• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

E code headlight question

SquareD

An Anomaly
Joined
Nov 12, 2002
Location
The STL
I've got a line on a nice set of E code headlights for my 85 740. I have a couple of questions. Does anyone know how to tell if a set are LHD or not, without hooking them up of course. Is there a code on the back or something that can distinguish LHD and RHD? The seller is not sure what they are and I want to know before I drop the money. Second question. What do you think would be a good price for a used set would be? These are used, but look to be in excellent shape (turn signal lenses and all) with pretty much everything needed for the conversion. I know Eurosport has them for $375 plus shipping. Any help would be appreciated.
 
It's in the lens markings. Locate the actual E-code ("Ex" in the circle). The number indicates the country of approval. Here's a chart; if the number is for an RHD country, they're RHD lights:

1 Germany
2 France
3 Italy
4 Netherlands
5 Sweden
6 Belgium
7 Hungary
8 Czecheslovakia
9 Spain
10 Yugoslavia
11 United Kingdom
12 Austria
13 Luxembourg
14 Switzerland
16 Norway
17 Finland
18 Denmark
19 Romania
20 Poland
21 Portugal
22 Russia
23 Greece
24 Ireland
25 Croatia
26 Slovenia
27 Slovakia
28 Belarus
29 Estonia
31 Bosnia-Herzegovina
32 Latvia
34 Bulgaria
37 Turkey
40 Yugoslavia-Macedonia
42 Special EC
43 Japan
45 Australia
46 Ukraine
47 South Africa

Obviously you don't want E11, E43 or E45; I'm not familiar with other RHD countries.
 
D Hulting said:
Does anyone know how to tell if a set are LHD or not, without hooking them up of course.

theres an arrow pointing which way the hotspot is. usually in the bottom right of the lens
 
See Daniel Stern's site...it's on my links page under general info. It explains which lights have an arrow and where it points and which lights that it's on.
 
The E codes followed by the numbers (E2 for example) are the country of origin, I _think_ this refers to the country in which they were approved or something like that, or it may simply be the country of manufacture. Either way, it has absolutely nothing to do with whether they are for right or left hand drive. For example, E2 coded lights could be for either.

The beam direction is indicated by a small arrow located somewhere near the rest of the codes, when looking at the lights an arrow pointing right means RHD, a left arrow or no arrow at all means LHD. It can sometimes he hard to see depending on how the glass is moulded.

I jest went out and had a look at the cars in the driveway; my Australian spec '74 164 has lights coded E2 (France), with the right arrow.

My father's '85 265 has lights coded E5 (Sweden), also with the arrow pointing right.

Further info can be found on a couple of lighting pages on the net, do a search.
 
Angus,
Wouldn't it be the other way around? Right arrow for LHD? You said so yourself:
[quote:437413894b]I jest went out and had a look at the cars in the driveway; my Australian spec '74 164 has lights coded E2 (France), with the right arrow.

My father's '85 265 has lights coded E5 (Sweden), also with the arrow pointing right.
[/quote:437413894b]

I was getting nervous again as I don't have the arrow on mine and still having issues...pretty sure it's the wiring and haven't had time to fix. Here's a clip off of Dan Stern's page.

[quote:437413894b]Here is how to read ECE traffic-direction markings:

---> Low beam is suitable only for use in Left Hand Traffic (e.g., Britain, Australia, Africa, Japan)
NO ARROW Low beam is suitable only for use in Right Hand Traffic (US, Canada, Continental Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, etc.)
<--> Low beam is adaptable for use on either side of the road (many projector lamps and older pre-H4 tungsten high/low lamps) Note, an arrow means something different for signalling functions, including turn signals, Daytime Running Lamps and parking lamps (city lights, sidelights, position lamps) than it does for a headlamp beam. For signalling functions, an arrow indicates the side of the car for which the lighting device meets the relevant ECE technical specification. The specifications for signalling devices call for specific horizontal angles of visibility through which the device must be visible. This is so that the device can convey its message to everybody who needs to see it. So if you find an arrow near an 'A' mark on a front lamp cluster, it refers to the side of the car for which the parking lamp built into that cluster is approved, and not the traffic direction for which the headlamp in the same cluster is intended.
[/quote:437413894b]

Best,
Adam
 
>Angus,
>Wouldn't it be the other way around? Right arrow for LHD? You said so >yourself:

Both the cars I used as examples are right hand drive (RHD) Australian spec cars, and therefore have the arrow pointing right.

According to that quote from Dan Stern's site LHD lights should have no arrow at all. I had heard in the past that an arrow pointing left also indicated LHD lights, but perhaps this marking was never actually used.

Don't confuse RHD and LHD with right hand traffic and left hand traffic, two terms used on Dan's site but in few other places. Left hand drive cars (the driver seated in the left seat) drive on the right side of the road, and the beam patterns are aimed to the right to avoid blinding opposing traffic. I guess this is what is meant by right hand traffic. The opposite is true for RHD cars.
 
Back
Top