I am looking for some fog lights for my 240. I don't want those cheap looking ghetto lights, but rather something that would be very bright, preferable blend in with the shape of the car, and not empty my wallet.
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1980 244DL, 1982 245GL, 1987 744GLE, 1991 245SE, 1996 855GLT, 2001 V70

I spent $20 on a set from Walmart, mostly because I'm cheap and they looked enough like the stock bosch lights (I'm not talking about the yellow or flashy ghetto kind). You can take a look and judge for yourself.

Are you sure you want fog lights? I found Hella XL's (extra low beam) to be great for the 240 with those big glowy things instead of true headlights. Mount the XL's on top off the bumper, which also spares them from stone hits. The XL's have the Euro-style beam pattern with a rise to the right. On my third set right now. No longer in production, but try Susquehanna Motor SPorts (I think) - he may have some still.

If you're sure you want FOG lights, avoid the Bosch units. Crummy beam pattern, for the money you're better off shopping around for Hella or the PIAA (pricey, but awesome)lights.

I bought some XLs off e-bay but haven't installed them yet.

How did you mount yours? Did you use the molly mounts or the nut/bolt hardware?

Also, where on the top of the bumper did you mount them? In looking for a good spot for the brackets, it seemed that the front of the lamps would end up forward of the bumper (a concern when parking in the city - most folks seem to use the "touch" method of parallel parking).

Thanks . . .

Tom Abdella
'92 240 Wagon 130k miles

I skipped the molly mount in favor of the solid bolts. The bumper is aluminum and drills easily. The XL's are mounted as far outboard as possible without seriously obscuring the headlights... maybe about 3/4" overlap of the headlights when viewed from dead forward. Now... unfortunately, the lights *do* extend a bit past the bumper. I live in a semi-rural area and don't park in congested places, but last year when "Rumblegutz" (my '88 245) got rear-ended, I was pushed into the big rear bumper of a heavy Ford van. Both lights were smashed and broke the grille. I've been looking for a simple "bumper guard" which would extend maybe an inch forward of the bumper - something I could bolt onto the bumper - but haven't found anything suitable yet. Anyway, the XL instructions specify the mounting height, and the minimum precludes mounting on the underside of the bumper.

FWIW I used the AC pusher motor mount as a solid ground. I prefer positive control over the lights and did not wire them to go off when the high beams are selected. I used the switch Hella supplied, and installed it in one of the blank panels near the rear defroster switch, after reinforcing the plastic piece with a piece of steel sheet metal about 1/8 thick epoxied to its back. Looks clean and has a different tactile feel than the other switches in that area, so I don't have to look at it to turn the lights on. I did, however, get power to the relay from the parking light circuit. This allows me to use just the XL's if I want (e.g., in bad fog the XL's sharp cutoff is far better than the standard low beam).

Thanks for the info.

I was thinking of getting a junk yard grill and cutting out openings for the lamps, but I'm not sure how this would impact air flow to the radiator.

I have a set of 7 yr old Hella 550FF fog lights under the bumper which are coming off when the XLs go on; they are wired up just as yours are.

FWIW, I once had a S-10 Blazer with a bumper mounted brush guard - bad idea. The guard took a hit above the bumper and acted as a giant lever which 1) smashed the grill and 2) pulled up and mangled the front bumper. The next brush guard was mounted to the frame rails . . . .

Cheers . .

Tom Abdella
'92 240 wagon 130k miles

Look for Bosch fog lights on ebay. The original kit for the 240 used small rectangular Bosch lights (about 3.5" tall x 7" wide) that had black plastic covers with "Volvo" in white letters, but these are nearly impossible to find, so you'll probably have to settle for plain Bosch fogs that were used on Volvo, Mercedes, BMW, etc. Making a mounting bracket shouldn't be too hard, or perhaps you could adapt one from a 740.

Here are some 240s with fog lights that look very much like what would have come on the car.








The only 240 with integrated fog lights was the GT, which had them mounted behind the grille.


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Volvo 240 Links | Parts For Sale | Volvo 240 Racing | July 14th DC Area Auto-X

What's wrong with Ghetto lights??
el Raidman

Why not the Wal Mart kind?

They look great if you have a 6" exhaust tip and dub 2s. Don't forget the cobra eyes, or whatever they call them, for the hood.

Seriously, Bosch makes some nice ones that are similar to what the 240 was available with from the start. You can even get a Volvo console switch for the fog lights, to keep the look "Factory". Unfortunately the 240 never had integrated fogs, so you're pretty much stuck with the air dam/under bumper variety.
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1992 940 wagon, 72k

Oh... I forgot about those beautiful examples of "integrated" foglights. I think you could easily adapt aftermarket fog/driving lights to be grille-mounted like the GT.
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1992 940 wagon, 72k

Chris,

I've wanted to get some front fog lights for my 240 but I didn't want a headache with the wiring either. What's a good place to buy a good set, and will it come with wiring? Also, what do "factory" fog lights look like? Are they square, do they show through the air dam, or below?

Thanks,
Seth
'92 244, 204k

The factory fogs are square and mount to the underside of the bumper with brackets. Volvo obviously contracted Bosch to make the lights for them, as that's exactly what they were.

The look is not the best, although it isn't the worst either.

Fortunately, the wiring is straightforward in the factory kit. It comes complete with relay, switch, wiring, fogs, etc. You can adapt the Bosch kit to be pretty nice too, though.

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1992 940 wagon, 72k

Don't have a clue on the fog lights, just wanted to say hi to the six volvos in the drive way. How do you like the 96 855 vs the 01 V70. I have the 96GLT also an am very happy with it.

What up?!? I have noticed many things between the 850 and the v70... so far the v70 has had many more little problems with it. During the winter the door all of a sudden popped open on the highway( a good way to make sure you are awake). There have also been other things that I find a little annoying and strange. The door hadle setup on the older volvos have been in such a way that it gives you a lot of pulling power on the inside of the car in the event that something is making the door stick and gives you a lot of pulling power. The new door handle is a small thing like on the new american cars. And I find it strange that the insides of the doors don't have the little red lights that turn on when you open up the door. I thought that it would provide a little saftey to warn other people that you are opening it up. It doesn't even have a little reflector. Another thing is the exhaust sound. The 850 has a very nice sporty exhaust note. The v70 on the otherhand is very mudded and higher pitched... like american cars these days... tooooo quiet. It will just take a little while to see how the v70 performs for us. We have only had it a year. I still prefer my 240 :)
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1980 244DL, 1982 245GL, 1987 744GLE, 1991 245SE, 1996 855GLT, 2001 V70