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Don Foster has covered pretty much all the points, but there also could be a problem with the headlight switch. Volvo's headlight wiring follows a long path from battery to the light switch on the dash, to the beam switching relay right behind the battery, and then (for the low beams) back up to the dash to the bulb-out indicator module, then finally back to the lights. So there are plenty of places for a bad connection to put resistance into the circuit and give you dim lighting. That said, the underhood connectors and grounding points are the most likely. Behind each pair of (left&right)lights, and just inside the engine compartment is a connector with a red and a blue wire coming out each side. The left one is buried between the headlight backing and the battery. Check these for a firm connection. The headlight grounds are via small black wires fastened to the inner fender by a Phillips screw. Left is (yet again) buried behind the battery, the right one is behind the windshield washer reservoir.
You really need to have a "multimeter" for this kind of troubleshooting. Radio Shack have a small simple one on sale right now for $12-$13 or so. I have an older version of this, and although I also have two DMM's and a much more sophisticated analog unit, the little one gets used 95% of the time.
Headlight bulbs either work 100% or not at all - if they're dim it's a bad connection as Don said. If you get new ones, the Sylvania halogens are quite good, and I wouldn't spend the extra money for their "ExtraVision" bulbs - did that already and could see no difference in actual use.
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Bob (81-244GL B21F, 83-244DL B23F)
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