DIY J-Code tinted front reflectors

[Audacious]

So has anyone try to do A5

impossible

[ultra]

impossible

I said where' you get the bmw paint for the ambers ? is it a spray ?

[Audacious]

It's just vinyl...

#youshouldsearchmoreoften

[ultra]

It's just vinyl...

#youshouldsearchmoreoften

#thanksforthehelphab

[maga4]

Anyone have thoughts on whether plasti-dip would work on these? Also, I saw the mention of the ryobi hear gun, but any other recs and if so, about how long would you expect to heat? Thanks!

[Greg Nelson]

Anybody wants 3" wide BMWshadowline in matte black PM me.
I've got 25' of original 30' roll.
Caveat: 3" width will likely require two runs horizontally to cover amber lights - seam to live with.
Cheers

[Akrion]

10x for the DIY ...

[Akrion]

I guess I should have started with this first:

[CLEAR]

Haven't been here for a while, thought I'd check it out...

[Midnight Storm]

That carbon fiber looks sexy!

[STA4]

also guys you can bake if you dont have a heat gun , mine worked at 200 degress for 10 minutes

Did you remove the HID balasts before baking?

[Akrion]

Did you remove the HID balasts before baking?

Get a heat gun man... for saving $30 bucks you are going to get a crispy "chicken" lights? Seriously ...

[STA4]

Get a heat gun man... for saving $30 bucks you are going to get a crispy "chicken" lights? Seriously ...

I have a heat gun... I've often heard of people baking their housings. The benefits are that the heat is more evenly distributed and it's much FASTER!

[Akrion]

I have a heat gun... I've often heard of people baking their housings. The benefits are that the heat is more evenly distributed and it's much FASTER!

I am by no means expert on this but I opened my lights 2 times in 1 day with a heat gun and I still cant see how are you going to bake anything with that approach. The risk you are running in when you "bake" them is that the even distribution of heat will also get to the rest of the parts inside. Again not an expert by any means ...

[Audacious]

I have a heat gun... I've often heard of people baking their housings. The benefits are that the heat is more evenly distributed and it's much FASTER!

It's not faster, it's not easier, and there's more that can go wrong.

The heat gun method is tried and true, go for that.

[APedicelli]

Alright guys so I have been debating doing this for a while now, spoke to a couple fellow members as I wasnt sure if I wanted to do this DIY style..Got a couple quotes from some people to get it done from..And this morning I woke up in one of those moods that I just had to mod something on the S4! So here I am now in mid process of doing them myself..

Went to the car this morning (as it is in storage) pulled out the lights in under 20 min..
Came back home and started..

Just so everyine knows this is the first time I have ever attempted to do something like this..

Using the heat gun method I pulled off both of the front lenses in about 30 minutes..

Pulled off the amber reflectors.. Note to anyone doing this it is very important to take your time to take the amber reflectors off as they seem very easy to break..

I have chosen to paint my reflectors glossy black. Reason being that I dont like the idea of having vinyl inside my sealed headlight that might later down the line start to peel off.

So now everything is in the garage drying.. Will let it dry for about 2 hours before starting the re assembly process..

Will post pictures when the lights are re assembled and done..

Just thought id share my experience with everyone!!

Excited to see the final product :)

[Audacious]

Very nice! Would love to see pictures on a sprint blue.

[APedicelli]

So I finally finished today and here is what I got..

After installing the lights on to the car I realized I did not clean one of the interior lenses properly so I have to pull them back out and clean the housing again..

Also when pulling them off a second time can anyone recommend a sealant I can add extra to the already stock sealant?

Hope you like it

[STA4]

So I finally finished today and here is what I got..

After installing the lights on to the car I realized I did not clean one of the interior lenses properly so I have to pull them back out and clean the housing again..

Also when pulling them off a second time can anyone recommend a sealant I can add extra to the already stock sealant?

Hope you like it

Looks great. Inspiring. Did you heat up the sealant when you reassembled?

[EuroCK]

Would plastic dip work on the reflectors?

[Highlander1010]

I also want to replace my blinker bulb (orange stock) with a clear bulb that blinks orange inside the headlight as that bothers me a ton from straight on at the car (you can see the orange in the reflective housing behind the LED strip). Has anyone done this? Do you know the PN?

[bobhew]

Any shops do this in the tristate area?

[Calbee]

anyone got a list of all the tools i would need to attempt this?

[jbradle7]

The main screws on the car are T30 and then you'll need the heat-gun, but otherwise nothing special that I recall. I had a little bit of a time removing my reflector, but if you have a small screw driver / tiny pry tool or pick set, you should be ok.

[Calbee]

The main screws on the car are T30 and then you'll need the heat-gun, but otherwise nothing special that I recall. I had a little bit of a time removing my reflector, but if you have a small screw driver / tiny pry tool or pick set, you should be ok.

Thanks so much for the info man, appreciate it!

im guessing gloss black is the best choice? cf looks pretty nice too actually.. cant decide!

[jbradle7]

The main screws on the car are T30 and then you'll need the heat-gun, but otherwise nothing special that I recall. I had a little bit of a time removing my reflector, but if you have a small screw driver / tiny pry tool or pick set, you should be ok.

I finally got around to removing my old halogens this morning and wanted to give you an update. I needed to use a T30 socket bit w/ a universal joint and extension to reach the rear outboard mount screws; they are partially blocked by the airbox on one side and an AC line on the other so a regular T30 screw driver may not fit.

[yeukyeung100]

Calbee and I are both doing it this weekend. We need some suggestions.

What vinyl on the reflector should we do on our cars? Calbee (White) and Mine (Black)

1) Gloss Black
2) Matte Black
3) 3D Carbon Fiber
4) Plasti Dip Black
5) Plasti Dip Smoke

I have all of these in my house... so it is just the matter of what looks good with what color of b8's

[bsully1850]

I say gloss black on both. Maybe Matte on Calbee's

[Calbee]

heres how mine will look like. will be getting the gloss black rs grill soon too

im leaning towards the gloss black

[Calbee]

Anyone know how to take off the chrome ring around the projector.?

[jbradle7]

OMG... what have you done. JK, but seriously what are you up to?

To get that ring off you need to remove the reflector, chrome eye-brow accent, black cover behind the DRL, and DRL first to allow access to all the screws (3) holding the projector cover to the housing. My Flickr account has a bunch of pictures which may help too. Good luck!

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...embly-Question

[jbradle7]

Anyone know how to take off the chrome ring around the projector.?

Or are you talking about the chrome ring on the projector itself (not the projector cover which has a chrome ring)... that ring snaps off, but you have to do just as much dis-assembly, if not more, to get to that?

-EDIT-

Never mind, just realized the ring on the projector itself is gloss black

[Calbee]

thanks for the help guys. after a long day, we finally finished two sets!!

will post pics in the morning

Thanks so much for the guide, and thanks yeuk!

[Greg Nelson]

after a long day, we finally finished two sets!!
will post pics in the morning

Looking forward to the pics and hopefully a DIY, as I'd like to paint the chrome inside the housings Quartz Grey to match rest of my exterior trim

[Calbee]

Looking forward to the pics and hopefully a DIY, as I'd like to paint the chrome inside the housings Quartz Grey to match rest of my exterior trim

No DIY unfortunately. the best DIY really is this one! its easy but time consuming! heating the sealant is really boring and feels like a lifetime

got two quick pics from yesterday and today.

Yeuk did his headlight projectors in a gloss black

[ReUhssurance]

Very nice! Did you use matte or gloss?

[Audacious]

No DIY unfortunately. the best DIY really is this one! its easy but time consuming! heating the sealant is really boring and feels like a lifetime

got two quick pics from yesterday and today.

Yeuk did his headlight projectors in a gloss black

Congrats man! I like the chrome a lot better. Have you washed it yet?

[MilesM]

Personally for all headlight components I'd go with gloss instead of matte. You lose detail with matte and detail is what makes these headlights beautiful.

[Calbee]

Very nice! Did you use matte or gloss?

gloss black !

Congrats man! I like the chrome a lot better. Have you washed it yet?

haha thanks man. sorry for not finding you for business, but since my friend wanted to attempt this, it was much less of a hassle than shipping it around! i haven't washed it yet, but why? what do you mean wash..

Personally for all headlight components I'd go with gloss instead of matte. You lose detail with matte and detail is what makes these headlights beautiful.

yea haha i just saw the gloss on yours and others and figured i cant go wrong with it


anythings better than the orange, really

[Audacious]

haha thanks man. sorry for not finding you for business, but since my friend wanted to attempt this, it was much less of a hassle than shipping it around! i haven't washed it yet, but why? what do you mean wash..

no problem, I'm glad you did it yourself, less pressure on me to make it perfect

I meant wash the car, and check if any condensation occurs in the lights.