At 09:53 AM 11/28/01, you wrote:
>I never cease to be amazed by your knowledge of this car. Thanks for filling us in. I mentioned the headlight problem on the list-- broken face-lens. I have a bulb in my glove box from PO and I fear I have the Euro set up. Does the Euro set up entail a replaceable bulb rather than a "sealed beam" (i.e., replace the whole face and bulb unit together for $20)? Just curious-- though I have not yet removed the broken lens for inspection. Thank you in advance.

Very, very few cars have replaceable headlamp lenses.

928s may have any of the following types of headlamps:

*Standard 7" sealed beam. Non-acceptable performance.

*Quartz halogen 7" sealed beam. Marginal performance.

*"Sealed" H4 7" lamp. This has a replaceable element (dual filament H4 bulb in any of several wattages) that inserts into a glass bubble on the back of a sealed lens/reflector unit. Rare. Acceptable performance.

*H4 7" lamp. Same as above, but there is no bubble - the hole in the back of the lamp unit is open to the inside of the lens/reflector unit. "Off road only". Good performance.

*H4 8" European headlamps. No chrome trim rings, no aiming bumps on the face of the lens, no DOT approval on the face of the lens. Replaceable H4 bulb. Good performance.

*H5 8" DOT-approved headlamps. No chrome trim rings, but has three alignment bumps cast into the face of the lens, has DOT approval on face of the lens. Stock on '88 - up USA 928s. Good performance.

"H4" and "H5" are bulb types - dual filament quartz halogen bulbs that fit into lens/reflector units. H4 is the old standard European headlamp bulb. H5 is the newer DOT-approved version. They are not interchangeable - you must get the type that your lens/reflector unit uses. The connectors are different for the H4 and H5 bulbs, but the H4 connector is the same as the standard USA 7" sealed beam bulbs.

With a little effort, you can put any of the above units into any 928.

BTW - Fingerprints can drastically shorten the life of any of the peanut-sized quartz halogen bulbs.

Wally Plumley
928 Specialists