Hi All,
Just my second thread here but as my name suggests, I have an Ls1 RX7 that I built years ago and I've been playing with cars for a while.
My GF got a nice little 320i XDrive about 2 weeks ago and instead of ordering the M-Sport package, which doesn't even include the bumpers on the 320 btw, I decided that I was going to make my own with window tint, 351M wheels, rear decklid spoiler and some lightly tinted tails.
I know the wheels will help the most, but from the back these bright red big tail lights make the stock F30s look like a Camry.
I know tinted taillights are generally :thumbdown and I lived in Miami for a while where I helped plenty of friends Nightshade their Honduhs, but I noticed this product from Lamin X which claims to only block 6% of light, or essentially the same as getting 94% tint. Pretty light stuff. So I thought it might be worth a try.
My goal was OEM style aggressive. Something that you would see on an M3 or Corvette or other sports car from the factory, and I do indeed see some stock tail lights that are this dark from the factory.
Here is a before shot, that really makes the tails look darker than they are. Generally they are bright red.
Photos from Tonight:
First Reverse Light done. Definitely start with these, they're easy. Despite playing with cars for years I've never attempted tinting anything and I still managed to get a couple small bubbles in the first one even though it's almost entirely flat.
(Comparison stock to tinted):
The next reverse light was done in 5 minutes and was flawless, aka a little practice helped.
Now onto the curved multi-angle taillights... This is A LOT tougher. It's winter here in MA, although it's seasonably warm today at about 50 degrees, I'd suggest a summer day for best results. This material is thick vinyl. Thicker than the lamin x clear bras that go on the front of cars.
One Side Done: (This was my problem child side where I made my mistakes. A good from 5 feet job. But have probably 4 bubbles/foggy spots visible from a foot or 2 away. I'd put this on par with bad to medium quality tint shops
The other side I had learned from my mistakes and got a second person to keep the hair dryer moving as I stretched and squeegied the lights from the center out to the edges, stretching it around the compound curve as I went.
My Better Work, the other side:
Final Product:
The lights actually curve in 3 different directions at one point. This is by far the most difficult part. If you've done some tint work before it will still probably require quite a bit of attention but you can probably get a perfect result. If you haven't chances are it won't be perfect. I have a few bubbles and some foggy areas that I hope will get smaller as time goes on and it cures fully. I read on laminx site that this material is actually breathable so bubbles should shrink and even dissapear. This can take up to 2 weeks, so I'm going to keep an eye on it and report back. I'll also try to get some pictures in direct sunlight.
BTW I bought the 12" x 40" size and thought I've a ton left over, but when it came down to it, I had about an inch or 2 extra. The shade again is called "Tint" don't do gunsmoke unless you want DARK lights. My GF is an exec at a big company so everything really needed to be conservative.
http://www.lamin-x.com/Large-12x40-U...ers-s/1584.htm
End result, 99% of people, probably not even car people would know that these are tinted and think it just came that way from the factory.
Mission accomplished
Just my second thread here but as my name suggests, I have an Ls1 RX7 that I built years ago and I've been playing with cars for a while.
My GF got a nice little 320i XDrive about 2 weeks ago and instead of ordering the M-Sport package, which doesn't even include the bumpers on the 320 btw, I decided that I was going to make my own with window tint, 351M wheels, rear decklid spoiler and some lightly tinted tails.
I know the wheels will help the most, but from the back these bright red big tail lights make the stock F30s look like a Camry.
I know tinted taillights are generally :thumbdown and I lived in Miami for a while where I helped plenty of friends Nightshade their Honduhs, but I noticed this product from Lamin X which claims to only block 6% of light, or essentially the same as getting 94% tint. Pretty light stuff. So I thought it might be worth a try.
My goal was OEM style aggressive. Something that you would see on an M3 or Corvette or other sports car from the factory, and I do indeed see some stock tail lights that are this dark from the factory.
Here is a before shot, that really makes the tails look darker than they are. Generally they are bright red.
Photos from Tonight:
First Reverse Light done. Definitely start with these, they're easy. Despite playing with cars for years I've never attempted tinting anything and I still managed to get a couple small bubbles in the first one even though it's almost entirely flat.
(Comparison stock to tinted):
The next reverse light was done in 5 minutes and was flawless, aka a little practice helped.
Now onto the curved multi-angle taillights... This is A LOT tougher. It's winter here in MA, although it's seasonably warm today at about 50 degrees, I'd suggest a summer day for best results. This material is thick vinyl. Thicker than the lamin x clear bras that go on the front of cars.
One Side Done: (This was my problem child side where I made my mistakes. A good from 5 feet job. But have probably 4 bubbles/foggy spots visible from a foot or 2 away. I'd put this on par with bad to medium quality tint shops
The other side I had learned from my mistakes and got a second person to keep the hair dryer moving as I stretched and squeegied the lights from the center out to the edges, stretching it around the compound curve as I went.
My Better Work, the other side:
Final Product:
The lights actually curve in 3 different directions at one point. This is by far the most difficult part. If you've done some tint work before it will still probably require quite a bit of attention but you can probably get a perfect result. If you haven't chances are it won't be perfect. I have a few bubbles and some foggy areas that I hope will get smaller as time goes on and it cures fully. I read on laminx site that this material is actually breathable so bubbles should shrink and even dissapear. This can take up to 2 weeks, so I'm going to keep an eye on it and report back. I'll also try to get some pictures in direct sunlight.
BTW I bought the 12" x 40" size and thought I've a ton left over, but when it came down to it, I had about an inch or 2 extra. The shade again is called "Tint" don't do gunsmoke unless you want DARK lights. My GF is an exec at a big company so everything really needed to be conservative.
http://www.lamin-x.com/Large-12x40-U...ers-s/1584.htm
End result, 99% of people, probably not even car people would know that these are tinted and think it just came that way from the factory.
Mission accomplished
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