you couldnt' even let Brain enjoy being original for a few months... say AMVIV?

and no "JOEY" was not the first one... maybe in the VW world... but... uhhh no

and I was the first to accually OPEN them in the MINI world... soooo Tüls Mod... orrr jackass mod.... orrrr

so since Brain was the first with the new head lights it should be Widow modded... orrrr Brain Mod... orrr

 

uh no tuls.....someone in japan had them open close to a year before you did

They also modded the facelift headlights within the first month that the facelift models were introduced

 

I'm not sure I understood your post or not Agro, but the lenses aren't tinted in the "Tüls Mod" (Happy now? ) Only the reflective bits inside the housing are. Therefore, the light output should be the same, however, the shape of the light thrown could change. For example, when I did this to my A3 the amount of light that hit the right shoulder of the street was diminished somewhat. But there was a reflective bit inside the housing which was there to do just that, reflect some light out to that side. I don't see anything in the MINI housing that would accomplish the same thing

 

The lenses are clear, no tinting. Just the interior chrome peices that have nothing to do with light operation are painted black. The effectiveness of the light is not impaired in any way.

 

yeah but japanese people are crazy they don't count...LOL we are in Merica!

aaannnnd it's funny it happened right after she saw brains car and loved it... hmmmn... I'm jsut saying... PROPS MAN! WE are supposed to roll tight!

soooo GO JAPAN!

 

touchy

 

LOL I dont' really care... more props are due to others... not me... it's respect...

but thanks! LOL

 

Nothing will be as sexy as brians mini...

 

Yah definite props to anyone doing this mod right now (thats what...3 or 4 MU cars now?). And brian's lights definitely inspired a good number of people i bet.

 

I LOVED the look on my A3. I'm just too much of a... chicken to pull apart my (less than a year old) Xenons

 

I'm generally for anything Tuls does, and he *was* the first to open Xenons in the US, but the Japanese must be acknowledged as the innovators here. As an Australian living and paying taxes in the US, it urks me to hear slams against people who do not live here, or other nationalities (remember it was rubbish like this that brought the world's greatest dictators to power.) Our lives are made substantially and significantly better by Japanese innovators, and bad-mouthing them is uncalled for IMHO.
Tuls does some really wild and crazy stuff, but he's not the only one. We all learn from each other, whether we acknowledge it or not. MSFITOY has blacked out headlamps he posted photos of quite a few months ago...

 

...red like the Ferrari F50, I could be the first crazy f-er to do a red headlights mod. Hmmmm.

 

I like the look. I wasn't sure I would like it all black, but I think i might give it a go. I've got spare trim rings to paint satin black....looks like I have more work to do. It's good to hear that no baking is necessary to take them apart.

 

Just be carfull.. i got lucky and didnt have to bake them open. Every ones head lights are differnt. Some are older and need to be baked.

Just test them our first and if they are hard at first, you might want to bake them still

 

Thanks Melissa for getting me off my butt and finally doing this. Hers popped right open, too easy, mine we had to bake and pry and bake and pry and bake and pry. It was not easy. 230 degrees seemed to work well. It was hard to get them back together after we were done, and don't drop the flat lens when you take it out, it is the only glass piece in there

 

I want to do this so bad, yet the the thought of destroying my xenons is scary.

How much do replacment xenon headlights cost? Not cheap, I assume.

 

400-500 new
200-400 on ebay sometimes

 

hey man... I would like to know where to get some for that price... they are 800-1200 around here... for ONE

 

Thats what i was quoted when i talked to Classic MINI here in Ohio a while ago when i was gonna try switching to Xenons....the price may have gone up since then (facelift might cost more?)....although i find it hard to believe that they would charge that much for one headlight

 

Ok. My mistake for not reading the how-to. I assumed it was like the blacked out tail lights I have on my car where the lens is darkened and allows less light through.
Sorry.
DrPhil...I didn't know you were a fellow Aussie. you coming to AMVIV?

 

Aussie to the core... I actually met you last year at AMVIV, but then again you prolly met a hell of a lot of people at AMVIV last year! No, I'm missing this year's show--although it was a blast last year and I'm sure it will be even better this year. There will be a big NM contingent coming for sure, with Marcel in tow too I guess.

cheers,

 

I'm usually pretty good at remembering people, especially another "dang furener!" but I DID meet an awful lot of new people in a short period last AMVIV.
To avoid the accusation of thread hijacking, Mel...what are the chances of you doing this to my headlights during AMVIV?

 

You can do it Just bake them at 230 for about 20 mins. Take a thin metal thing and wedge it in there (Melissa used my feeler guage set). Make sure you have some gloves to hold on to the hot lights. You just need to get something wedged in there and start slowly prying them apart. If it gets too hard, put it back in the oven, and start on the second one. Eventually they will come apart. Once it is opened, you need to pry out the chrome insert, there is a glass diffuser in there that needs to be removed, sand, prime, paint, reassemble, bake to re-soften the adhesive, and then press them together. You may need to cut or scrape away some of the adhesive to make them seal tight. It really isn't hard to do, and the only fragile part on the standard headlights is the glass diffuser inside. Just go for it

 

I'm worried that I'll screw it up. The last part I painted myself on my car looked like crap and I wound up selling to someone who had it repainted professionally.
My MINI is my only registered car at the moment, I can't have it off the road or sans headlights.

 

Looks good, I've been wanting to paint mine DS but can't seem to get myself to open my headlights even though I've opened friends headlights before... I remember there was talk about three (3) bolts or screws on the 02-04 cars holding the clear lens to the housing. And that you had to cut the lens around those screws to pop the headlight apart. Is that true or is it simply heat and pry?