Alternator Bosch or OEM Volvo

The forums are riddled with people who tried to save a few bucks & got what they paid for. The DME on an e90 is extremely fickle. DO NOT buy an alternator unless it\u2019s a Bosch.

Volvo tech here, Bosch. Just replace the whole thing, it's not worth doing the brush job only to find that you should've just done the whole thing first.

I ordered the genuine Bosch alternator for not even 300 bucks and installed it myself for him still good a year or so later and it was a very easy job

The 2.4 in my 2006 S40 was stone cold reliable to 157k miles before I sold it. Needed a new alternator at about 145k but that was it. It\u2019s been 2 years and I still miss driving that car. The BEST front seats of any vehicle I\u2019ve driven or ridden in.

My old 04 Volvo Xc90 had 311k on the dash before the alternator gave up lol. Doing better than that!

Get the Bosch, including the warranty from them, and be done.

Im having the same issue with my 08 jetta 2.5, replaced the alternator and voltage regulator because the car battery wasnt charging anymore. Anyways replaced the alternator and then I had a high voltage issue with the regulator

I used to have an alternator that required me to rev to 5k before the light would go out! My current one needs a slight blip to 1200 to make the light go out. I just ordered a new Bosch rebuilt alternator to replace.

I when my original alternator failed in my 540i/6, the replacement rebuilt Bosch unit would produce 13.5-13.7v for a while after the car had warmed up, then would gradually fall to less than battery voltage. Running the A/C and revving the engine at stoplights would keep the battery light from flickering, but eventually, it would show full symptoms of a dead charging system.

ended up going with a Bosch remanufactured alternator. Installed it today, went super smooth, charged up the battery as I was installing it, got everything buttoned up and started it up. Battery light still on, voltage is at around 11.9 and dropping. Will randomly jump up to 14.4 volts, no correlation with revving the engine or putting a load on the electrical system.