Clear light and Angel Eye Conversion - The Project and Story
- Thread starter cj10jeeper
- Start date
cj10jeeper
Lifer
Looks like a really great improvement - congratulations on doing it and I'm pleased the write up helped.
I'm sure you now apprecitate the time it takes to do this, but pleasure of such a project once finished
Out of curiosity what did you do with the amber indicator covers (the glass capsules) to remove/disguise the amber? I coated mine in silver mirror foil to remove any amber reflections in the lens.
I'm sure you now apprecitate the time it takes to do this, but pleasure of such a project once finished
Out of curiosity what did you do with the amber indicator covers (the glass capsules) to remove/disguise the amber? I coated mine in silver mirror foil to remove any amber reflections in the lens.
cj10jeeper said:
I noticed that the part of the orange tube actually touching the reflector, caused most of the orange glow. So this had to be modified :roll:
After some research I found a spray paint especially made for glass surfaces, often used by artists. Color silver and 'see through' when lit (as long as used in thin layers of course)... I used a piece of tape to split the tube in two parts: The full front side of the orange tube I left 'as is', the side part I spraypainted very lightly.
I agree with the other comments, it looks great. It makes such a difference, why did BMW persist with those orange ones in the first place, it's not like the Z4 was designed 15 years ago or anything :scratchhead:
Nice job
Nice job
Also, it's about time someone started doing these on the cheap for forum members, good business opportunity there for someone 
cj10jeeper
Lifer
Hi Street, welcome and thanks for the compliments
If I were to do it on black then the inner ring would be fine as I mounted that on the silver ribbed reflector. The outer in my case I opted for mounting on the natural lip of the bezel. If I were to do it on black then I can see that would not aesthetically sit well, so I would probably choose a few mm smaller tube and mount it inside the diameter of the bezel or on the face of the reflector. Just a case of juggling the locations a bit but the fundamental design should hold.
I'll try to get a decent picture of them 'off' to show the positioning of the AE.
You could do something very different and mount a set or 2 of the now common led strips somewhere in the light unit Audi style??
If I were to do it on black then the inner ring would be fine as I mounted that on the silver ribbed reflector. The outer in my case I opted for mounting on the natural lip of the bezel. If I were to do it on black then I can see that would not aesthetically sit well, so I would probably choose a few mm smaller tube and mount it inside the diameter of the bezel or on the face of the reflector. Just a case of juggling the locations a bit but the fundamental design should hold.
I'll try to get a decent picture of them 'off' to show the positioning of the AE.
You could do something very different and mount a set or 2 of the now common led strips somewhere in the light unit Audi style??
cj10jeeper
Lifer
TZ4 said:Anyone done Audi daylight leds yet on there headlamps?
Loving the write up but seems hard work, plus if it goes wrong aint good
I have not seen any, bit it would be possible to do as it's conceptually not far off the AE fitting I did. The decision would be where to line them up in the light unit to look good as there is limited space to cut through one part of the inners to set them out.
For sure if you screw up with the lights you need to find another set, but hey high stakes make for great projects...
Street
Active member
TZ4 said:Anyone done Audi daylight leds yet on there headlamps?
Loving the write up but seems hard work, plus if it goes wrong aint good
Work in progress.. unfortunatley very slowly as I'm currently working away from home during the week.
I have all the parts.. interested to hear what people think of the location of the leds
cj10jeeper
Lifer
Great that the project is underway. Slow but rewarding I'm sure.
The LED's are difficult to judge from the photo and I know from my own experience the photos don't look anything like the real thing. Have you mounted them inside the clear indicator lens in one continuous strip? Does the lens diffuse the light or does it look like a neat crisp line?
I suspect it looks awesome in the flesh.
The LED's are difficult to judge from the photo and I know from my own experience the photos don't look anything like the real thing. Have you mounted them inside the clear indicator lens in one continuous strip? Does the lens diffuse the light or does it look like a neat crisp line?
I suspect it looks awesome in the flesh.
Street said:TZ4 said:Anyone done Audi daylight leds yet on there headlamps?
Loving the write up but seems hard work, plus if it goes wrong aint good
Work in progress.. unfortunatley very slowly as I'm currently working away from home during the week.
I have all the parts.. interested to hear what people think of the location of the leds
Hard to see, but great project. I have given up on doing the LED's maybe next year!
Street
Active member
Well my conversion is complete.. but the LED's never made the cut.. they never really looked 100% and being a picky bugger, nothing less would do.
I had three options:
1) Mount the LED strip in the indicator lense - but the light was refracted by the indicator cover making them look uneven
2) Mount them on the underside of the indicator cover (still inside the headlight cover) - it looked cheap
3) Mount invididual LED's along the bottom of the bevel - but the direction of the LED's would be pointing upwards
Option 1 would have worked (like the pics above) but you would have to polish the bottom half of the inside of the indicator cover to remove the opaque effect making is clear. IMO the effort wouldn't be worth the finish...
Anyway here's some pics of another successful clear indicator conversion:
Before & Afters..
Big thanks to everyone on here for the info posted in this forum. I wouldn't have started it otherwise.
I had three options:
1) Mount the LED strip in the indicator lense - but the light was refracted by the indicator cover making them look uneven
2) Mount them on the underside of the indicator cover (still inside the headlight cover) - it looked cheap
3) Mount invididual LED's along the bottom of the bevel - but the direction of the LED's would be pointing upwards
Option 1 would have worked (like the pics above) but you would have to polish the bottom half of the inside of the indicator cover to remove the opaque effect making is clear. IMO the effort wouldn't be worth the finish...
Anyway here's some pics of another successful clear indicator conversion:
Before & Afters..
Big thanks to everyone on here for the info posted in this forum. I wouldn't have started it otherwise.
Looks great Street, well done.
I should expect the reason BMW use the orange relfecotrs to begin was to make more money. BMW are strewn with cars that initially appeared with orange on to te be updated soon thereafter. E36, E46, X5, Z4, etc, etc....
It is easy to update a car to clear indicators a few years down the model line. This helps keep public interest in the vehilce and minimises develpment expenditure. Another good BMW money making and marketing idea.
oke:
I should expect the reason BMW use the orange relfecotrs to begin was to make more money. BMW are strewn with cars that initially appeared with orange on to te be updated soon thereafter. E36, E46, X5, Z4, etc, etc....
It is easy to update a car to clear indicators a few years down the model line. This helps keep public interest in the vehilce and minimises develpment expenditure. Another good BMW money making and marketing idea.
oke:ElegantSpoon
Member
It does look good! I'm sure plenty of people would pay to change over to clears and angel eyes 
I know I would!! :wink:
I know I would!! :wink: