Orange Corner Light Delete?

[tglazed]

I am new to the forums but have done plenty of searching on this topic. I am not interested in the bimmian cover ups and I am not about to spend a bunch of money on Euro headlights. I found one thread where he removed the orange reflector but then he never made a DIY. Has anyone split the e82 135i headlights open and painted the reflector body colored and if so pictures please.

[DrTom]

I just opened one up this morning. I was about to post a thread to see how much interest there would be in purchasing clear reflective lenses.



I would make a set of these pieces but completely clear instead of the yellow. They would be reflective still just not yellow. They would attach like OEM but would require you to open the headlight to install. I was thinking $50 a set shipped?

Only thing I wonder is how many people are willing to open their headlights to install them?

[tglazed]

How hard were they to open up and did you bake them or use a heat gun. Also does that orange pop off the clear plastic or is it all one piece. I would definitely buy a pair for 50$

[cheshirecat79]

^ similar question to above- how did you open the light?

[DrTom]

heat in the oven. It was a real PITA. I bought a headlight to play around with. The orange piece does not pop off and unfortunately theres no yellow film that can be peeled off. I'm making a clear one now, I'll take pictures in a day or two when it's done and see what you guys think. I can post a DIY for opening up the headlights when I get some free time and another headlight to take apart.

[fastdrivingjr]

FROM PRIOR EXPERIENCE i dont recommend baking but, if you dont want to risk headlight getting screwed up use a heat gun.. take your time with an expensive headlight. Im getting ready to pop mine open to do custom angel eyes..

But no body knows what the freaking diameters are for angel eyes.. so im giving it another month to start this

[fastdrivingjr]

BUT i do think you should find colored chrome tint like black chrome or white or blue.. and just tint that portion and stick it back in.. SHOULD LOOK COOL

[SfValley335i]

Originally Posted by DrTom

I just opened one up this morning. I was about to post a thread to see how much interest there would be in purchasing clear reflective lenses.



I would make a set of these pieces but completely clear instead of the yellow. They would be reflective still just not yellow. They would attach like OEM but would require you to open the headlight to install. I was thinking $50 a set shipped?

Only thing I wonder is how many people are willing to open their headlights to install them?

Buy an extra headlight or sell the one you're currently working on... Id buy complete headlights and send you mine as a core...

[New21er]

You could just "code" out the ambers.

[DrTom]

Originally Posted by fastdrivingjr

FROM PRIOR EXPERIENCE i dont recommend baking but, if you dont want to risk headlight getting screwed up use a heat gun.. take your time with an expensive headlight. Im getting ready to pop mine open to do custom angel eyes..

But no body knows what the freaking diameters are for angel eyes.. so im giving it another month to start this

120mm and 100mm OD

[tglazed]

I'm thinking maybe cutting some body colored vinyl to cover the orange but I will wait to see these clear pieces. Very interested how it will look.

[DrTom]

They'll look good the problem is opening up and resealing the headlight. It's a real pain and I'm not sure how easy it will be to reseal them. Definitely not the same as the headlights on the MKIV supra I'm used to.

[tglazed]

Keep us updated on those corner lights Tom.

[MightyMouseTech]

How about pulling the lenses out of a set of Euro headlights? Maybe find a set that are damaged for cheap. Likely the reflector inside will still be OK?

Any pics of what the headlight looks like without the reflector? Maybe just leave it out.

[Fifty3bags]

I'll be watching this. I eventually want to put a new set of halo rings in mine. If you can get in there you can customize them yourself like ONEighty and OSS does. Also, what was the price for the spare headlight that you took apart?

I would definitely like to see a write-up on how to take them apart/seal them.

[MDecals]

We do offer amber overlays if you want to avoid risking damage to your headlight

[DrTom]

My thought was that with the headlight apart, I would make all new clear lenses, paint the grey valence either flat black or wrap it in some kind of vinyl, and use COB LED rings for the angel eyes (they will look WAY better than anything on the market currently). Thing is I know why people havent done this already, and it's because those headlights are really tough to get apart without breaking them. The set I bought was already broken (tabs broken off and small lens crack). The other problem is they're not cheap to replace if you break them or can't reseal them. I'll take pictures and offer clear lenses to people if they want them but I dont think I'm willing to install them for anyone. I would need lots more practice opening them up before feeling comfortable enough to offer the service to other people.

[tglazed]

Let me know when you have pics of the clear lense installed. Just throw them up on this thread

[jkoral]

Originally Posted by DrTom

Only thing I wonder is how many people are willing to open their headlights to install them?

Can't speak for others, but that is a deal killer for me.

Reminds me of all the folks who have ruined their headlights by not sealing the cap properly and moisture got in after angel eye replacement.

Seems like sealing would be even more crucial when putting the light back together.

[css008]

Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech

How about pulling the lenses out of a set of Euro headlights? Maybe find a set that are damaged for cheap. Likely the reflector inside will still be OK?

I like the idea of trying to find a damaged set and pulling the reflector out of it. Anyone know a site that sells damaged bmw parts? (I'm assuming it has to be a european site, since we want the euro reflector)

[tglazed]

Why find a set of those if tom can just make them?

[DrTom]

Originally Posted by tglazed

Why find a set of those if tom can just make them?

Ran out of molding material, gotta wait for more to come in. Atlanta is frozen too which isn't helping. I'm thinking within a week or two I should have a picture to show you guys.