Volvo XC90 2.4 D5 SE 200hp help

Limbo123

Hi all,

Does anyone have any experience with these models?

Anything to look out for on test drive?
Any maintenance work to ask about (belts/chains/? etc) (car is 2011 and on 90,000km) ?
Any horror stories?
Is it possible to get a best of both worlds remap (fuel economy and extra hp)?

All advice appreciated.

Many thanks,

bear1

Limbo123 wrote: »

Hi all,

Does anyone have any experience with these models?

Anything to look out for on test drive?
Any maintenance work to ask about (belts/chains/? etc) (car is 2011 and on 90,000km) ?
Any horror stories?
Is it possible to get a best of both worlds remap (fuel economy and extra hp)?

All advice appreciated.

Many thanks,

I think fuel wise they aren't fantastic, it's a very heavy car but they are a very nice car to be in.
The D5 is a highly regarded engine. Don't think I'd bother remapping it, 200 horse is plenty.

Limbo123

bear1 wrote: »

I think fuel wise they aren't fantastic, it's a very heavy car but they are a very nice car to be in.
The D5 is a highly regarded engine. Don't think I'd bother remapping it, 200 horse is plenty.

Thanks Bear, was told to expect very early 30s in mpg? Would a fuel remap be worth considering? Been told the engine sounds like a tractor which is a little off putting but my daily is a petrol so anything diesel tends to sound a bit louder on start up/idle.

Special Circumstances

Limbo123 wrote: »

? Been told the engine sounds like a tractor which is a little off putting but my daily is a petrol so anything diesel tends to sound a bit louder on start up/idle.

Many posters here believe the sound of modern diesel engines to be superior to petrol engines. They just sound like broken petrols at the best of times to me. :P
I think if you can only justify the Volvo if you can remap it to improve economy then you may want to examine alternatives. Have you thought about the price of a set of tyres, servicing etc for one of these?

Limbo123

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Many posters here believe the sound of modern diesel engines to be superior to petrol engines. They just sound like broken petrols at the best of times to me. :P
I think if you can only justify the Volvo if you can remap it to improve economy then you may want to examine alternatives. Have you thought about the price of a set of tyres, servicing etc for one of these?

Thanks Special Circumstances,

The fuel economy would be a nice to have but not a deal maker/breaker. Not really bothered about tyres/servicing costs - Drive a SLK R1711 so used to having eye watering service/parts/tyres costs

bazz26

OP, a remap is not going to give you miraculous gains in fuel economy, marginal improvement at best depending on your driving style. So I'd get that idea out of your head straight away.

Special Circumstances

Coola boola, you're an exception to what seems to be the rule so. A lotta people seem to get themselves in over their heads, and end up with cheapest chinese nylon tyres and anything thats handy and resembles oil when the light comes on.
Lotta fans on here of D5!

R.O.R

There's probably a factory warranted Polestar re-map available for that by now, but it only takes it from 205ps to 225ps, so ain't worth it. Has no effect on the fuel economy.

Engine is noisy, but has decent pull, and is generally very reliable. Wife has the D5 with a manual box and in the smaller XC60 - that's currently showing average fuel consumption just below 9L/100km, but that's mainly short journeys with longer weekend spins.

The one bad thing about the XC90 is that it's horrible to drive :-( Launched in 2002 and only pretty minor tweaks since launch. Does feel like you are driving an older SUV, and it has quite a lot of body roll that you don't get on more modern SUV's. Interior is also pretty old School Volvo.

Focus_sligo

Father has a d5 s40, I drove from Sligo to letterkenny and back on €20 got 52 mpg on that run. Good torquey engine. Given no bother so far, absolute pig on front tyres but.

Horsebox55

Wife has a 2009 XC90 d5 model with manual gearbox.
Engine does sound a little rough when putting the boot down and some vibration, it is a 5 cylinder so a little smoother than a 4 cylinder.
ours does around 33mpg, mixed driving.
goes thru tires and brakes more than a car due to weight and AWD.
I find it comfortable enough if you don't push it.

In the last 12k miles we've had it (bought it with 50k miles) had to replace engine top mount (part was around 60 euro) and front wishbone bushes.
Look out for sticking tailgate handle - its due to silver bar that the handle hinges on getting corroded.
Also the half leather front seat pan has begun to crack - this is a known issue and the seat pan can be bought from Volvo.......at a price.

there used to be a well documented issue with the AWD system failing on these XC90 but I think this was fixed from around 2008 onwards.