Volvo Accessory Sport Exhaust System
Today, I completed the installation of the Volvo OEM Sport “R-Design” Exhaust System. The kit consists of a complete dual cat-back exhaust system with twin mufflers and R-Design tips for both the left and the right sides of the rear of the car, for a total of four exhaust outlets. The kit also includes a pre-painted replacement rear skid plate which has two openings for the exhaust pipes, as well as a more aggressive design with holes in the bottom. It really improves the look. The kit also includes new rubber exhaust hangers, and necessary clips and rivets for the rear bumper skid plate installation.
Part Numbers:
Note: This kit is designed spefically for facelift cars (2007-2015). It seems as though it would be possible to fit it to an earlier model if you changed over the entire rear bumper. You need to purchase the exhaust kit itself, as well as a replacement exhaust gasket (if you wish). You also need to purchase one of two mounting kits. They are different depending upon whether or not you have the OEM Volvo trailer hitch. If you have an aftermarket hitch, you must get the mounting kit for NO HITCH. This is something that I discovered. The OEM hitch has mounting provisions on it for the exhaust mounting kit, however my aftermarket hitch did not. I ended up simply welding the necessary bracket to the side of my aftermarket hitch, but if I had ordered the non-hitch kit, it would have been a bolt-on installation.
Full Sport Exhaust Kit for Petrol V8 Models: 30756337 – $972.79 (Volvo Parts MSRP)
Full Sport Exhaust Kit for Petrol 3.2 Models: 30756338 – $1060.72 (Volvo Parts MSRP) May no longer be available from Volvo.
Full Sport Exhaust Kit for Diesel D5 Models: 30756339 – $972.79 (Volvo Parts MSRP)
Installation Kit for Cars Without Hitch, or With Aftermarket Hitch: 30635847 – $28.62 (Volvo Parts MSRP)
Installation Kit for Cars With OEM Hitch: 30756609 – $52.36 (Volvo Parts MSRP)
Gasket (Between new exhaust system and converters): 8672278 – $3.32 (Volvo Parts MSRP)
Nuts (To attach the new exhaust system to the converters): 985921 – $2.36 x2 (Volvo Parts MSRP)
*Keep in mind that all of these prices are Volvo MSRP. They should be readily available online for roughly 20% off. I can usually get my local Volvo dealer to match online prices, so I don’t end up having to pay shipping, and I would highly recommend checking to see if this is possible. The kit came in a GIANT wooden crate which would cost a fortune to ship. The system was out of stock in the USA, and my local dealer had to order it from Sweden. Unbelievably, it only took about 8 days for the kit to arrive. I can’t imagine what it cost for them to ship it to my local Volvo dealer from the warehouse in Sweden — especially that fast.
Remains of Wooden Crate & All Parts In Packaging:
Volvo Installation Instructions:
Click Here for a PDF of the detailed installation instructions as issued by Volvo.
Some Installation Notes:
Everything was pretty much as indicated in the Volvo instructions except for a few things. First of all, they go through the trouble of having you remove the entire rear bumper. There was absolutely no reason to do this, and everything installed perfectly without doing that. I have no clue why they have you do that in the instructions. It would have been a huge waste of time. Secondly, it isn’t mentioned in the Volvo instructions, but the spare tire must be removed in order to accommodate the right side muffler. The cars which came from the factory with this exhaust system (2009 V8 R-Design) did not have a spare tire at all, however I have read that if you flip the spare tire mounting bracket around 180 degrees, the spare tire will fit. I simply removed my spare tire as I pretty much only use this car for around town, and I’d probably have my car towed to work if I ever got a flat, rather than driving it on a crappy donut spare. I also had a difficult time getting the right side to line up properly in the bumper cutout. I worked on it for a while and got it where I thought it looked right, but then it worked its way back to being crooked. I’ve noticed this on other XC90s with this exhaust system. I plan on working on it further when I get a chance, but as of now, the exhaust isn’t hitting anything. If you have an aftermarket hitch, you may or may not need to trim the skid plate. If you have the OEM hitch, you WILL need to trim the skid plate as shown in the Volvo instructions. I did not have to trim mine.
Before and After Pictures:
Additional Pictures:
Just some additional pics showing the exhaust system from different angles, and a few pics that don’t show it at all, since sometimes I can’t stop taking pictures of my Volvos. 
If you have any questions, please let me know by posting in this thread. I want to try to keep all information public. I am still working on creating a sticky for the XC90 forum which lists all of the how-to/diy/info threads in a single place. I made one for the S80 forum about a year ago and it has become a very valuable resource.
One other little thing is the obligatory video of the car revving with the exhaust completely removed. I just had to hear the Yamaha V8 in all its glory. Here’s a link to the video.