Okay, back from the dealer,and good news!!....All the cars parked on their lot had front tags...the dealer's for advertisment, so I asked one of the sales guys and he took me to the back where new cars had just been unloaded. None of them had front holes on the bumpers for the plates. He then showed me a very faint and very very small impression in the blastic bumper molding on these new cars...S80's, V70's, 50's...all of them. There are two of these impressions, right in the center of each bumper. The service department takes a small drill and goes into these indentations and "whalla" there are threads in there once the plastic covering is drilled away. You can use a small screw too if you want. Look for these very small pin tip indentations on your bumper. They should be there if this is an OEM bumper. Hope this helps.
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1998 S70 T5 Emarald Green Metallic, 2004 V70 2.5T Ruby Red, Previous Owner of Black '94 850 Turbo Wagon. My cars have been running so well lately they've got me worried.

Don't own an S80, so can't really say about your car, but every Volvo I've owned had 2 holes in the front (plastic) bumper. These aren't just any holes, they have something embedded in them with threads to screw in either a bracket or a license tag directly into them (like I did with my wife's V70 and euro license plate which I drilled 2 holes into). I would try autozone Pepboys or other autoparts stores with your dilemma. Maybe they have some kind of "counter sinking" screws that can be inserted into a drilled hole. Just make sure whatever you insert into the bumper is the right size for the bracket you were sent, and you measure carefully before drilling. Other than this, it's off to the dealer for you. Before asking questions, I would walk up and down their car lot and look at other S80's and see how their bumpers are constructed, and ask the question as a last resort. Don't be ashamed to go to the dealer about it.

I have to go into the dealer this morning to have a fan/blower motor noise fixed on the still under warranty V70. While I'm there, I'll take a look around at their S80's and ask some questions about the bumper holes for you. It will be in the afternoon that I can get back to a computer to post my findings, but I'll be back.
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1998 S70 T5 Emarald Green Metallic, 2004 V70 2.5T Ruby Red, Previous Owner of Black '94 850 Turbo Wagon. My cars have been running so well lately they've got me worried.