The previous owner should have fitted the lock stop kit available from volvo as decribed above when he fitted the 18" wheels. It seems he neglected to . It isnt a design fault if the volvo recommended parts are not fitted . Your car will have had the metal arch liner plates from new , have they been removed?
I think you need to make sure the plates are there , if not fit them , them get the volvo 18" wheel lock stop kit fitted .

Thanks for your reply! It didnt look like the plates were their to be honest, just looked like the plastic inner wheel arch. I might have another look and get the lock stop kit. Is it easy to fit the lock stop kit or would be wiser to get volvo or another garage to do it?
Am getting some new tyres soon as the ones I have are rubbish, Achilles make, worst tyre I have ever had so am not that bothered about them being rubbed. Am thinking of getting some Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta, have had alot of Vredestein in the past on my old volvo and found them to be very good, they are also cheaper than the Goodyear Eagles and Michelin Pilot Sports I was looking at lol.

Thanks again!

James

The plates are shaped and black so probably there , when the tyres rub they polish up .
The kit is in two parts , the first are thicker stops for the lower wishbones , The second are plastic spacers which fit in the steering rack after you remove the gaiters and rods . The turning circle will be less of course ..

I changed the tyres on my V70 D5 from 225/45 17 to 225/50 17 to get slight improvement on fuel consumption and lower revs at motorway speed which is where it spends most of its time , I dont care about the small loss of acceleration and would judge the speedo to now be indicating slightly under the true speed , would have been better to have a 6 speed box in the first place but not available in 2003 . The only downside is rubbing the wheel arch plates on full lock which contrary to 'advice' I was given 25k miles ago have not worn holes through them (just worn off the paint) and it passed its mot. I am just wondering if I could change to yet another higher profile tyre to get a further improvement in mpg . I have done 125k miles in four years so am always looking to reduce fuel consumption.

The police have 18" wheels on there volvos and complain about the turning circle(I don't think they know about the lock stops they have on them-smaller wheels would sort it)

I've got 18" Atlantis wheels on my S60 D5 05 reg and they have never rubbed on full lock, the tyres are 225/40/18 but i think they're 7" wide as opposed to 8"" Pegasus, am i right?.

will volvo ever build a good car. iv had mine 1 year, iv never had a car with so many problems.

Not too sure about the width.

I have 18" Nebula's on my S60 D5 04 reg, i do get rubbing on full lock butmy tyres are 235/40/18 so i think the extra 10mm in width makes the difference between rubbing and not.

Mr S60R 04 has same size and rubs on full lock plus turning circle is fun too lol. Glad I'm used to driving HGV's so still makes it seem not too bad.

Gaz

So I would need to jack up the car and use spanners etc...