2003 Volvo S80 2.5L Petrol · MM03 BZH

The Aisin AW55-50LS that equipped P2 Volvos flares between 2nd and 3rd as the valve body and servo cover wear - Volvo Owners' Club threads describe a 2001 car with exactly that symptom and dealers quoting the gearbox before someone suggested the B4 servo cover. On the S80, DVSA records also carry a recall for a gear shift mechanism that can loosen and jam so that gears cannot be selected. Either way, the fix is remanufacture or valve body work, and a cold-start drive is the only honest test.

DVSA’s recall database for early S80s records that incorrect screws used at assembly could break the engine mounting bracket, giving heavy vibration and noise plus reduced power or stalling when the engine management drops into limp-home mode. The Owners' Club forum mirrors the owner experience across the P2 range - a shaking idle that survives new mounts because the bracket and the real cause, often a sticking EGR on the D5, went unnoticed. Inspect the bracket and its fixings on any car that feels rough on idle.

Recall notices held by DVSA for the S80 document that engine oil could rise above maximum through overfilling and/or fuel dilution, with the dangerous consequence of the engine refusing to drop its idle - the speed can stay high after lifting off and, in extreme cases, the engine keeps running after the key is switched off. It is the classic late-2000s Volvo D5/5-cylinder diesel short-city-run problem: unburnt diesel washing down the bore. Buy with a dipstick as much as a history file - and remember the Hagerty tale of the D5 S80 that ran 717,000 miles: dilution was never the enemy of a well-maintained car, but of long drains and short trips.