The “E” means Europe. Hence American lights are not usually ”E” marked. (The fact that they exceed ours for safety in most regards cuts no ice with Brussels.)

The short version: If a light has an “E” mark on it, it means it has supposedly been approved – somewhere in the EU – as compliant with the myriad of bullshit European regulations applicable to such things.

Chances are, if your light has an E mark, your VOSA tester will not get too involved seeing if it complies to some obscure Brussels rule – he will merely assume it does because it has an E mark. That said, he reserves the right to check something himself if he is not happy with it. My experience suggests they look for an E mark, and when they find it, they say, “Ahh, thats OK then”.

That is not to say that your non E marked American light is not compliant with the rules. It might well be, but he is more likely to check it with light meters and tape measures, etc. if it doesn’t have an E mark.

We are referring here to VOSA testers though. MOT testers seldom have the knowledge or the inclination to get involved in the minor detail of EU regulations and associated Euro babble. I tend to E number the car up for SVA test, and then fit what I want to fit straight after (if it differs).

Below is some Euro babble about light bulbs. If you can struggle through it, you can see why I gave you the potted version above.

An E-mark guarantees an automotive product complies with European vehicle legislation. In the UK, national implementation of Construction and Use Regulation 95/54/EC has made it a criminal offense to use a car with a non-E-marked part fitted. The automotive bulb market is covered by Regulation No. 37, revision 4, defining which bulbs necessitate an E-mark. In general, bulbs that are fitted in external positions on a vehicle must abide by this legislation, although some interior lamps, for example those used in the courtesy lights on the vehicle doors, also require approval.

Furthermore any lamp unit that is E-marked must have E-marked bulbs fitted. The number accompanying the E-mark is not an indication of the quality of the product, a common misconception, but indicates the country in which the testing took place. All countries test the bulbs in the same way against the same standards, ensuring uniformity of the bulbs. Consequently no individual E number can be associated with any superiority in quality.

E1 Germany, E2 France, E3 Italy, E4 The Netherlands, E6 Belgium, E9 Spain, E11 United Kingdom, E13 Luxembourg, E18 Denmark, E21 Portugal, E23 Greece, E24 Ireland, etc. The main checks performed to assess E-mark applicability for bulbs include:

• Dimensional checks ensure a tolerant lamps beam pattern

• Electrical checks certify that the power of the lamp does not exceed the rated value

• The brightness of the bulb, rated in Lumens, is appraised by photometry inspection

• Colour temperature tests check that the colour of the light emitted from the bulb is predominantly white.

It is important to note that life cycle is not part of E-mark testing and therefore differs greatly between manufacturers. It is essential to pick a well-respected brand in order to assert confidence in the longevity of the bulbs.

A legitimate E-marked bulb will have numerous details stamped upon it. These include the E-number followed by a 3 digit approval code unique to the manufacturer and product. The trade mark or brand name should also be issued, along with the rated volts, watts and the letter U if the lamps UV output is tolerable. If the bulb does not possess these stamps, there is a good chance the E-mark is not legitimate.

ABC design make these and eBay usually yields a set at around £150. The advertisers on this page quite probably stock them as well. The ‘Angel Eye’ is the sidelight in such a unit, and they are UK/EU/SVA compliant.

If you buy a pair of these, you have solved your headlight and sidelight problems all in one go. This is the easy way to do it, and the angel eye looks quite cool after all doesn’t it?

You can drill the hole and insert a small bulb in your US headlamp and make a sidelight if you want to, but it then very often causes misting up of the unit and looks totally naff.

More on sidelights in the sidelight article on this site.