The Audi 5000 tail light utilizes bulb sizes 5008 and 232 depending on the specific version of the lighting component required for the vehicle. Available information covers the span of time starting from 1980 and ending in 1987.
The year-by-year compatibility chart below provides a quick reference to verify the correct bulb size for your vehicle.
The Audi 5000 outer tail light uses the 1157 bulb for the 1978-1979 model years. The 1157 is a dual-filament bulb operating at 12V with a BAY15d bayonet base, drawing 21W on the primary filament and 5W on the secondary, which allows it to serve both brake and running light functions within a single housing.
The 1157's BAY15d base features offset pins that prevent incorrect insertion, a design distinction from single-filament bayonet bases used elsewhere in the same vehicle.
The Audi 5000 inner tail light for 1978-1979 uses the 67 bulb, a single-filament type with a BA15s bayonet base operating at 12V and 8W. It is a lower-wattage variant of the 1156 bulb and shares the same base type, though the two are not interchangeable due to the wattage difference.
The outer tail light position shifts to the 5008 bulb for the 1980-1983 and 1986-1987 model years. Like the 67, the 5008 is a single-filament bulb with a BA15s bayonet base and is also described as a lower-wattage variant of the 1156, though no wattage value is specified for it.
Because both the 67 and 5008 share the BA15s bayonet base, physical fitment between them is possible, but substitution without confirming wattage compatibility is inadvisable given their differing electrical ratings.
The 1984-1985 outer tail light position on the Audi 5000 uses the 232 bulb, a festoon-type bulb with an SV8.5 base operating at 12V and 3W. The festoon format is physically and electrically incompatible with the BA15s bayonet sockets used in surrounding model years.
The 232 festoon bulb is held in place by contact pressure at each end rather than a twist-lock or pin mechanism, which is a fundamentally different retention method from the bayonet-style bulbs used in all other positions across these specifications.
All bulb types listed across both sub-parts conform to ANSI standards applicable in the United States and Canada, indicating standardized electrical and physical specifications within that regulatory framework.
The outer tail light position of the Audi 5000 uses three distinct bulb types across the 1978-1987 span, specifically the 1157, 5008, and 232, none of which share a common base type, making cross-year substitution between outer tail light bulbs incompatible without socket modification.
All bulbs in these specifications operate on a 12V system, consistent with the standard automotive electrical architecture used in production vehicles of that era.