TopDogEmz

I have seen several cars with tinted head lights, mostly yellow, but i have seen a few cars with smokey black.
In England, is it legal ??? Or is there any requirements? I know that you must be able to see the lights from over 300 meters and all reflectors should be visible...

- I've already tried asking a police officer but she wasn't in the mood to answer my questions and just kept telling me to google it.


Also, how dark am i able to tint my rear lights before i will get pulled over for it?

I brought a smoky black film for my rear lights, but as i constantly see a silver 2006 model fiesta with (very) dark black rare lights... i would really like dark black rear lights as well (as i have a panther black Fiesta and think it will look amazing).
That fiesta's had dark black tinted rear lights for over half a year now, so i don't think they've been in trouble for it.

Any tips/advice?

- All help will be much appreciated!
Emily

primedog

rear lights just need to shine thru the tint, ul need a clear visble working reflector tho legally... fronts im not sure about but a tint is legal but darker the tint i can only assume ul need a brighter bulb/H.I.D's

foci

There's a lot of vinyl/tint places offering legal headlight tints now. Must be a new vinyl out??

TopDogEmz

Thank you!!
I'll keep that in mind

I'm ordering online and hoping to do it my self, or if anything with my uncle (who used to work for Hendy Ford) to help me just because it's cheaper, but I've not really looked around in shops.

Some one told me that i should put my head light cases into a microwave for 2 minuets. which will legally darken the case... but there's the chance of melting it.
They said they did it, but i'm not sure if they were saying it for a laugh or being honest.

primedog

lol dunno bout cooking ur headlights but iv got flyeye tint on my headlights... look up my thread
https://passionford.com/forum/restor...reshen-up.html

thers pics of my tints on ther. if u need tips how to do them il help u out no probs to.

kidsRS

iTrader: (6)

I think they were pulling ur pisser, iv seen headlight tinting film on ebay try some of that,

TopDogEmz

My friends got them on his car! it looks really nice (On both your car & his).

foci

They put them in the oven to separate them so they can paint the silver bits black. It melts the glue

STeve

iTrader: (11)

just dont get why anyone would want to tint their headlights as surely thats counter productive to the light it throws out and once fitted will we see a thread saying my lights are dim what HID kit shall I buy

over darkened rear lights are bloody dangerous as in bad weather you run the risk of someone crashing into you, do it right or dont bother

TopDogEmz

main reason why i want to tint all my lights is because i have a panther black car (soon to have tinted rear windows). I just thought it would look a lot nicer being all black. - my college friends with their cars are no better.
But i am wanting to also put LED's daylight running lights onto my car (just deciding on where to put the front ones).

Some one did say earlier that i could put brighter bulbs in so it'll shine through better.

STeve

iTrader: (11)

I do get what your saying as my car has privacy glass but its tinted enough to not effect my visibility and I would never tint headlights period and fitting brighter bulbs dopes not make it right, but its your car

TopDogEmz

What car do you have?

I've only seen 3 fiesta's with tinted rear lights and i've regularly seen the 2001 model astra with tinted head lights. At college there are quite a few cars with tinted yellow head lights, but i think they're the flyeye thing.
So i've not got much other cars to go by to help.

RSandy

iTrader: (1)

i have the headlights on my octavia daily tinted with lamin-x film. iv gone with the light smoke, which is a noticeable tint, and yet the headlight output isnt affected at all. im sure the darker gunsmoke tint wud have an affect though. they also do the yellow films too. my car, aswel as mates with the other varieties of the lamin-x films fitted, have gone thru MOT's with no problems

dont bother with the fly-eye tat, it just looks so cheap and nasty when u get anywhere near it! lamin-x still looks good up close, as its a proper film, not just some vinyl with holes in it

rear lights are a tad more awkward due to the various colours needed to shine thru. a lot of the VAG lads get red lamin-x and make the complete cluster red to get rid of the clear sections, but that obviously affects the indicator colour. think some people have started using green bulbs to make them flash orange still? weird, but seems to work. merely tinting them darker with lamin-x light smoke film shudnt affect colour or light output, so that shud be fine

Mrs T

Mines been done, never been pulled yet, only thing my lights are rubbish at night

My transformer car, and no i didn't do them

primedog

all oppinions are in ther own right, but i tinted mine with flyeye as the holes in it make it easier to use wile not completely ruining the light projection. and doesnt look that bad imo, its different. any tint will effect the projection granted including laminex, which is ok to use on easy flat lights but is a bit of a pain imo when comes to the likes of a mk3 escort.

BigChuck

tinting headlights, what an utterly pointless thing to do, i'd love to see the converstaion with the cops after an accident, "yeah i know it makes my headlighst slightly dim, but it looks good"

ps. how does your insurance feel about it?

STeve

iTrader: (11)

thats my point T


Amen you are now on my christmas card list

I use a fez ZS as a daily driver but I have others

Mrs T

I rarely use my car at night but if I had to the film would need to come of

Magnum PI

You can buy aftermarket replacement lights that are already tinted or in the case of headlights have black inners, which give the impression of being tinted..........

RSandy

iTrader: (1)

this is my headlights with a before and after comparison, off the car



obviously looks substantially darker than standard, but this is just the light smoke lamin-x tint, and i can assure u any reduction in headlight output is minimal at best. if it had made them worse then i would have had to remove it, as the standard headlights on an octavia are fuckin terrible lol

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

I used that lamin-x tint on my lights, turned them on in the dar and pulled over straight away to pull it off, was awful!

Quite why anyone would put style over safety is beyond me

In the end I ripped the lights apart and painted the chrome sections black, much better.

Standard



Lamin-x



then ripped apart and done properly

STeve

iTrader: (11)

proper job that Rich

Cosnada

iTrader: (2)

+1

primedog

if the accident was caused by poor vision i would say the driver needs glasses as the projection of the beam is not compromised enough to say "is unsafe" in my opinion they look good yes and as are many other mods are probably pointless but thats modifying your car in a nutshell!!!

foreigneRS

what a stupid idea. why not just not turn your lights on?

stephenbatey

iTrader: (1)

As bigchuck has said, what would your insurers say about tinted headlights?

And richieST your car looks spot on

TopDogEmz

RichieST your car looks amazing!!
I've not asked my insurance company yet as I don't if I'm only doing the rear lights in smoky Black or not.
In September my insurance should be going down by a couple of hundred, so I might decide to do it then.
If I did it and crashed but not told my insurance company then I will get in trouble / and they won't pay for any damages.
I had spoken to a police officer which told me a few things about it and the main issue is with the reflectors, they need to be visible from 300ft through the tint, if not that's when they ask you to take it off. I've checked the DVA website and it says the same thing again...

STeve

iTrader: (11)

you can get the same look by simply buying aftermarket lights which have no restriction on light, spray or film tinting rear lights if not done 100% correct can land you in bother with MOT stations and police, The way richie has done his lights in the correct way not tampering with the reflector or lense, my old t170 had factory fitted lights along richie's lines,




in the car enthusiast world we all have different opinions some good some bad so it gives you a balanced view so take on board some of our wisdom or do like most and find out the hard way, its called the joys on motoring

The Underdog

ignoring all sense i have to say the lights look well cool on that octavia.

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the comments guys

primedog

tinting doesnt effect mots if its slight tint. reflector is the only thing not allowed to be tinted. and some cars dont have after market light choices, again like mk3 escorts... and i reckon out of all modifying i bet alot isnt told to the insurers... black and white of it is modifications can invalidate insurance, even clock colours and different tire profiles etc. i appreciate we all have different opinions but some love to come accross rude and arrogant like everyone else is doin everything wrong except them!! typical passionford thread this.