Wondering how you remove them because I'm going to be plasti dipping front and rear rings this week. But don't want to snap them out and break them!

Thanks!

 

Take a small screwdriver and place it between the trim and the lens from the inside of the lens. There are just a few clips all the way around. Its much harder on the cars paint sides

 

Like Twister said, take a small "FlatHead" Screwdriver and pry on the multiple tabs that go around the lens. Once you pop tabs on one side of the lens you kinda have to hold them away from the lens so they don't pop back onto the lens as you are trying to get the other side off. Good Luck.

 

is it really that simple? just a flat screwdriver is needed?

I was reading other threads about how people have had to remove the whole tail light assembly to get the rings off!

I'm planning on re-dipping my tail rings too and was anticipating a hard time.

 

yep and the only way to remove the entire light is to remove the rings first

 

sorry, I'm a little confused now.

Am I correct in reading that if you want to take JUST the headlight rings off the car, all you need to do is pry them off the car with a flathead screwdriver?

Or are you saying that I need to take off the lens assembly first and then pry off the rings?

 

rings first then there are screws under them to remove lights

 

awesome!

I'm going to dip my tail light rings as well.

So need to take off the assembly units or anything. Just pry off the rings while they are still on the car, and approach the pry from the inner circle of the rings instead of the outer rim.

thanks for the clarification!

 

OSINKBOY,

I do not know if anyone else can confirm. But I do not see how you would be able to remove the rings off the taillights without removing the complete housing from the vehicle. I had my lens sprayed 50/50 black/clear, thus, I needed to remove the entire housing. At that point is when I removed the rings for the smoke job.

Considering the ring tabs are on the inner face of the housing, facing the inside of the vehicle, I do not know how you would remove the rings without removing the housing.

In terms of removing the housing, there are 4 very weird, pain in the A$$ fasteners that hold the housing onto the vehicle. The are a kind of claw/clamp that is fastened on by a phillips head bolt. You have to loosen the bolt in order to get the clamp jaws to release from the housing. It took me multiple times to get the housing back in as the clamps have to tightened gradually and evenly. TIP: Set all the clamps on first and only finger tighten, you have to tighten them equally or the housing will not seal evenly against the vehicle's surface. NOTE: This will be a huge pain the A$$ because the location of the clamps, at least for my banana hands, were very awkward and difficult to reach. Good Luck.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ail-light.html

 

I am finally getting around to doing this today but I am worried I will snap off the tabs. I placed the flathead in between the rings and lights but I am not sure where abouts the tabs are located so I don't want to just pull anywhere and have them snap.

 

Do you think I could take it to my local dealer and they could pop them out for me?

 

just be careful and they will pop off easily - just dont jam the screwdriver in

 

how'd it go?

 

SERIOUSLY! DO NOT USE A SCREWDRIVER TO POP THEM OFF!

I just did mine the other weekend and all it takes is a 1/4 ratchet, a short extension and the right size socket (can't remember if its 7mm or 8mm, somewhere around there), and honestly, about 15 minutes top!

Once you get them out you'll quickly realize why using a screwdriver would not work that well. The tension between each clip is enough that you really need to take the whole housing out. It's really not that difficult.

I tried plastidipping mine a couple of times and I just got fed up with not being able to apply it correctly and evenly. Then I met a buddy who works in the parts department at my nearest MINI dealership and he hooked me up with the actual trim rings.

Plus I feel you would get better results with actually taking them off. Hope this helps. I know there is a thread in here somewhere on how to take them off...can't find though.

 

@frankthetank77

I've heard a lot of complaining about how difficult it is to take off the rims using the traditional way. The reach is hard, and the angle is hard, and you definitely need the extension to have any chance at removing the screws from the back.

Do you have any tips for someone with two left hands?

 

Hey man! Shooting straight with you here, it really is a lot easier then you may think. I had the same mindset when I went into doing it. I was thinking it was going to be a lot more difficult. I was worried I was going to have a hard time pulling it apart and putting it back together, but I was extremely surprised as to how easy it was.

Scratch the extension, I just used a deep socket on a 1/4in ratchet.

When you pull the grill out on the inside, just look inside and you'll see the two bolts/brackets. Pop your ratchet in and have at it. I also unplugged the wiring harness before I pulled the brackets off.

Take your time with the rings. The amount of tension on the clips is pretty decent and will require you to lift one and pull it up and hold it while you do the same to the next and so on until it comes off.

I'll check back in tomorrow to see how you're doing. If you need me to post a few pics I'll do it, but you'll be fine! :thumbs:

EDIT:
Ran out to grab this pic for you. The deep socket is absolutely necessary to remove the two nuts as the bolt side is attached to the light housing itself. You need the deep socket so you can get down far enough to remove the nut. I hope this helps.

 

frank!!

Thanks for the pic, man!

Totally helps! I'm on the road right now so I can't get to work on my car, but I wanted to say thanks for taking that pic and showing me exactly where to work!

 

No prob! Post pics when you get em done!