Blacked out headlights on C5 A6

[wofman]

Nicely done, asix.

[ENDEE666]

I wanna see more of the Honeycomb grilles. Tell us more about that. Is it RS4/RS6 type stuff?

[Asix]

Thanks everybody for the comments!

Endee, the honeycomb grill was a pretty tough task. I purchased a huge 4' x 6' sheet of that stuff and I took the existing upper and lower grill assembly and used a dremel to cut the horizontal bars out. Once that was done, I used bondo to fill in the holes and repainted it black. I attached the grill material from the rear. I'll try to take some more shots of the grills as soon as I can.

[ENDEE666]

Was the honeycomb plastic or metal? Did it end up looking like RS grilles?

[tquattro2004]

Nice Job on the write up, Headlights look good.
PICS if the Grills!
Thanks

[Asix]

The grill material was actually metal. You know how the RS6 style looks kinda 3D-ish? The material I used doesn't extrude back like the real stuff does. It did cost me like 10x less to do it this way and I'm pretty satisfied with how it looks....I'll have pics up soon guys!

[Asix]

Hey guys,

Here are some more pics.

[hcaudikeed]

im gonna do this soon. most likely this week. im gonna go with a high gloss black enamel with a clearcoat to match my black exterior. i just finished sanding and painting all the grilles high gloss black with clearcoat. also did the license plate bracket. looks much better than faded plastic. should i black out the chrome under the headlight as well? i left the chrome on the hood grille. also what do you think about the headlight? i originally wanted to black out the whole thing except for the front of the projector leaving a chrome ring, but how badly would this affect highbeam and turn signal light output? remember im doing it high gloss black with a clearcoat for extra gloss. i also have factory xenons. thanks in advance.

[Asix]

Haven't posted in a while so I thought I'd drop a quick hello with my new LED's. The other ones were too small and got washed out when the headlights were on. These ones are much bigger and brighter.

[Stampy]

Nice. Throw up some close ups of those!

[Kievskiy]

NICE!! :) pore info on LEDS and more info, Please:)

[The Stig]

Those look great.

The larger LED fit those headlights much better than small ones.

[Audi Logic]

yeah, mine are just tinted outside:)

what did you use to tint them? they look awesome.

[Durden]

I just bought my A6 from a guy in Phoenix who had the headlight and taillight lenses PAINTED black, which looks good with the theme of the car... but as far as functionality goes, I'm not impressed. You can hardly see the headlights through the paint, and I have to rely solely on the fog lights for night driving. The trip from Phoenix to Denver at night was interesting without full use of headlights...

There are many tinting options that look just as good IMO, but painting the headlights just doesnt do it for me...

[G Men 08]

besides the wheels, that car looks awesome! but as stated, it is a stupid mod considering the actual functionality of the lights

[wofman]

I just bought my A6 from a guy in Phoenix who had the headlight and taillight lenses PAINTED black, ....

Now that's funny.

Re taillights, are there degrees of tint (films) available?

[BruceMc]

Haven't posted in a while so I thought I'd drop a quick hello with my new LED's. The other ones were too small and got washed out when the headlights were on. These ones are much bigger and brighter.

Where did you get the LED's?? And how did you wire them....

[Asix]

Where did you get the LED's?? And how did you wire them....

Hi Bruce,

The LED's were bought on ebay. I basically wired them to my dome lights with a relay to the ignition so that they would be on either when when the car is on or the dome lights are on and off when the car is off and the dome lights are off.

Cheers

[dropscience]

heres mine (left)

[Pumeebaa]

Hi Asix!

Sorry for the silly question but is this temperature in celsius or fahrenheit?
(I'm from europe :) )

Pre-heat to 220 and BAKE it for 5-6 minutes and then pull it out with oven mittens!

I'd like to take my headlight apart, because it looks really dirty in the inside, and one of them is also condensing...
I have already polished them from the outside, and they look much-much better now, but I can see a lot of dirt inside...


Thanks for the help!


Also maybe it can help for others having trouble with the third "hidden" screw:

I've used a long (telescopic) rod with a strong magnet ending to put the screw back in place. If its strong enough - like mine - you can actually began the tightening with it,
and when you pull back the magnet the screw stays in its place, and you can tighten it with your torx screwdriver afterwards.

[nrowensby]

Sexy... That makes me want to go flat black on my RC's...

[Audi42LV8]

Minus this gay LEDs and halos I think these are similar

[Pumeebaa]

Hi Asix!

Sorry for the silly question but is this temperature in celsius or fahrenheit?
(I'm from europe :) )


"Pre-heat to 220 and BAKE it for 5-6 minutes and then pull it out with oven mittens!"

I'd like to take my headlight apart, because it looks really dirty in the inside, and one of them is also condensing...
I have already polished them from the outside, and they look much-much better now, but I can see a lot of dirt inside...


Thanks for the help!

Is there anyone else knowing the answer?

Thanks

[Hambone101]

Is there anyone else knowing the answer?

Thanks

I'm just going out on a limb here, but seeing as his location is in the U.S. I'm guessing Fahrenheit. Hope that helps.

[nrowensby]

Definately 220°F...

...220°C would certainly melt the entire housing with the quickness!

[Pumeebaa]

Definately 220°F...

...220°C would certainly melt the entire housing with the quickness!

Thanks!!

[deucescorner]

Are you guys using the oem amber turn signal bulb or is it a different one?

[Jerzyboy973]

Okay, so I finally got some time to write this up and upload my pics. After putting the headlights back on, I couldn’t be any happier with the results! This was my 2nd time doing something like this and so everything was very straight forward. Anyway, for a very detailed write up on getting the headlights out, check out this write up…VERY detailed! http://www.rs6.com/forum/showthread....&threadid=3862

You’ll need the following tools/materials:
- T-20 & T-25 drill bit
- Drill bit holder/extender
- Old T-shirt
- Duplicolor hi-heat black engine enamel
- 400 grit wet sand paper
- Saran Wrap
- Masking tape
- Elmer’s Black silicone
- Flat head screw driver
- Latex gloves
- Time
- Patience

On with the pics and my comments!!!!

Use a Torx-25 bit to remove bolts 1 and 2. For the 3rd bolt, take a flashlight and look into that hole. You’ll see the bolt sitting there just mocking you. =D Unless you take the bumper off (which I did not), it is utterly impossible to get to that bolt. I went to ACE hardware and purchased a bit holder/extender for $14. Well worth it!


Once the bolts are off, you’ll see on the other write-up that he’s talking about a black cylinder that you need to detach from. Here is a picture of what he’s talking about.


Here is the bit holder/extender I bought at ACE.


It is crucial to use any kind of soft cloth when removing the headlights otherwise you WILL scratch the bumper.


This is where the release latch is to remove the wiring harness from the headlight assembly.


Here’s one…


And two…


For this next part, have COMPLETE faith in yourself and don’t let the oven scare you, it WON’T damage your headlight components. What I’ve found to be helpful is to get a used t-shirt and soak it in warm water. Wrap the headlight inside of the wet t-shirt and place it on the tray (which should be on the lowest hook). Pre-heat to 220 and BAKE it for 5-6 minutes and then pull it out with oven mittens! Get a flathead and Start on the bottom and pry that sucker open…when you have enough clearance to sink your claws in, rip the clear housing completely away from the black housing.




Using 400 grade wet sand paper, sand the chrome plastic housing once you get it out of the clear housing. They should turn out white. I didn’t see the point of taking the chrome pieces out of the headlight unit so I left it in and taped everything off. I actually used saran wrap and laid it across the turn signal area, projector lens, and the high beam area. Just fit the saran wrap around and use masking tape to tape it off. The post earlier with the white A6 had his headlights COMPLETELY blacked out. I wanted a little contrast so I taped off the circle ring around the projector lens. Here are a few pics of the taping of the housing…took a bit of time, but SOOO worth it for the look.




I used the Duplicolor Low gloss Engine Enamel paint from Schuck’s to paint. Lay the pieces down and using a back and forth pattern, lightly spray every part of the exposed parts. Do NOT hold the can of paint in one location. Constantly use the back and forth motion. If one spot doesn’t look painted as much as another part, don’t go back and try to fill it in. Get it on your next coat. This stuff dries pretty quickly so apply 5 coats. The entire painting process took about an hour. I let the paint cure and completely dry for a few hours while I went out to grab a burger at Red Robins with my girlfriend and a friend. Once the paint is all dried and looks even, start putting the plastic pieces back in their respective clear housings.


CAREFULLY remove the saran wrap and tape from the back unit assembly. I used a sharpie to clean up any small spots that may have chipped off while removing the tape/saran wrap because I’m very picky about those kinds of things. =P


Take the bottle of silicon and put that in the oven for 3-4 minutes at 210 (temp). Take it out, put it in the caulking gun and outline the groove on the back unit piece with the silicon. Don’t be afraid to use a lot since this is ALL the silicon will be used for…but not so much to the point where the entire housing will be filled with globs of silicon. =D

Press the two pieces back together and immediately grab those clips to keep the headlight assembly well pressed. Once that’s on, wrap the headlights in the damp tshirt and let it bake for about 2 or 3 minutes, take them out and press them together flush! Take the silicon again and go to town on the outside edge where the two pieces meet. Use your finger (with latex glove on of course) and smooth out the silicon making sure that EVERY crevice is sealed. Take some time here and make sure you get everything perfect…otherwise you’ll have to do this all over again later.

Once it’s set, place them where NOBODY will mess with them and let them cure for a full 24 hours.


Congrats!!!! You did it!!!

Here is the finished product…along with a few other photos of my LED tails and my custom magnaflow exhaust setup.

ENJOY!

Holy crap. I'm going to do this some time soon!!!

[Hambone101]

Just finished painting one of my lights and I see you say to use new silicone. Is there a certain kind/brand that I should look for?

edit* SOAB!!! Some of the chrome reflector along the edge of the high beam started peeling. Does anyone know of a quick fix to this problem?

pic edit*

[Auda]

I had the same problem with the reflector, so. Now i have 2 sets og driving lights. :D

[Hambone101]

I had the same problem with the reflector, so. Now i have 2 sets og driving lights. :D

What did you use for the high beam? Looks like it could be an led, what did you use? How well does it work?

[BillyEUPHORIA]

hey, just a thought but do you think there's a way to add some more depth/beaffy-ness to the outer rings of the projecter (kinda like a bushed aluminum/silver lookin plastic gear to go beyond the surround of the chrome ring that's there) i only say so just to balance out the over all of the headlights, instead of big and shiny for the high, big and shiny for the corner, and just a chrome ring for the projector...like no love the projector huh...I'm just kiddin, but always thought if and how that could help out the look of the headlight

[Auda]

What did you use for the high beam? Looks like it could be an led, what did you use? How well does it work?

I used this. Only, the image shows H11, and our cars have H7. At least we do in europe. :)
It works all right. But no high beam any more. Just like a regular driving light without hte reflector.

[Slavchob]

I had the same problem with the reflector, so. Now i have 2 sets og driving lights. :D

Wow, matte black looks sweet!

[Slavchob]

Okay, so I finally got some time to write this up and upload my pics. After putting the headlights back on, I couldn’t be any happier with the results! This was my 2nd time doing something like this and so everything was very straight forward. Anyway, for a very detailed write up on getting the headlights out, check out this write up…VERY detailed! http://www.rs6.com/forum/showthread....&threadid=3862

You’ll need the following tools/materials:
- T-20 & T-25 drill bit
- Drill bit holder/extender
- Old T-shirt
- Duplicolor hi-heat black engine enamel
- 400 grit wet sand paper
- Saran Wrap
- Masking tape
- Elmer’s Black silicone
- Flat head screw driver
- Latex gloves
- Time
- Patience

On with the pics and my comments!!!!

Use a Torx-25 bit to remove bolts 1 and 2. For the 3rd bolt, take a flashlight and look into that hole. You’ll see the bolt sitting there just mocking you. =D Unless you take the bumper off (which I did not), it is utterly impossible to get to that bolt. I went to ACE hardware and purchased a bit holder/extender for $14. Well worth it!


Once the bolts are off, you’ll see on the other write-up that he’s talking about a black cylinder that you need to detach from. Here is a picture of what he’s talking about.


Here is the bit holder/extender I bought at ACE.


It is crucial to use any kind of soft cloth when removing the headlights otherwise you WILL scratch the bumper.


This is where the release latch is to remove the wiring harness from the headlight assembly.


Here’s one…


And two…


For this next part, have COMPLETE faith in yourself and don’t let the oven scare you, it WON’T damage your headlight components. What I’ve found to be helpful is to get a used t-shirt and soak it in warm water. Wrap the headlight inside of the wet t-shirt and place it on the tray (which should be on the lowest hook). Pre-heat to 220 and BAKE it for 5-6 minutes and then pull it out with oven mittens! Get a flathead and Start on the bottom and pry that sucker open…when you have enough clearance to sink your claws in, rip the clear housing completely away from the black housing.




Using 400 grade wet sand paper, sand the chrome plastic housing once you get it out of the clear housing. They should turn out white. I didn’t see the point of taking the chrome pieces out of the headlight unit so I left it in and taped everything off. I actually used saran wrap and laid it across the turn signal area, projector lens, and the high beam area. Just fit the saran wrap around and use masking tape to tape it off. The post earlier with the white A6 had his headlights COMPLETELY blacked out. I wanted a little contrast so I taped off the circle ring around the projector lens. Here are a few pics of the taping of the housing…took a bit of time, but SOOO worth it for the look.




I used the Duplicolor Low gloss Engine Enamel paint from Schuck’s to paint. Lay the pieces down and using a back and forth pattern, lightly spray every part of the exposed parts. Do NOT hold the can of paint in one location. Constantly use the back and forth motion. If one spot doesn’t look painted as much as another part, don’t go back and try to fill it in. Get it on your next coat. This stuff dries pretty quickly so apply 5 coats. The entire painting process took about an hour. I let the paint cure and completely dry for a few hours while I went out to grab a burger at Red Robins with my girlfriend and a friend. Once the paint is all dried and looks even, start putting the plastic pieces back in their respective clear housings.


CAREFULLY remove the saran wrap and tape from the back unit assembly. I used a sharpie to clean up any small spots that may have chipped off while removing the tape/saran wrap because I’m very picky about those kinds of things. =P


Take the bottle of silicon and put that in the oven for 3-4 minutes at 210 (temp). Take it out, put it in the caulking gun and outline the groove on the back unit piece with the silicon. Don’t be afraid to use a lot since this is ALL the silicon will be used for…but not so much to the point where the entire housing will be filled with globs of silicon. =D

Press the two pieces back together and immediately grab those clips to keep the headlight assembly well pressed. Once that’s on, wrap the headlights in the damp tshirt and let it bake for about 2 or 3 minutes, take them out and press them together flush! Take the silicon again and go to town on the outside edge where the two pieces meet. Use your finger (with latex glove on of course) and smooth out the silicon making sure that EVERY crevice is sealed. Take some time here and make sure you get everything perfect…otherwise you’ll have to do this all over again later.

Once it’s set, place them where NOBODY will mess with them and let them cure for a full 24 hours.


Congrats!!!! You did it!!!

Here is the finished product…along with a few other photos of my LED tails and my custom magnaflow exhaust setup.

ENJOY!

Wow OP, that make me wish i never sold my silver A6! I'd buy it back just so I could do this mod. Super sweet!

[ride slow]

great, i was looking for something like this.

[coppertop4646]

Just finished doing this and had a couple questions. When I reinstalled my lights, I didn't use the screw that requires the extension to get to, I only used the two T-20 screws plus that black cylinder thing on the side. The headlights feel pretty firm, should I worry about putting in the screw that requires the extension? Also, the liner that goes between the headlight and grill on mine fell off cause it's so old. Anyone know where I may be able to purchase new ones?

[A6Avant]

Anyone have any pics ona a A6 with ALLROAD LIGHTS?

[btsline04]

Just finished doing this and had a couple questions. When I reinstalled my lights, I didn't use the screw that requires the extension to get to, I only used the two T-20 screws plus that black cylinder thing on the side. The headlights feel pretty firm, should I worry about putting in the screw that requires the extension? Also, the liner that goes between the headlight and grill on mine fell off cause it's so old. Anyone know where I may be able to purchase new ones?

i also didnt bother putting that bottom screw on either of my headlights...i'm gonna put them back in when the weather gets nicer tho ...without those bottom screws in i noticed at night the headlights tend to shake up and down a little when i'm stopped behind someone....i cant notice it when i'm driving but its jus sumthin i kno thats buggin me so i'm gonna fix it....

[Despized]

Minus this gay LEDs and halos I think these are similar

I know I have seen some users with these.. 350$ a pair.. but I am wondering quality.. I know that it cuts off some of the lighting on the sides. Because I am debating on them myself.