Despite the comments so far, I realy don't think the V70 lights are so dim that no one notices them. In fact, our '98 and '95 have what I consider quite adequate lighting for the northeast US, and are far and away better than our 740 or 960. Not quite up to the four round bulbs in our '87 BMW or '84 MB SL, but good none the less. There is a factory recall on '98 headlights due to premature burn-outs. We haven't done it yet, and have only put one bulb in our '98 at 78k. I would speculate carsx burning up bulbs are keeping the daytime running lights on, with the result that all of the bulbs are being burned at double or quadruple the time compared to the hours that are used just after dark. If so, you can soon expect to stasrt on tehinterior dash bulbs as well, just a matter of hours burned. As far as the '98 brightness, try getting the lights re-aimed, leaning toward the high side. I guarantee that if they are set up right, you will get constant response from oncoming drivers when on high. after that, check with a voltmeter to see that the lights are getting adequaate current right at the light plugs. After that, consider upgrading the lights themselves. There are clearly some much better light units out there, its just that your comments seem to sugggest that your car is not at normal brightness to start with.
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Mike Sullivan ('91 745 (171k), '93 965 (147k), '95 855T (60k), '98 V70XC (78k). Past Volvo's: '85 744 (256k), '86 245 (165k), '86 245 (195k), '88 745 (208k).