DIY Blacked Out Headlights

[chetrickerman]

Here is a before and after

[4everkidd]

Originally Posted by chetrickerman

Here is a before and after

Well done! Looks great

[BMSe92]

So I decided to give it a run and you were right... major PITA! But, came out looking great. Much more involved than I thought it would be.

Anyone else trying it, one recommendation I can make is... you have to remove the front bumper to remove the headlights. The bottom torx bolts are held in with alignment nuts. The nut is supposed to be held with a retainer so that it doesn’t spin but it’s a crap design.

The bolts are red loc-tight’d from the factory so as soon as you put force on it, it bends the retainer and just spins. Before attempting to back the bolts out, get a soldering iron, hold it to the back of the bolt where it threads through the nut. This will heat up the loctite and you’ll be able to back it out with a ratchet.

[F10toF80]

Anyone try simply cutting off the original lens and just replacing it with a new lens upon reinstall? I’ve been toying with the idea of sending my headlights to oneighty, bayoptiks, modemporium but most will charge you an extra $300 for a new lens. Sounds like all they may be doing (to make the job much easier) is cutting off the original lens. Knowing this, it makes it a little more challenging for me to swallow a $1600USD charge when a new lens is only $300 then DIY’ing the blackout process

[Rantlers]

Done a lot of mods since lockdown, however this was by far the most time intensive. Very happy with the results, though!

[TrueLoyaltyInc]

Originally Posted by Rantlers

Done a lot of mods since lockdown, however this was by far the most time intensive. Very happy with the results, though!

Looks clean I need this done so bad!

[Amina2511]

looks great!! Good job ! U need alot of patience for sure.i got my austin yelllow m3 last year and love the color especially in certain lighting looks amazing.i live in calgary and drove up to edm to buy it few days ago i got a light tint..looks not bad..ofcourse not as good as ures .

im planing to change my tail lights to lci ones.my project.looks easy to do and just gota do coding after so many projects for my car but no money i got a question for u about the side delete reflectors on front and rear bumper?did u order from ind company or u bought paint and did it ure self?it seemed abit pricey with exchange rate and shipping so i bought paint and etc and gona do the reflectors my self.i did autobody work before so im guessing i can handle it 👌

I decided to drive it only in summer and get a crappy car for winter.
How do u find driving it in snow or icy roads? What about salt and sand on roads?wont it ruin the paint at some point?altho i have 3m wrap im still worried
Here some pics of tinted headlights..150$ not bad

[Tommy L Garage]

Originally Posted by Amina2511

looks great!! Good job ! U need alot of patience for sure.i got my austin yelllow m3 last year and love the color especially in certain lighting looks amazing.i live in calgary and drove up to edm to buy it few days ago i got a light tint..looks not bad..ofcourse not as good as ures .

im planing to change my tail lights to lci ones.my project.looks easy to do and just gota do coding after so many projects for my car but no money i got a question for u about the side delete reflectors on front and rear bumper?did u order from ind company or u bought paint and did it ure self?it seemed abit pricey with exchange rate and shipping so i bought paint and etc and gona do the reflectors my self.i did autobody work before so im guessing i can handle it 👌

I decided to drive it only in summer and get a crappy car for winter.
How do u find driving it in snow or icy roads? What about salt and sand on roads?wont it ruin the paint at some point?altho i have 3m wrap im still worried
Here some pics of tinted headlights..i havent had time to take good pics and also its been raining/cloudy since i got the tint

It drives amazing in the snow with a proper set of winter tires

[Crazy Penguin]

Originally Posted by F10toF80

Anyone try simply cutting off the original lens and just replacing it with a new lens upon reinstall? I’ve been toying with the idea of sending my headlights to oneighty, bayoptiks, modemporium but most will charge you an extra $300 for a new lens. Sounds like all they may be doing (to make the job much easier) is cutting off the original lens. Knowing this, it makes it a little more challenging for me to swallow a $1600USD charge when a new lens is only $300 then DIY’ing the blackout process

The lenses cost $289 a pair shipped
So wow. $11 to install lol.

[Amina2511]

Originally Posted by Tommy L Garage

It drives amazing in the snow with a proper set of winter tires

Originally Posted by Tommy L Garage

It drives amazing in the snow with a proper set of winter tires
[img] https://i.ibb.co/0JvY0mX/DC456222-8-...-EE9-D7-CD.jpg[/img]

I just realized I'm following u on YouTube and love all ure modification videos 👌

[Gimlitehdwarf]

Looks amazing!

[18BMWX5M]

Some before and after shots of mine.

[Gimlitehdwarf]

This looks amazing! My only problem is this is my daily so I cant have it down for 3 days...

[18BMWX5M]

Originally Posted by Gimlitehdwarf

This looks amazing! My only problem is this is my daily so I cant have it down for 3 days...

Mine was down for a week because of painting and such.

[Gimlitehdwarf]

Originally Posted by 18BMWX5M

Mine was down for a week because of painting and such.

So I should buy an X5M first huh?

[18BMWX5M]

Originally Posted by Gimlitehdwarf

So I should buy an X5M first huh?

Lol I mean that's exactly what I did 😂😂😂 X5M then the M4.

[DocJoon]

Originally Posted by 18BMWX5M

Some before and after shots of mine.

Looks amazing. Can you share what parts used to get those fancy looking angel lights.

[locolok]

Originally Posted by Rantlers

Done a lot of mods since lockdown, however this was by far the most time intensive. Very happy with the results, though!

Hi!

How do the turning lights look once the reflector is painted?

[TheOppolite]

Thats very nice

[tauzins]

Originally Posted by 4everkidd

This is a double post from the Canada forum but I figured the greater audience might appreciate it. I mean it's no "handbrake install DIY" :

I have been toying with the idea of shipping my headlights away to lightwerkz, Bavgruppe, or OneEighty for months. Never interested in changing the halos, just blacking out the internals.

The prices, down time, shipping risks, lack of communication etc.were all too much to swallow so I decided to tackle the "perma-seal" myself. I would have taken them to a local retrofitter but the shops in my area are useless.

This is not a new task for me, I have done several sets of Audi, Lexus, and Mercedes headlights however it will be the first set of F8X lights.

I will post progress here and plan on filming the breakdown of the second headlight and timelapsing the video

Removing headlights 1.5 hours

Time for the first headlight so far

Removing ballasts and clips 0.5 hours

Separating headlights 1.5 hours (including baking)

Breaking down internals 1 hour

Removing Chrome 1 hour

Removing perma-seal 2 hours (I had a helper)

Painting Internals 2 hours
- automotive grade black primer 3 coats
- VHT Black Pearl Engine Metallic 4 coats

Days curing 3 + 3 x 20 minute heat cycles.

Morimoto retro butyl 10 mins

I haven't baked and re-installed the lens yet but there were definite efficiencies from the first to second headlight.

when you took this apart, do you remember if there is any way to replace the LED boards for the angel eyes? like with another color?

[J_Spool]

Originally Posted by 18BMWX5M

Some before and after shots of mine.

Mind me asking where you got the “X’s” did you install yourself?

[chuloM3]

Originally Posted by 4everkidd

Finished product.

I do 95% of my mods by myself, but this job was definitely a giant pain in the ass if you want it done right... That being said I'm extremely happy with the outcome

what did you use to take them apart and also what glue did you use to re-glue them together?