what experience have people had with tinted headlight film (pretty cheap on ebay, supposedly custom cut to fit). i ordered some, but haven't had them put on yet. they look like they are cut reasonably accurate, and claim to be easily removable.

also, what's the situation with the law and tinted lights in california? i checke dthe DMV vehicle code but couldn't find any specific references to tinting lights.

thanks,alan

black 2000 C2 cab

 

here are some pics of mine...I used the BLUE...and I was trying to emulate the coolness of the GMG cars! haahaha....yeah those guys use the blue on all their silver cars.

anyways...regarding the law here in CA...you can ONLY use YELLOW film on your headlights legally. Everything else is ILLEGAL. no Blue or Red...etc...so I am taking a chance everytime I take it out. But...so far no hassles and I dont have a front plate. YELLOW you are good...but any other color you are pretty much breaking the law.

 

Wow looking very nice! Anyone have a black car with black covers???

 

Looks cool...Gives the litronic clarity look...

Where did you get them? Precut? Price?

 

I got a little discount from a fellow 6 speeder here...but the prices are pretty average across the board for GOOD ones. These are the 3M ones...and are pre cut. Look to pau around $75-$80 for them. Any cheaper and I would not trust it.

The film is really thick and high quality. But...lets face it..it is a poser mod. The film will diminish your light a little. I have factory xenons and the blue still dulls it a tad. But I personally like the look and makes my car stand out a little...during the day. At night...you cannot tell at all. So no worries about cops at night..its during the day I could get busted.

 

i dont see why they would bust you during the day if your lights are not even on...
for all you care you can spraypaint them black, or take them out, you dont need them during the day, night is another thing

 

You need to live in California to know for a fact that you have to have lights front and back in working order day or night. Plus we have a lot of safety areas where you 'must' have lights on to drive on the road.

Yep it's the law here like front license plates, wiper arms/blades etc. All it takes is for you to get pulled over for 1 thing and then they will go over the entire car looking for everything.

So having no lights or blacked out ones will get much attention.

I like AsianImage lights except I would have done the corner light too, looks in-complete IMHO.

I have a small roll of the Blue also, not pre-cut, but I have not decided to do my lights yet. Not sure how that will look with Yellow. I did think of the Yellow but chose Blue. I currently have Clear on my lights as part of the 3M bra application.

 

You guys with tints on the lights stand a good chance on over heating the light assemblies and could melt them or distort the fixtures

 

Are you saying that any film will cause what you are stating will happen, or specifically 'tinted' film? If just tinted, can you explain your theory behind your claim specifically the length of time it will take for the problems to occur (taking in consideration: outside temperature, tint colour, percentage of light blocked/or let in, bulbs used, etc.)?

Sorry for sounding like this, but I have heard this comment made several times before and yet I have not seen any proof that this occurs. Plus yellow is used for headlights a lot in Europe etc. and so wouldn't it be a problem for all cars using non-clear lenses?

So I am looking for clarification and actual proof, thanks.

 

The proof is in the owner's manual at least in my Porsche owner's manual under the "Replacing light bulbs" It's right under the "Warnig!"

 

Found it..thanks for pointing it out, I found it under 'Caution' on page 164 of my '99 manaul..

The key words here are 'could result'. Plus it states 'in the area of the headlights', what area? Is putting film on the outside cover in that area they are talking about, even though the bulbs sit way back behind a glass shield?

Because of those words, using films or higher bulbs is at the risk of the owner. I bet there are thousands of owners with film on there headlight covers and higher watt bulbs and not just on Porsche's, I bet those other cars also have warnings. I saw a set of yellow covers on a Porsche last weekend, yes the headlights came with yellow plastic covers just like the factory, just more to add to the 'what area'.

Personally I do not believe having film of any colour on the outside of the headlight assembly will cause any problems at all. Of course I use common sense and will not put a 'black' film on the headlights, of course that would create more heat inside the headlight area when the lights are on. The blue and yellow films are see through and only give a hint of the colour, they are not solid. I also will not put it high watt bulbs because again that will cause more heat.

I think using common sense when doing this sought of thing is required, but the warning/caution in this area is designed for those that need extra assistance, IMHO.

 

Well..I have had my covers on for a couple months easy and no problems whatsoever.

Plus the race cars that use the headlight tints in racing use them all the time with light on...and no problems. Here is my rationale....the headlights in my 2001 are pretty much PLASTIC...if my headlights were to get HOT ENOUGH to melt the 3M plastic film OVER my headlights..wouldnt that stand to mean my headlights would MELT MY OEM HEADLIGHTS COVER FIRST? Right...?? If the light gets hot enough to melt this tinted piece of 3M plastic...I would think the plastic oem assembly itself would melt too.

Now if you placed a plastic film INSIDE the assembly...then that may melt...but I highly doubt my headlight film would melt under normal use. But..hey...YMMV.

As for the little corner piece...since it was the washer module, I didnt want to mess with the cover it and left it off. I have seen some pics where other did not cover the little triangle either.

 

I hope you understand that I am in total agreement with you in regards to tinting the headlight covers.

After a closer look I see your washer module, don't have them so I was not sure why you left it un-tinted, but now I know.

So what is your thought about blue film on my car being that it is yellow?

 

Hey Speedemon...

You know that is hard to say,...the blue may look totally wacky or look really cool. I am thinking if you used yellow...it may be TOO yellow.

See I was lucky..I knew how it was gonna look before I did it...like I said I copied the GMG cars. They always use blue on the silver cars. If you have the film lying around and its not going to cost you...maybe just do it...and see. or maybe do a image search of the Porsche Cup cars etc...and see what the factory race cars that are yellow use. I seem to remember they do use yellow...and maybe do use blue...soo...sorry I am not much help...I am sure there are pics of Porsche race cars in yellow with headlight tint on them...take a look and see if they look good.

Maybe a light smoke would look cool? Since you have the blacked out wheels...maybe a smoked headlight would really look evil! Just thinking outloud! Good luck!

 

oh..... if you say so.