[Dapiro]

Hey guys.

My car hasn't arrived yet but i'm thinking about tinting the tail lights. The car is black sapphire. How dark would you go?
Also thinking of black grille and rims.
Wondering if the chrome 'bar' across the trunk could be made black along with the 'GT' and '535i' emblems?
Lemme know what you think. Thanks.

[jadnashuanh]

While blacking out trim and things is a visual, personal style thing, reducing the intensity of the tail/brake lights is a safety issue...personally, I think people who do that are foolish. I want mine to be as bright and conspicuous as possible.

[Dapiro]

Good point. Noted

[TheBlackGT]

Originally Posted by jadnashuanh

While blacking out trim and things is a visual, personal style thing, reducing the intensity of the tail/brake lights is a safety issue...personally, I think people who do that are foolish. I want mine to be as bright and conspicuous as possible.

I feel insulted... LOL

No one should ever fully black out their tails, but you can smoke them.

I tinted mine medium smoke, as well as blacked out the badges and rear strip with Plastidip, an mine turned out quite good (I have Black Sapphire as well)

http://f10.5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=881381


XO Miami Photoshoot by dinan_gt, on Flickr

[jadnashuanh]

There are federal requirements most places (realize that there's more than just USA folks here) that govern the brightness of any light on a vehicle...I do not know how close to the minimum BMW's lights are, but they spend a lot of time and research trying to make the car safer. Blacking out trim is one thing, but decreasing the functionality of lighting is another. I'm all about making myself more visible, not less so on the roadways, and one way I did that was to retrofit the European headlight switch to get the rear fog lights to work (they're already there, just can't turn them on without the right switch).

While I see the occasional darkened, or blacked, smoked rear brake/turn/running lights, I also note that in some daylight lighting conditions, you have to look twice to see if they're actually on, or they've hit the brakes...this is the LAST thing you want. IMHO, leave them alone! You want them to blare out there so even an inattentive driver sees them. Dimming them is the last thing you should do if you care about safety. Looks be damned!

[TheBlackGT]

Originally Posted by jadnashuanh

There are federal requirements most places (realize that there's more than just USA folks here) that govern the brightness of any light on a vehicle...I do not know how close to the minimum BMW's lights are, but they spend a lot of time and research trying to make the car safer. Blacking out trim is one thing, but decreasing the functionality of lighting is another. I'm all about making myself more visible, not less so on the roadways, and one way I did that was to retrofit the European headlight switch to get the rear fog lights to work (they're already there, just can't turn them on without the right switch).

While I see the occasional darkened, or blacked, smoked rear brake/turn/running lights, I also note that in some daylight lighting conditions, you have to look twice to see if they're actually on, or they've hit the brakes...this is the LAST thing you want. IMHO, leave them alone! You want them to blare out there so even an inattentive driver sees them. Dimming them is the last thing you should do if you care about safety. Looks be damned!

Calm down lol. Like many have said before, beauty is pain.

Also, tints are not Dangerous at all if done properly. Light smoke tint film has 95% light transmission, so it's not like you can't see the brake lights come on.

Plus, painting the tails is another option. Even if painted very dark, the transmission is pretty much 100%, so no worries.

Looks shall never be damned, why do you think we own Bimmers?

[Dapiro]

Thanks guys. I understand your position jadnashuanh. I asked the question coz I was thinking about (1) the safety and (2) the looks.

Dinan, that car is sweeeeeeeeeeet! Not sure about the red and black roundel but I love what you did to that car. I think I'll go medium smoke as well. Was it difficult to remove/ replace the chrome trim in order to plastidip them?

Thanks guys.

[TheBlackGT]

Originally Posted by Dapiro

Thanks guys. I understand your position jadnashuanh. I asked the question coz I was thinking about (1) the safety and (2) the looks.

Dinan, that car is sweeeeeeeeeeet! Not sure about the red and black roundel but I love what you did to that car. I think I'll go medium smoke as well. Was it difficult to remove/ replace the chrome trim in order to plastidip them?

Thanks guys.

Thank you. And many do not like the roundel, I think it suits my color combo throughout the car.

Anyways, I did not remove anything for plastidipping. I just taped around the chrome strip (left a 1" distance from it), applied 5-6 coats (5-10 minutes between each to dry), and peeled off the excess, which cuts perfectly. Same thing for the badges (left a 1/2" distance though), and used a q-tip to gently remove the Plastidip inside the letters (0 for example).

Good luck.

[jadnashuanh]

FWIW, I tried to read through part of the US federal lighting regs...it appears that there's a pretty big variation between the min/max values for tail lights and brake lamps. Maybe an easier determination is that the tail lights need to be plainly visible at 300' in full sunlight (from the lighting, not the reflections), and at night, 1,000' (this is, I think, not the brake lights, which would likely be visible much further since they are required to have more candlepower). So, you can do a quick assessment of what you've done to verify it still meets US federal codes. I've been right behind some people with blacked out lights, and had a hard time they had their brake lights on in the daylight...really stupid. Obviously, there are ranges of blackout, and this may not apply to what you've done.

As I said, BMW spends lots of engineering time to making the vehicle as safe as it can be, and dimming your lights intentionally, just doesn't make sense to me.

It's my experience that the brighter the lights, the more attention they get, and the quicker it triggers the person behind, the safer you and they are...reaction times are critical, and with people texting, and distracted...brighter is better.

[Dapiro]

Point v. Counterpoint. Thanks to both of you for the insight.

[TheBlackGT]

Originally Posted by jadnashuanh

FWIW, I tried to read through part of the US federal lighting regs...it appears that there's a pretty big variation between the min/max values for tail lights and brake lamps. Maybe an easier determination is that the tail lights need to be plainly visible at 300' in full sunlight (from the lighting, not the reflections), and at night, 1,000' (this is, I think, not the brake lights, which would likely be visible much further since they are required to have more candlepower). So, you can do a quick assessment of what you've done to verify it still meets US federal codes. I've been right behind some people with blacked out lights, and had a hard time they had their brake lights on in the daylight...really stupid. Obviously, there are ranges of blackout, and this may not apply to what you've done.

As I said, BMW spends lots of engineering time to making the vehicle as safe as it can be, and dimming your lights intentionally, just doesn't make sense to me.

It's my experience that the brighter the lights, the more attention they get, and the quicker it triggers the person behind, the safer you and they are...reaction times are critical, and with people texting, and distracted...brighter is better.

It's not like anyone's commiting a crime LOL

Seriously though, I've seen people who tint their headlights fully black as if it was painted, but the minute the brake lights come on it's just as if they were stock.

People who smoke their lights aren't stupid, it's for style, and most quality tints are designed to have more than 90% light transmission (some even 100%), so it doesn't make a difference whether you have tint or not, because the brake lights will always be of the same brightness. Just make sure it's a good tint, like Lamin-X, where they protect your lights.

[jadnashuanh]

Well, Texas vehicle code prohibits tinting lights, but I'm not sure they enforce it (been a long time since I lived there!). I'm sure they are not the only state. Without a lumiscope to measure the light intensity, and the knowledge to use it, my educated guess is that any tint, regardless, will decrease the visibility of the lights. SOme of the vehicle codes weasel word it such that you cannot decrease what came from the factory, regardless of the overall intensity (but it must fall within the federal min/max for the light function). Again, most places don't enforce it like going 60 in a 55mph zone, but it's still the law.

[TheBlackGT]

Originally Posted by jadnashuanh

Well, Texas vehicle code prohibits tinting lights, but I'm not sure they enforce it (been a long time since I lived there!). I'm sure they are not the only state. Without a lumiscope to measure the light intensity, and the knowledge to use it, my educated guess is that any tint, regardless, will decrease the visibility of the lights. SOme of the vehicle codes weasel word it such that you cannot decrease what came from the factory, regardless of the overall intensity (but it must fall within the federal min/max for the light function). Again, most places don't enforce it like going 60 in a 55mph zone, but it's still the law.

Well Dapiro lives in Jamaica, I highly doubt their care about tinted tails there.

[Dapiro]

Lol. I don't know if it's an offence here, actually. i've seen many dark tail lights here. What's an issue for me is those North american market vehicles that have red indicators. They are sometimes hard to pick up in the bright 90 degree sunlight.

[jadnashuanh]

FWIW, in looking over some of the US federal vehicle lighting laws, I came across one thing that could come back to bite you - unless the vehicle came with LED exterior lights from the factory, any aftermarket replacement bulb is required to have a DOT stamp/marking on it to be legal, and could be a cause for a failed inspection. Doesn't apply to interior lighting, only exterior. I've not seen too many of the aftermarket LED replacement bulbs, but do not remember seeing any with a DOT marking on it - I could easily have missed it, but something to consider.

Again, this does not apply to interior lighting, only exterior.