Who's done it, what kit did you use and how hard was it? Oh, and has Johnny Law ever hassled you about them?

Since there's not too many aftermarket tail lights that work with the '05/'06, I was pondering something like this:

 

I've got it. I have the kit from Moss MINI. It was 30-40 bucks. Pretty easy to install if you know what you are doing. I messed it up though because I didn't know what I was doing . Still turned out alright though...


No hassle yet from the ticket-writers.


And, finally, a picture...





If I can find an extra set of 05-06 tail lights, I am probably going to just have my re-done and send them to a guy that someone linked to a while ago. I can't find the link now to the old thread, maybe someone knows what I am talking about?

 

Is that on the inside or out? And what's the trick, now that you're a pro?

 

Here ya go:
[FONT=Courier New]http://www.jonstintedtails.com/[/FONT]
more $$ than covers, but very pro job. Will last way longer and a variety of tint choices. Tell John Joel Funk sent you and he will take car of you. He has picks of MINI lights in his gallery too.

 

Hmmm... his tail light gallery is broken, and it looks like I have to mail in my lights for the work to be completed. That's not really an option for me, unfortunately, but thanks. Good luck with them, skitelluride!

 

I did mine with the LaminX kit in less than an hour -- and I was repeatedly interrupted by passersby, since I did it while parallel parked in a tourist district.



Never been hassled by smokey, by the way.

 

That's the link I was looking for.



Anyways, applying the film was a pain the... for me. I apologize as I really have no techniques or tips to give you because all of the techniques I used were wrong, which is why mine ended up looking how it does. I bet someone else on here has some experience applying vinyl or stickers and could give you some advice.

 

I didn't end up installing these permanently, i returned to stock....but i had a spare set laying around that i figured i could experiment with. I broke them open and tinted JUST the lense part. The film kits are applied on the outside clear lense and thus are even with the body and cover the chrome. My set had only the red lense tinted so that it was situated behind the clear lense and behind the chrome surround. It was a recessed tint. They look a bit like the photoshop pic you have.....without the 04-05 backup light.

 

Yeah, I'd like to keep the chrome to match the rest of the OEM shiny stuff. How much work was it to open up the taillights like that? Did you have to crack open any glued or sealed parts?

 

I JUST (litterally 10min ago) installed my kit from Moss MINI. I have never done any sort of tinting or film work before, and it was a PAIN. VERY hard imo. There are a lot of rough edges in mine, where the tint would just not go on right. :impatient. Next time I'll have a professional shop tint them...like Jon.

I also had to pull out the tail lights, which was also a pain. That little screw does NOT want to come out!

But if you're interested, I can show you pics of the tint itself and where I messed up.

-Cody

 

Sure, post them up... now I'm curious.

 

I used the tint from lamin-x and its simply a vinyl that you apply to the outside of the taillight. Takes a bit of time to get it to sit perfectly flush without any creases but it wasn't hard.

 

I'll try to take some tomorrow...it's too dark right now.

-Cody

 

Is that "smoked" or "charcoal"? Those are the 2 grades listed on their site.

I dunno... I'm not sure about it with the chrome edges covedred over or not...





Thanks!

 

Honestly, I HATE chrome...but I think it looks really good on your MINI, and I would try to get the tint WITH the chrome.

-Cody

 

The SECOND image, Polizei, or the first? I think the second would look great if I didn't have chromed hinges and boot handle... It's still not BAD either way....

 

Yah lots of cracking open sealed parts and then re-sealing. They actually disassemble into 4 parts each of which is sealed to the others

 

Ugh...

 

totally worth it though....it would match your stripes and boot latches so well

 

Yup, that's pretty much how I felt about the whole thing too. I also had a similar issue with mine which you might be able to make out in the picture I posted above.

 

Jon @ Jonstintedtails did mine... they turned out incredible!

 

I bought the "charcoal" grade tint.

 

I sprayed mine myself.

 

Whoa! You aren't messing around! That truely is blacked out.

 

He needs a blackout kit though! Get rid of that chrome around your doors!











And the mess up:



-Cody