Fourteen, You are of course right on with the safety issue but this forum has a lot of members that put emotion ahead of logic. Peer pressure causes every generation to do some pretty dumb looking things for us elders to get worked up about. Your posts show you are no teenager and I appreciate your points of view and method of expression. thnx! I am very curious about the tint. Is it a real tint or is it opaque? I could see spraying a non-opaque tint around the edges, leaving the center of the light more functional. A decent compromise that might even be fairly legal if a good-sized portion of the bulb area is left uncovered?

 

You would think it would be time change the sn to magdon, or magnumdon, or hemidon, but it don't roll off the tongue (atleast to me) as readily as bmwdon. But back on subject, most aftermarket mods, whether bought or improvised aren't typically improving "safety", it could be argued that window tinting, whether factory of aftermarket effects the drivers view, or the officers ability to see if the guy he's walking up on is going to shoot him; lowering springs could be unsafe on any car let alone a long and already relatively low car, headers back exhaust with sport cats is probably a noise ordinance issue, as well as being more polluting than when it came from the factory.

My arguement is this, if you tint the rear blinkers or brake lenses, it decreases it's effect, and if you do it too damn much, you're defeating the whole point to having them, AND if you like to put brighter bulbs in your headlamp assembly, and the reflective area isn't made to fit that, you could as be throwing off too damn much light, even if you think that they are pointed at the ground and still managing to blind on coming traffic, whether you realize it or not. Hell yea I like to see more, loved the BMW Xenon bulbs, but I KNOW those things are bright as all hell and most people will flash you when you have your lows on and you know the damn things are set to the "proper" height because not only did I check, but when you take it for the vehicle inspection, they check for level there too.

So nobody is a saint here....I think Fourteen is on a mighty high horse to be berating folks for one mod when I (and other drivers too) see his preference in mods as hazardous as well

 

to answer the original post, sand em with 400 grit, overspray em with black (or the color of choice) until they look the way ya want em to look then clear coat em.
Heres how mine tuned out:


I also ran a strip of vinyl striping along the top and bottom of my 3rd brake light to give it a slim LED bar kinda look.
You'll notice I did the same with my foglights.
I love the stealthy look.
Visibility is no prob.

 

That looks clean. How much was the hood?

 

about $1,700 after shipping, prepping and painting.
I've noticed a good increase in performance and I think it looks cool.

 

It looks damn good. Now for the reality of it being a daily driver, you claim -- visibility is no prob. Yeah, for you driving the car. But the safety issue is for other vehicles seeing you. In that case, unless you modded the lights for greater illumination then visibility is a big problem.

Want to do it right (not saying you didn't, but I doubt it or you would have show pics with the lights on too) -- then you need to improve the light output so that the lights penetrate that blacked out look. If you don't output at least stock illumination through blackout tails, then your mod isn't complete, and is definitely a safety hazard.

 

so no one's close to Atlanta? The guys willing to give a free set just to use your car to make measurements.......

 

I would worry about an 80/100 bulb due to the increase in wiring heat.

"Who!! Me worry!!??!!" Each 2 light High/Low circuit is protected with a 30 Amp fuse which is good for 360 Watts (30A X 12V). OEM bulbs are 51W Low + 60W High = 111 Watts. My Xenon Opti Blue bulbs are 80W Low + 100W High = 180 Watts, which is 62% more wattage than OEM, but only 1/2 the rated wattage for that headlight circuit!!
It is like going from a 60W bulb to a 100W bulb at home, regardless of what color it is, it is a lot brighter, but there little chance that the change will trip a circuit breaker, or burn down your house!!!



Viper hi-beams, although you can bet I didn't pay the $130.

I paid $16.48 for all 4 Xenon Opti Blue bulbs! I just changed one side, then compared. BIG difference! Walked down the road to check. YES!!, although lots of light on the road surface, the Low reflector cutoff prevented any dazzle upward! I have not had a single oncoming car flash their lights in protest!! The Lows light the road surface, then the Highs light up the ditches, trees, road signs, etc, far and wide!! Vast improvement!! Reflectors show large cool blue color during the daytime!!

 

where'd ya get em?
I bet they look sweet.

 

Grinner, NICEly done!!! Gorgeous! Now picture it w/o the rear wiper.