaving the surrounding chrome trim). Is it feasible as a do-it-yourself'er if I've never attempted it before. Or would you recommend paying a shop to tackle it?

I love the look of this. How difficult is doing this? I'm guessing you had to remove the grill to paint it?

 

[Arith]

How difficult is doing this? I'm guessing you had to remove the grill to paint it?

It's best to in order to prevent overspray on the vehicle. However removing the grill itself is extremely fast and easy (Volvo loves their break-away parts). But yeah, if your plan on a DIY job like me, where I just couldn't afford any down time or have the vehile at a body shop for days, just sand down the areas you want to paint, prep, and apply several coats along with a clear coat. But keep in mind you'll still be susceptible to road chips and may have to re-paint after a while. I added like 4 coats so it's been pretty good so far.

However for a more permanent solution, a body shop will add a flex agent to the paint to allow it to absorb the chips and stones a lot better and minimize chips.

 

[Arith]

More of the grill

More pics for anyone interested

 

[MartinS]

I cannot stop looking at the pics, the front is so so so so nice...

/Martin

 

[ayman]

ok got my HID kit installed, did it myself, just great. Now next project, is there a possibility to fit projector style headlights instead of my original halogens reflectors? They sell some pairs on Ebay for about $1500, would they fit to my car electric connections or is it a big headache. I'm not interested much in original xenon function, I just want my headlights to look like they're original xenon.
is there a way to fit projectors in the headlights without the oven and opening wide the headlight? And the fact that we're R handed drive, what's the difference if I fit some pairs from the USA or so.

 

[Arith]

Swapping to projectors was the first thing I looked into. Unfortunately Volvo doesn't have just regular projectors, only ones fitted with the bending lights. The wiring on that is different, so would require a new wire harness at a cost of hundreds of dollars. Even if you did just fit the projectors without the proper wiring there's no way to aim it as that was done with the motor from the bending lights. On top of that you would need the software update from the factory. So yeah, in the end probably not worth it.