On older Volvos, people have either painted or applied black tape to correct this issue.

Have you given any thought to painting this strip another color? Body color?

On our '95 855 I painted all the black trim on our green wagon with beige rustoleum. I called it our Eddie Bauer model. Even the dealer's people liked the result.

I could then wax the trim without making a mess.

The paint held up very well, the only blemish the car got was a small scrape from a parking lot tap on the corner of the front bumper..

I used to be able to dierect you to a picture, but Brick Pics no longer sorts by model.

I agree with Dereck, try a good rubbing compound or past wax and see if that works.

As for the black trim, you could tape the sides and rub it off with very fine sand paper and then polish the aluminum or repaint it black.

A good buffing by someone who knows what they are doing could save you a bundle and maybe all you need. It's basically what is done for a repaint but that is for keying new paint rather than making it shiny. Have a go at compounding a dull area and see what the results are. Just by hand, no need to buy a polisher if you don't have one.