Unemployed, a new child, and a 1999 V70 FWD that is hungry for maintenance, I felt I should do as much of the work on it as I can. Also doing the work myself, I can select the best parts and not pay any mechanic's mark-up on them. I'm posting this for those who may be in a similar situation. Here, I am replacing the rotors which have worn to less than 23mm, the number stamped on them, as well as the brake shoes. It turned out to be surprisingly easy. I had expected to have to hammer the rotors to death to get them off but they almost fell off.
There is a lot of discussion at BMW and Mercedes clubs about what rotors and brake pads to use. No two people have the same opinion. I chose PBR pads which make less dust and are rotor friendly supposedly. The rotors are Balo



If you decide to do this job and your V70 has high mileage, consider replacing the brake hoses which may have become cracked over the years, and the odd caliper springs not shown here. Don't forget to grease the pad backs to avoid squeal and if you use channel-locks to squeeze the caliper open, make sure there is enough room in the brake fluid reservoir to accommodate the fluid you'll send back into it. More info on how to do this is available at www.volvospeed.com