black hella tail lights

[schnell944]

hey all,
I was wonderingn how to go about getting some black hella tail lights for my '90 535i as seen on this page http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/upgrade/Body.htm . my car is black and i think they would add a nice touch to it. willing to buy a used set off someone who no longer wants them. also, would be greatful to hear opinions of anyone who has put them on their own car or seen them on another.

[Jon K]

http://e34.digital7.com/Cars/smoked5.jpg


sister has them on her car

[schnell944]

http://e34.digital7.com/Cars/smoked5.jpg


sister has them on her car

in my opinion, that looks great!

[jjw]

I have a set put on my white car. They look grayish on a black car. But still looks great. They are hard to find. You can try BMP if they still carry it. The place I bought mine from went out of business, and I have called many place. The kit should come with add on rear fog light and reflectors. You can see it at http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jjw168/my_photos in "car" folder

http://us.f3.yahoofs.com/users/41c2b254zeac44dd1/f568/__sr_/f080.jpg?phFVDUCBJ9iB7PtG

[schnell944]

BMP doesnt appear to sell them anymore...

[everest]

Not sure about the price, but what about here:

http://www.bekkers.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=2VP005553&Category_Code=btlight5e34

[granit_silber]

I have a set put on my white car. They look grayish on a black car. But still looks great. They are hard to find. You can try BMP if they still carry it. The place I bought mine from went out of business, and I have called many place. The kit should come with add on rear fog light and reflectors. You can see it at http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jjw168/my_photos in "car" folder

http://us.f3.yahoofs.com/users/41c2b254zeac44dd1/f568/__sr_/f080.jpg?phFVDUCBJ9iB7PtG

Did your 540 come with the "City Lights" (parking lights in the headlamps), or did you install those yourself? Any info?
-ashley

[granit_silber]

hey all,
I was wonderingn how to go about getting some black hella tail lights for my '90 535i as seen on this page http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/upgrade/Body.htm . my car is black and i think they would add a nice touch to it. willing to buy a used set off someone who no longer wants them. also, would be greatful to hear opinions of anyone who has put them on their own car or seen them on another.

My 2 cents

I don't really like them, don't get me wrong they look good, I just don't like them. The idea of darkening the lights that tell other drivers to slow down behind you just seems a little foolish.

-ashley

[schnell944]

My 2 cents

I don't really like them, don't get me wrong they look good, I just don't like them. The idea of darkening the lights that tell other drivers to slow down behind you just seems a little foolish.

-ashley


mmm, well, i figured, since mercedes and VW and im Jaguar, to name a few have implemented factory dark tail lights(by hella, most likely) i figured there wouldnt be too much of a compromise in lighting, the way the units were configured....i could be wrong.

[schnell944]

holy cow! i guess i expected a price like that though. perhaps I'll look for some that may pop up in someones used parts sale or something :p




Not sure about the price, but what about here:

http://www.bekkers.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=2VP005553&Category_Code=btlight5e34

[Brett619310]

Does anyone have any pics with the lights on at night and/or the brake lights illuminated? Also, I'd like to see what the turn signal looks like. I assume it is red rather than yellow.

[everest]

Have you checked eBay lately?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33716&item=7965134616&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

[Jon K]

Does anyone have any pics with the lights on at night and/or the brake lights illuminated? Also, I'd like to see what the turn signal looks like. I assume it is red rather than yellow.


I do!

http://e34.digital7.com/Cars/smoked2.jpg


That's the turn signal on during the daylight

[granit_silber]

mmm, well, i figured, since mercedes and VW and im Jaguar, to name a few have implemented factory dark tail lights(by hella, most likely) i figured there wouldnt be too much of a compromise in lighting, the way the units were configured....i could be wrong.

Maybe those makes have started using uprated bulbs in the fixtures to compensate for the loss of brightness. I also noticed this from the site
"Smoke taillight set includes two taillight assemblies and two trunk light assemblies. Made by Hella. Not DOT approved. Not for touring."

I don't know where you live. But in NC, which has accident fault, if you get rear-ended and the officer spots non approved tail lamps the accident is your fault; and if you get hit by the right person you'll be losing in court.

-ashley
ps I still think they look cool :)

[granit_silber]

Jon,

Do you have a pic of your two e34's side by side with the same lights illuminated?
-ashley

[schnell944]

A very good point to think about!



Maybe those makes have started using uprated bulbs in the fixtures to compensate for the loss of brightness. I also noticed this from the site
"Smoke taillight set includes two taillight assemblies and two trunk light assemblies. Made by Hella. Not DOT approved. Not for touring."

I don't know where you live. But in NC, which has accident fault, if you get rear-ended and the officer spots non approved tail lamps the accident is your fault; and if you get hit by the right person you'll be losing in court.

-ashley
ps I still think they look cool :)

[mike wong]

I painted my taillights and tinted the sidemarkers using "Night Shades" by VHT.
Varying the number of coats to vary from a smoke tint to very dark.

Note: with tinted windows, and darkened backup lights, I have to be extra careful when backing up - hardly see backup lights thru the rear window :(

[rockyfeller]

abrahamsmotorsports carried them awhile back, I'm not sure if they still do. I got my regular Hella clears from them and for sure they had the BEST price on them. I remember smoked Hellas going for cheaper than anywhere else; I did quite some research to get a good price. Also as everest said, check Ebay, I always see someone givin out a good deal. LOOK OUT for some dude recently selling some garbage "painted" tails from Germany for real cheap.....they look like they're out to get ya.

[rockyfeller]

Jon, are the inner lenses a smoked reddish color or are they grey plastic? The lens surrounding the back-up lights) The smoked Hellas have a dark grey smoked plastic lens which I didn't like and that's why I didn't buy them. There is some other German company that makes some type of smoked tails without that grey plastic but they are very rare to find.

[rockyfeller]

Used the same VHT spray....but what I did was did a very LIGHT smoke on just the turn signals, sidemarkers and corners.....left everything else untouched and bright red. The spray if used very carefully gives good results and completely translucent, you can read the archives on how I did this...I don't think anyone has copied me on this yet but anyone who sees my car thinks it's great and looks stock enough to assume BMW made em that way.

[Mobius]

holy cow! i guess i expected a price like that though. perhaps I'll look for some that may pop up in someones used parts sale or something :pThat's actually about the same, if not a good bit cheaper than the cost of the stock lamps. Given that they're made by the OEM; that's not a bad deal.

Stock outer tails (2@$125/side): $250
Stock inner tails (2@105/side): $210
= $460

Sooo.. :)

[Rory535i]

Used the same VHT spray....but what I did was did a very LIGHT smoke on just the turn signals, sidemarkers and corners.....left everything else untouched and bright red. The spray if used very carefully gives good results and completely translucent, you can read the archives on how I did this...I don't think anyone has copied me on this yet but anyone who sees my car thinks it's great and looks stock enough to assume BMW made em that way.

do u have any pics of your rear lights? i read in the archives that you said you had them on your "big" computer and you'd post them soon but I couldn't find any! I'd be interested in trying this out...

[schnell944]

do you have a web address for them? thnx

[schnell944]

also, while we're on the subject of smoked lights and such, what do people think of the smoked headlight protector things, a-la BavAuto. they have a urethane kit that covers the headlights, turn signals and fog lights for $50. looks like this would impede the quality of the lightingn output(which I certainly dont want to do), but I was jsut wondering if anyone had gotten or seen these and had some comments.

[shragon]

Used the same VHT spray....but what I did was did a very LIGHT smoke on just the turn signals, sidemarkers and corners.....left everything else untouched and bright red. The spray if used very carefully gives good results and completely translucent, you can read the archives on how I did this...I don't think anyone has copied me on this yet but anyone who sees my car thinks it's great and looks stock enough to assume BMW made em that way.
i've had my clears smoked for a couple years now. my front corners are smoked in.pro's, while i used vht night shades for the sidemarkers and clear parts of the taillights.

http://members.roadfly.com/shragon/web01.jpg

http://members.roadfly.com/shragon/web02.jpg