The T5-R has 115k miles on her now and the struts are dead, I guess.
The ride was firm but not jarring. Now it is very HARSH ,rough and noisy (thumps and klunks). Sway bar endlinks were just replaced.

I cannot decide on Bilstein HD or on Bilstein Touring.

Which would you choose?

I heard the T5-Rs came with Bilsteins, but my struts and shocks are "Black".

Did the T5-R come with special struts?

1.) I would go with Bilstein HD or Koni.

2.) Exactly what went into any model Volvo at any point in time is anyone's guess after 10 years, but I have (At least I think I have, it's on the Mulroney sticker) the optional sport suspension on mine, and the factory bars and springs seem to be factory color-coded with yellow paint swabs on the springs and factory stabilizer bars. One front strut was replaced under warranty, my recall is that it was just a standard black 850-70 front strut. BTW, I replaced the front spring seats at the same time, they're relatively cheap, easy to replace when everything is apart and tend to fail about 2 months after you change the struts if you don't.

-BTC

'98 V70 T5M, 154k mi, front IPD stabilizer bar, rear factory HD bar, Bilstein HD, Volvo strut tower brace and skidplate, e-codes, V-1, Mobil-1 since new