Under bonnet insulation.

[jamie307]

What and where are the engine louvers?

The horizontal black flaps between the grill and the radiator. They can move from open (more air, more cooling, more drag, less fuel efficiency) to closed (the opposite):

[Deleted User 3629]

Thanks jamie307 - never knew and never noticed them - does sound a little over engineered though so hope they are not fitted anyway - imagine if they failed shut, car would overheat and could deform cylinder head and other damage - no thanks.

[Deleted User 3629]

Also - wouldn't it mean more drag shut - shut would mean air would be unable to flow causing more drag??

[Greggspies]

Similar arrangement fitted in BMWs in cold climate markets. Designed to fail open.

[jamie307]

Seems, the bonnet insulation is gone together with louvers. Not funny at all.
Africa edition…

Could it be that louvers were never fitted to builds destined for hot climates such as Africa, as it would have to be open so often it wasn't considered beneficial? This would have been reflected in the price just as the parking heater is in the coldest countries.

[Moss]

Volvo do seem to be odd in there approach to building cars - just deciding items are no longer needed when many are and/ or desired - for instance the windscreen ticket holder fitted to Volvo's for many years, for MY21 build it was dropped - what would that cost 2p? - then reinstated some months later - then the under-bonnet felt - now these louvers, what ever they are - what next or can they even be trusted anymore???

My sincere advice is to never do business with a person or a company you don’t trust : Volvo Cars may very well not be the right partner for you.

Many seem to forget that Volvo Cars is not one of the major car companies. Sometimes, things happen that one can expect from a « boutique brand » rather than from a much bigger automobile manufacturer.

As I mentioned earlier, unless your XC40 has a diesel engine, the « normal » thing regarding the felt under bonnet insulation pads (originally meant for the diesel versions) is that they’re not fitted. The video shown on page 9 of this thread explains why that is. Nevertheless, on some cars the pads are fitted anyway, and I mentioned earlier why that is.

You don’t have to trust or believe me : simply try to find a brochure or whatever document regarding the XC40 where Volvo Cars states that an under bonnet insulation pad is fitted other than in de diesel version cars.

[Mikeg1]

Hi Mike I would be quite happy to meet you at your suppling dealer! with my M22 B4 Momentum, supplied October 21
incidentally from the Huddersfield branch of the same Volvo dealership.
As my photos earlier in this thread my XC40 has the under bonnet insulation pad fitted.
Or if you prefer I will DM you re Vin,

Oh cheers, Frank. That's so kind of you to offer. Have to say with dealers going right back to the Austin/Morris days, my experience of CBV Bradford has been first class. Their top Parts guy has been onto Volvo and got back an attempt to kick it into the long grass - they queried a pic of an EV with a pad put up by a member with a B4 purely to illustrate what the pad was - and demanding lists of B4 VINs so they could check like for like.

I've knocked up a basic spreadsheet from the replies in this current thread, started by @goldy in January, (there is an earlier one from 2019 too - but supplies seemed to have come back between then and now, so I ignored it) concentrating on the like-for-like point Volvo raised - so B4's in MY22 supplied in H221 and Q122. I've only got 2 VIN's tho, one ending xxxxxxxxxxx698520 collected on 13/11/21 and mine ending xxxxxxxxxxx703670 collected on 17/11/21. Neither has the pad.

Yours I think was picked up the month before and has it.

From a dozen exanples of MY22 B4's picked up in H221 and since, it seems clear that at some point across the span of October/November last year, pads stopped being fitted to B4's - for whatever reason. As I said, I concentrated on that model and its variants so as to not give Volvo any excuse along the lines of "we're comparing apples and pears". Obviously I don't know build dates, or generally, VIN's, but I've been able to establish that with 1 exception (very close in dates) B4's picked up *after* the 3rd week in October do NOT have pads fitted.

I'd be delighted to be proved wrong.

What I'd really hoped for was a VIN for a MY22 B4 picked up November onwards (on the assumption it hadn't been sat in a showroom for 6 months) and *with* a pad - to address the "central decision" point. But no. Based on this limited sample, I don't think it exists. If yours had a VIN after mine, I'd have gladly taken you up on your kind offer.

So where does this leave us? I can't show that a car built after mine has the pad. I'm sure if I pursue this Volvo will default to the answer already given to others - a central decision was taken, and that's it. If any other affected member pushes it and gets a result, please do share.

Personally it's only an issue with remote starting (wanting heating/cooling in the cabin - I can hear it running inside the house) and aside from that I've no complaints about noise inside the car.

So it's whether to live with it, see if the dealer can do anything, or eBay it.

But it is galling tho that a feature which I might have found useful was dropped only weeks before I got mine

[Den48]

Hi Mike
The last numerical section of my vin number is. Xxxxxxxxx695936

B4 FWD R design ordered 18th August collected 2nd November 21 from a dealer in Northampton it is confirmed 22my, no bonnet insulation fitted

Waiting for a further response from Volvo customer services after stating that I was not satisfied with the first response

[Zhibak]

Seems, the bonnet insulation is gone together with louvers. Not funny at all.
Africa edition…

Could it be that louvers were never fitted to builds destined for hot climates such as Africa, as it would have to be open so often it wasn't considered beneficial? This would have been reflected in the price just as the parking heater is in the coldest countries.

It was a joke about Africa edition…;)
My one for northern countries with climate packages and heated windscreen.
No louvers behind the r-design grill.
Sad and disappointed.

[Zhibak]

Hi Mike
The last numerical section of my vin number is. Xxxxxxxxx695936

B4 FWD R design ordered 18th August collected 2nd November 21 from a dealer in Northampton it is confirmed 22my, no bonnet insulation fitted

Waiting for a further response from Volvo customer services after stating that I was not satisfied with the first response

Any louvers (bottom/upper), are they installed?