Headlight upgrade without spending a fortune

Mr. Detail · Post by **Mr. Detail** » 26 Jan 2017, 08:19

Hello guys. Trying to keep my old girl on the road and up to snuff these days but I am finding it hard to see in the dark with my old headlamps. With the advent of all these high end, fancy LED headlamps is there anything I can do to my '98 S70 to upgrade the light output without burning up the wiring?
I am not even sure of which bulb to replace with as so many manufacturers claim this and that. Any advice would be most appreciated.

Post by **theWIFES_S70** » 26 Jan 2017, 08:54

Have you tried adjusting the angle of the headlights? My headlights are completely out of wack... I think that's why we don't really see too well at night. I honestly haven't gotten around to attempting to adjust them, so I don't know if that would make a difference.

Whenever I open the hood, I feel like there are so many other things to take care of!

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 26 Jan 2017, 10:44

Be careful with headlight bulbs, particularly on the '98 70 series. Most of the '98s have had the harness that feeds the lamps on the headlamps burn up and Volvo has a retrofit kit that is much beefier. There are a couple of Silverstar lamps that will fit but they are higher power than normal and they will start to melt even the upgraded harness.

Other typical problems are fogged lenses and reflectors that have had the chrome deteriorate although that isn't as prevalent with 70 series as it is with the 850s. Many of the aftermarket lenses are more prone to degradation than are the OEMs but the prices are seductively cheap and more times than not a chipped lens gets replaced with a cheap aftermarket version.

Start by checking the harness, the lamps get pretty dim before the harness burns out altogether. My observation with the LEDs is that they are brighter than the sun but they don't really illuminate a large area. The light intensity is there but not the volume of light.

...Lee

Post by **EstVolvo** » 26 Jan 2017, 11:23

How much are you willing to spend?
Here is HID done right:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=79631&p=428923&hili ... ts#p428913
or
you could buy new C70 headlight assemblies:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=79680&p=429147&hili ... ts#p429111

Whatever you do let us know how it goes and take before and after pictures.

Mr. Detail · Post by **Mr. Detail** » 26 Jan 2017, 12:17

Thanx guys. I need to do our taxes before i can answer your spending question.