XC90 newbie advice please

[Forest Simon]

Hi all, I have recently purchased a my2010 r design, fvsh with 35000 on the clock. We absolutely love the car and are really looking forward to putting the caravan on the back and heading down to the south of France with the kids in the summer. My only worry is that when accelerating there is a high pitched whistle/sucking of air sound, is this normal?, it’s got a syntner warranty so not panicking yet, cheers

[colinbos]

Depends on how high pitched... difficult to determine on here.

The turbo spools up and you can hear it, Its engine speed dependent... so can get quiet fast.

If you're worried, the proper way to get it checked is by the dealer you bought it from... that would satisfy me.

[SwissXC90]

My D5 turbo is so quiet I can hardly hear it with the windows closed. I have to really strain.

I have to open the windows and go past a solid wall and then ensure the engine is doing >=2000 RPM to hear the turbo whistle.

[Forest Simon]

Thanks for the reply’s, I only noticed it when I had the window down so got my wife to drive it down the road and it’s really noticeable outside, it sounds like the dump valve I had on my gt4 many moons ago. Booked it into the dealer next week so will find out what’s what. Also is it just mine or are the headlights rubbish, I get about 25 feet of illumination and then pitch black, never had such bad lights!

[jamie1131]

My D5 was the quietest car I have ever owned inside the cabin, even quieter than the Range Rover I had before it and it makes my current Hilux sound like a tractor!

Sounds to me like you have a leak in the turbo pipe work or intercooler somewhere, let the dealer sort it out.

The lights were fine on mine, I you sure you have turned them on properly and not just got them on sidelights? Either that or are they trimmed all the way down for towing a heavy load? there is a button somewhere down near the drivers right knee, unless you have xenons which should be self adjusted.

[Forest Simon]

Yes xenons I believe, definitely turned on, I even tried adjusting 1.5 anti clockwise turns on the small white adjusters above headlights but maybe I need to give them another half turn, great car though and polestar so really nice pickup even at moterway speeds

[okedave]

I have a 2010 D5 with Polestar (3 times your mileage, you lucky sod, lol), and have not noticed any high pitched whine at all, even with the window open. Plus the lights are really bright on mine, so much so a friend has asked me what bulbs I have.

I would definitely get it checked.

[doingitsideways]

Xenon bulbs fade with age.
Mine are dreadful lol

[SwissXC90]

Xenon bulbs fade faster when they are cheap chinese clones.... grrr...

The (now clearly fake) Osram Xenon bulbs I bought less than 2 years ago from a dodgy seller are being replaced this weekend with genuine Osrams bought from a proper shop where I have a proper ability to return if proven to be fake.

What hurts the most is that the genuine Osrams are now half the price of what I paid for the crappy fake bulbs....

Lesson learnt: ensure you are buying genuine bulbs from a reputable seller.

And the Xenons are fantastic headlamps, if the alignment is correct

[Forest Simon]

How much are a set of proper bulbs? I think you hit the nail on the head, they just don’t seem very bright, I think I will just change them.