Mine broke on Sunday night - 2 months out of warranty! Seems to be same failure - plastic 'ball' (as in ball and socket) snapped off the operting arm at the engine end.
Symptoms initially were 'engine system service required' warning on the DIM but all seemed to be running OKl until following day - pulling out to overtake there was a major flat spot around 3,500 RPM.
Found this write-up on the volvo diesel -
http://www.ae-plus.com/key%20topics/cc-Volvo-news3.htm
The relevant extract is: -
'As was the case on the previous diesel powertrain, air swirls in the cylinders' combustion chambers. The use of a new electronically controlled multi-throttle system in the inlet ports allows for infinitely variable regulation of the swirl level, and combustion can be adjusted extremely accurately according to the driving situation and the current engine speed and load.'
So that's what the swirl valve does and hence the performance issues when it's broke!
Having read through forum I have opted for a DIY repair by making a pin (from an old nail and trursty dremel) and then glued the ball on with araldite.
Performance is back to normal, but warning still flashes up on start-up.
Does anyone know if this will clear or is it a trip to the dealers to reset the error codes (or possibly purchase a BSR PPC Code Reader)?