This might be a stupid question, but I really like the look of MINIs with their head lights and tail lights tinted. I was wondering if there is a big difference in being able to see at night with the lights on. Like, am I going to have to drive around with my high beams on? Am I going to get rear ended because no one can see my tail lights?

 

I tinted my tail lights and rear fogs. There is a major difference in brightness and by that I mean the light obviously gets dimmer, however, you can still get brighter bulbs, like I did. The rear fog bulbs are actually blacked out from the factory and when I changed them it helped dramatically when backing up.

I haven't done my headlights, so I can't help with that. I got my tint from Lamin-X and used a heat gun, soap, and water to apply them. Very easy. I love the look on my blacked out Astro Black Cooper S.

I would suggest doing a joey mod on the headlights. You get the same brightness and still get the tinted, blacked out look.

 

i had ruby red tinted tails and everything just looked red at that point so i guess that with that color tint it was brighter in a sense. however i also have my headlights tinted "dark gray" and i notice a bit of a difference at night. i parked my 07 r56 next to my cousins 07 r56 and compared head light brightness. there was a difference but not one that would make me want to un-tint my lights. hopefully that helps. (i also usually drive on well lit roads at night, but have seen my share of un-lit roads and its a bit dimmer and harder to see, but thats what highbeams are for!

 

jonstintedtails.com tints tails and heads for any vehicle. There are tons of pics on his website so you can get an idea of how it will affect your light output.

 

That is very useful info. Thanks!

 

I asked about headlight tinting when I had my windows tinted. The guy who did the job works primarily on High End sports cars (Lamborgini, Ferari, you get the idea). Anyway, he told me that tinting the headlights is not recommended because the lights are not designed to handle the additional heat that builds up within the headlight housing. You will forever be replacing bulbs.

Just an FYI. I'm just the messenger.

 

I have my headlights and taillights tinted with Lamin-X in light-smoke. I will post up pictures as soon as I find my camera.
I personally love the tone of the light-smoke. It doesn't effect light output very much, yet it's noticeable that it's tinted.

 

This is 50% on the windshield and side windows. Also, 5% on the rear quarter glass and rear hatch glass. Light Smoke on the headlights, and Smoke on the taillights.

 

WOWOWOW that is dark....props for pulling that off in NY - i get harassed for 20s all around and 5% on my sunroof (not helping the cause my making everything else darker)

 

I just don't see why you'd want to limit light coming from your brake lights or headlights. I live in Florida where it's better to be on your phone (or OLD) than paying attention, you couldn't pay me to tint my tail lights.

 

Can you take some more pics of the headlights? I can't get a feel for how tinted they are.

 

 

You can compare the tinted lens to the chrome ring.

 

Quick question, I want to tint the tails+ rear fogs on my car but I want to leave the clear turn lense un-tinted (the center circular area if you have the clear turn signal option). Anyone else done this? I think it would look pretty sweet

 

That wouldn't be a good idea because the the clear circle is recessed and not up against the lens so at different angle you will see red around the edges.

 

That is true, but I drove behind a Jetta the other day that was done like that and it looked awesome. I doubt anyone would really notice the lights being recessed.