For those of you who have made the switch to E-code lenses for an 850, a few questions:

1. Did you go with aftermarket or Volvo OEM branded?

2. How much fluting (diffuser pattern)is on the lens?

3. Is there a difference between the left and right sides (i.e. for left-hand drive vs. right-hand drive)?

4. Are your lenses marked with the circled E1 or E2 symbol?

Gerald C

1. I ordered mine through the site supporter FCPGroton.com for $85 each, part number 6817004/6817005, and they were OEM Volvo parts with new seals and clips, arrived in 3 days and took about 15 minutes to install. The US market Volvo aiming bubble doesn't apply to E-code lens so you have to re-aim them either optically or up against a wall the old fashioned way. They will double the distance of your stock DOT headlight beam.

2. Typical E-code diffusing, much less than DOT lens.

3. There's a different part number for the left and right side of course and the light pattern on the glass from FCPGroton is for US highways. The pattern is a flat horizontal cutoff with a 45 degree slope up the right side.

4. The Volvo glass I got from FCPGroton is marked with a circled "E4".

Mike .......... Miami, FL

Doing a search, I could only find out a couple of things about "E4" lenses:

1. It may be a "Denmark" automobile lighting spec.
2. It may be some kind of hybrid ECE/DOT spec lens.

Any more guesses!?

Gerald C

The number combined with the 'E' is the country where the ECE-type-approval has been granted. Once it has been completed in one country it can then be used legally in the other EC countries.

Although the testing standards are uniform across europe there can be differences in how easy it is for a manufacturer to pass. In germany they are very strict and it's difficult to get new parts approved. On the other hand it's not so difficult in luxembourg. Differences in interpretation of some of the regulations.

So an E-code headlight that ha a german approval is generally of a higher standard than one with a luxembourg approval. Either one will still meet all the requirements, but the german one probably has a better quality.

Combined DOT/E-code lights exist. They use a slightly modified E-code beam (less inclination of the 'flare' at the side for one).

To confuse things a bit there are also headlights with both an E-code *and* DOT marking on the glass, but are *NOT* combined units. The S/V40 headlights are one of them. These headlights usually have a sticker on the housing which has two boxes printed on it which either say: (ECE:YES DOT:NO) or (ECE:NO DOT:YES).

This is caused by the fact that these are free-form headlights, so all the beam shaping is done by the reflector and the glass is simply smooth and clear. The glass and headlight housing are shared by both the DOT and ECE models (so both identification codes are present on the glass), but the reflector is specific for either type and the sticker shows which is installed in the housing.

Bye, Arno.

Thanks Arno,

Do you have a list of what countries go with with number, as in:

E2 = ??

E4 = ??

Gerald C

http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/e-code-country-codes.txt (very informational site)

ECE country codes:
E1: Germany
E2: France
E3: Italy
E4: Netherlands
E5: Sweden
E6: Belgium
E7: Hungary
E8: Czech Republic
E9: Spain
E10: Yugoslavia
E11: United Kingdom
E12: Austria
E13: Luxembourg
E14: Switzerland
E15: unused
E16: Norway
E17: Finland
E18: Denmark
E19: Romania
E20: Poland
E21: Portugal
E22: Russian Federation
E23: Greece
E24: Ireland
E25: Croatia
E26: Slovenia
E27: Slovakia
E28: Belarus
E29: Estonia
E31: Bosnia/Herzegovina
E34: Bulgaria
E36: Lithuania
E37: Turkey
E39: Azerbaijan
E40: Makedonia
E43: Japan
E45: Austraolia
E46: Ukraine
E47: South Africa
E48: New Zealand

Bye, Arno.

> The US market Volvo aiming bubble doesn't apply to E-code lens
> so you have to re-aim them either optically or up against a wall
> the old fashioned way.

Interesting. You are the first person to mention this, that I recall. Do you remember if the the e-code beam pattern was too high, too low, too left/right, or what?

I'm also curious that your Volvo OEM part seems to be different from DavidM's Volvo OEM part. I didn't even know there was an "E4" spec lens.

Thanks,
Gerald C

The DOT bubble adjustment centered left the beam way too low. Since its such a sharp horizontal cutoff you can raise the beam up considerably, and its all focused straight ahead instead of diffused like the DOT beam. The horisontal adjustment works fine though, I didn't really change that. I don't know why there's a difference in the part numbers, but the boxes are factory sealed with Volvo stickers on 'em. The lens have Volvo and E4 instead of Volvo DOT on them. Maybe a call to FCPGroton can give better answers. All I know is, they are 100% better than the DOT lens and they work for me. Mike

When I had my inspection done in Mass., the technician adjusted the lights so the bubble was level and darned if the horizontal segment of the cutoff wasn't right on the alignment stripe! In truth, though, when I set them this way oncoming drivers occasionally flash their lights at me. I lower them 1/3 turn of the adjusting screw, which seems to take care of that problem.

E4? What th....?
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David \\ (98 S70 T5SE Black, misc mods (mostly lighting), red calipers) (92 940GLE)

1. Did you go with aftermarket or Volvo OEM branded?
Volvo OEM. $250/pair.

2. How much fluting (diffuser pattern)is on the lens?
Less than DOT. There is always some, though the latest models have so-called freeform reflectors, thus some of the lightbending gruntwork is done behind the glass. The S80's freeform reflector-only (with clear glass) isn't as good as S60 and new V70 with fluted lenses.

3. Is there a difference between the left and right sides (i.e. for left-hand drive vs. right-hand drive)?
Yes

4. Are your lenses marked with the circled E1 or E2 symbol?
E2
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David \\ (98 S70 T5SE Black, misc mods (mostly lighting), red calipers) (92 940GLE)