Questions before buying V50 T5 again

[mpaver]

Hi guys,

I'm looking at buying another T5 this weekend, and had a few questions that i couldn't find through searching the web or forums.

I say another, because years ago i had a 2006 V50 T5 and fell in love since that. Think it was the sound of the 5 cylinder burbling on startup or how it sounded when you downshifted and punched it. Only had to sell due to work circumstances. So, onto the questions:

Firstly, the car i might be buying is a 2008 model with all the trimmings, and i wanted to know about updating the ECU and ICE/Nav software. For the ECU I don't want it modding, just want to be on the latest factory firmware. Same for the ICE/sat nav system to be honest. Where could i get these done cheaply without having to go to an actual volvo garage?

Secondly, I could swear i saw polestar upgrades for around £300 last year, but when i looked now they are ~£700. Did the price go up since the polsetar brand started to take off again or is it just me? I really wanted to get the upgrade, but I just dont see how £700 is good value for getting such a minor performance upgrade. For those that do have it, do you actually notice much difference to a car that already does 0-60 in <7 secs?

Lastly, are there any known V50 issues i should be looking for when i go to buy the car other than the usual ones you look at with any used car? The last one i had, had a few scuffs and some ripped leather, but sounds and ran fine on purchase. Although when i serviced it with my old man we found gunk in the cylinder heads and sparkplugs. Once it was serviced it was like a new machine. Not sure if that's a known issue though.

Thanks for any help you can give, Matt

[Welton]

Volvo can do basic software updates cheap, I paid £30.00 last time.

Suspension is the biggest problem, lots of issues with lower wishbones, drop links, top mounts, broken springs etc. If the car is not 100% planted out on the road you can bet there's some wear/play in the sussy somewhere. Also look for tyre wear due to the same.

Oil breather diaphragms can fail, worth asking if it's been done.

Fuel pressure sensor (end of fuel rail) can reduce the fueling and make the car hold back under acceleration (£60.00 sensor) and easy job.

MAF's can get tired and benefit from being changed.

Air con compressors have been known to fail (sound a bit grumbly) and this will be a £600.00 fix. Lots of a/c condensers failed in the 2008 cars but this is likely to have already been changed.

Wheel bearings have been an issue around that age too.

On the plus side the electrical systems throughout are very reliable. I haven't had a single engine warning light or fault in 6 years.

Hope this helps.

[mpaver]

Thanks Welton, I'll definetly consider those when i go to see it tomorrow.

[brikas]

About the performance upgrade- if you're serious about boosting your car, consider full ECU+Intercooler+Cat Back exhaust - this is my wishlist and probably will do this summer, I'm looking to take a kit from RICA, a bit pricey- friend quoted me about 1800-2000£ for whole thing, maybe more expensive if straight from dealer, but it will give you much more power and better noise than just a small ECU upgrade. Small tunes are not worth in my opinion. Today I had three red lights against 10 plate Golf GTI which on the paper should be 0.2 sec faster than my 54 plate T5 geartronic- it's also 6years younger so should be in better condition than mine, but in reality, bad driver couldn't do anything against T5 geartronic, three times in a row he failed to win 0-80mph.... so here we have 0.2 sec advantage on the paper, if it's manual gearbox, you have to do perfect shifting yourself, if you're not so good, you loose even with your few sec advantage and probably better car.

[850Chris]

Originally Posted by brikas

About the performance upgrade- if you're serious about boosting your car, consider full ECU+Intercooler+Cat Back exhaust - this is my wishlist and probably will do this summer, I'm looking to take a kit from RICA, a bit pricey- friend quoted me about 1800-2000£ for whole thing, maybe more expensive if straight from dealer, but it will give you much more power and better noise than just a small ECU upgrade. Small tunes are not worth in my opinion. Today I had three red lights against 10 plate Golf GTI which on the paper should be 0.2 sec faster than my 54 plate T5 geartronic- it's also 6years younger so should be in better condition than mine, but in reality, bad driver couldn't do anything against T5 geartronic, three times in a row he failed to win 0-80mph.... so here we have 0.2 sec advantage on the paper, if it's manual gearbox, you have to do perfect shifting yourself, if you're not so good, you loose even with your few sec advantage and probably better car.

I'd recommend you take a look at Shark Performance who offer upgrades from Stage 1 ECU re-map right through to upgraded intercooler, Miltek exhaust systems and more. They get a very good right up on here.

Despite my fairly extensive list of mods, I never went down the increased power route as puts a whole load of additional strain on the clutch and transmission (meaning you should really consider upgrading these too). Not sure how the geartronic copes but beware. Personally, I feel the stock power is about right for the car. It's not meant to be a dragster, but is an extremely capable overtaking machine with a huge shove of power in the mid-range which also makes it superb on a twisty B Road.

[don kalmar union]

As the OP has had a similar car in the past I would expect that he is aware of the very, very few troubling foibles that these cars have. In great part because they were built on the previous Focus platform which in itself is a fine piece of kit, apart from the Volvo engines, in the main and the M66 gearbox most of the Volvo components are non mechanical and cosmetic.

As far as increasing engine outputs is concerned you will have no problems at all from either the D5 engine or the T5 engine if you don't go too far. You can really only go a short way with the D5 as there are no easy or cheap returns beyond the very satisfactory 'stage 1 level.

The T5 engine has a wide bore with close bore spacings, although an entirely different engine to that in the last S60R/V70R those measurements are the same in both engines and bring a certain frailty when you head for much higher outputs. Attention to and elimination of this frailty costs about £600 from a couple of very able specialists in that area.

You need not be concerned with this if you are looking for outputs around the 280bhp area. That sort of figure requires the appropriate software upgrade plus a full replacement exhaust... and preferable a more effective intercooler. Figures much higher than that require a reworked standard turbo and ultimately you are looking towards a Focus RS KKK turbochrger , larger injectors and different fuel pump for a safe 360bhp plus..... at which point you need to have fixed the block.

I bought a mechanically identical Focus ST some years ago, still run it to this day and have worked my way through all these stages over 72,000 miles.

Finally, I charge £395 for any of MTE's Swedish written software upgrades, the one for the D5 and a raft of options for the T5. You install this software yourself using their unique softloader device that acts as an interface between your car's OBD port and a suitable laptop, so no need to travel.

I stock Ferrita's Swedish made exhausts for these cars, you will find them here on my website: http://kalmar-union.com/parts/volvo-...0c70-exhausts/

Ferrita are Volvo's supplier of systems for their 'polestar' branded performance cars, they are effective and of very good quality... and cheaper than Miltech......

Don.

[mpaver]

Thanks guys, really helpful.

I put a deposit on the T5 yesterday, and it's an absolute beauty. 2008 r-design/nav model with 68k, but absolutely immaculate. Not kidding. If it wasn't for a little oxidisation on the engine metal and knowing the year and mileage, i'd swear it was new. All the plastics, wheel wells, wheels themselves, interior and so on look spotless. Not even any dust or muck inside the wheel wells.

Anyways, that's enough boasting

I've decided not to go down the modding route this, because as some have commented the small costly tunes aren't value for money and I dont have a spare £2-4k at the moment. And if you're going to mod you need to go all the way to get that value.

Now I've put the deposit down though, i'm left with only 1 questions. What's the crack with the nav updates? I've been searching the forum, google, bing, ebay and so on and can't seem to find a final answer on a cheap option. Yes there are dvd's on ebay and hear people on forums use them succesffully, but then i hear on other forum pages that people say you need the activation code. Could someone inform me of the exact procedure to updating the nav software that doesn't cost £200 from volvo for a 5 month old map? e.g. if i get one of the discs from ebay and put it in will it just work, or is my only option to go to volvo becayse i need a code.

[850Chris]

Sounds very nice! Enjoy.

Sorry I can't answer the nav question (mines too old to have sat nav )