Not that we need to throw any more fuel onto this fire, but lights will naturally be more easily seen at night. I'd be curious to see how those tail lights look when illuminated in the bright daylight.

I plan on trying a subtle tint on the tail lights of my Spice Orange Cooper, just so they contrast with the body a bit more.

 

I'm really surprised that's the Gunsmoke, it looks quite a bit lighter on the Lamin-X site: http://www.lamin-x.com/Mini-Cooper-0...rs-p/mn207.htm

Is it as dark as you expected?

 

I'm getting ready to tint the tails on my Coupe (I don't need anyone's approval, thank you) and I'm going to use the sheet to insure that I get full coverage. From what I can see, you can only bring the Lamin-X to the edge of the taillight ring. If you remove the ring and cover the lens to the outer edge, the ring does not have enough gap between the lens and the ring to allow the ring to clip back in place because of the thickness of the Lamin-X. Trimming to the edge of the ring looks great using the sheet. I agree, the pre-cut pieces are too narrow and leave a gap. BTW, I'm tinting the center brake light that is built in the hatch of the Coupe as well. To those that have a problem with that....bite me!

 

thats the look i was wanting to go for, thanks for the post!

 

Tinted tail lights look really wicked. I like the style. But I am either gonna blow by you as soon as I can, or give you a hefty lead. You may not worry about your butt, but I worry about my nose.
Diminishing the brightness of your brake lights reduces their effectiveness. You can't argue that. It is a fact. What you can argue is the effect of this reduction. So far you can say it has no negative effect. Would it be something you had to argue with in front a jury? Maybe?
I am unaware of any established minimal brightness required by DoT or the NTSB. I don't think my state has any laws against it, either. But if I smacked into your snazzy (and I like the look) tinted brake light, I am gonna sue.
I just don't think it is a bright idea (pun intended). Do it, drive it, and enjoy it. That's your right.
I know I wasn't asked my opinion, so don't worry about a consultation fee. I got yours, you got mine, lets motor on.

 

 

I agree with rich, tail tint is really something that grinds my gears. Even worse is some of these ricer idiots that paint the lenses here in south LA, people are idiots. I've almost rear ended these idiots countless times.

Anyways, if your heart is set on it, try doing like a smoky tint instead of solid black like everyone else does?

From my experience, tinting is annoying. I did my fogs. It takes much time and patience, and sometimes youll get so close to having it perfect, and skrew up at the last minute. Theres a reason even the shops charge a lot for any sort of tint that is not on a relatively flat surface.

-Dylan

 

I'm really surprised at the number of people here who think the tinted tails and/or headlights are cool and acceptable. I know in Florida our light laws are based upon viability at different distances.

Lights:

Your car must have the following lights:
Bright (high-beam) headlights which show objects 450 feet ahead.
Dimmed (low-beam) headlights which show objects 150 feet ahead.
Two red taillights mounted on the rear, visible from 1,000 feet.
A white light that makes the license plate visible from 50 feet (The plate must be kept clean).
Two red stoplights. They must be seen from 300 feet in the daytime, and must come on when the foot brake is pressed.
All vehicles, including animal-drawn vehicles, must have at least one white light visible from a distance of not less than 1,000 feet to the front. They must also have two red lights visible from a distance of not less than 1,000 feet to the rear, or one red light visible to the rear for a distance of 1,000 feet and two red reflectors visible from all distances from 600 feet to 1,000 feet.


Even these specifics are open for interpretation. Trying to see brake lights from 1000ft away on a dark rural section of interstate would be easy, but in a suburb or city with more ambient light it might harder. It is this ambiguity that folks can probably choose to "tastefully" tint their lights without too much degradation.

IMHO, its dumb but I wont go up to another member at a meet and tell them so.

It's these same laws that are open for interpretation that allow me to feel OK with the dumb decisions I choose, ie train horns on my MINI. I hate getting cut off or almost run over so I let people know. Some folks say they are too loud and annoying or illegal and I site the same lawbook that states my horn must be audible form 200ft away. I definitely meet that requirement, sometimes at the cost of annoyed innocent bystanders.

 

I know it's off subject Yetti, but that is a hoot. I could see me driving into Houston with the wife wearing ear defenders.

Piping in with an opinion can rub some fur the wrong way. The internet is full of people with angst in their post. It makes everybody a bit defensive. More of the schoolyard than the classroom.

My original comment appears to have been mistaken as condescending, rather than witty. Even though my momma told me that I always had a clever wit. Anyway, I think the conversation is/has been interesting.

I apologize if my remarks were insulting. I did not intend them to be.

 

A light tint always looks great to me, especially if you only cover the red part. Too dark always looks weird and has a tendency to make your lighting look old. If you want to go with a black look I would just suggest getting new assembly. They will look better and give you the same or better lighting as the OEMs. These are the only black tails I know of and they are LED.
(BTW if you tint or get black tails you should probably consider doing the rear fog/backup lamps in the same)

 

Mini///M...do you know if they have these for the Countryman or where I can look for them? Thanks.

 

That is awesome!

 

Looks nice. I like this style over the full brake area tint.

Do you have any pics of the red brake lights on during the day? Just wondering.

 

Black LED tails on your Countryman would look so damn good. Unfortunately they don't make any aftermarket alternatives for the R60 but I'm sure within the next year they will be out. The Countryman has sold pretty well globally. Its only a matter of time. I'm looking for a CM right now
DEPO makes these in Standard colors like OEM - Red/White, also in White-Out (Chrome), and in Black-Out. I have the Red and they are really strong. All the colors should be somewhat the same since they use the same bulbs.

The LED tails are not THAT expensive and they look much better than the stockies, especially if you are gonna drop $125 to tint them.


Here are pics of ryoma111 's MINI





Emvin15 's MINI



The QZ 's MINI, with matching lower lights

 

Wow! Now that I would ride behind without being nervous. Looks very sharp, but still has enough safety to keep old stick-in-the-muds like me happy. My job title has "Safety" in it. Everybody brings a little of their work home with them. Meh.
Hope it makes the OP and those with that with that particular bent happy as well. Blacked out is cool, bright is important. Got both.

 

Ryoma111 has the best setup IMO. I don't like black out tint anything on my HL or TL, that's just asking for trouble with bad drivers out there.

 

From someone who just revived a ticket and a official warning about my tinted tails most aftermarket tail lights are NOT legal altezza and euro style included this is federal law. smoked/tinted lights are not legal if you can't see red in the lights and they lose there federally mandated reflective properties I am currently looking for whatever legal loophole that allows cars like the Nissan leaf with no red showing and no reflective properties but at the end of the day my tails will be tinted (very lightly) can hardly tell when there on and I'll be braking the law and will live with any potential consequences

 

I'm not going to comment on tinted taillights or drivers who rely on the taillights of the car ahead as their signal to start braking but you might change your tune when that uncorrected equipment warning turns into a moving violation and your insurance rates go up.

Regarding the Leaf: If you check Oregon law (Try Section 816.080 Taillights), you may find that the law does not say that tail lights always must show red. Instead, it may say that when lighted, taillights must emit a red light that is visible for a certain distance - without any reference to the color of the lenses of the lights.

Finally, you might find this site interesting: http://fmvss108.tripod.com/taillamps.htm.

 

I have ordered a lot of items from OutMotoring, and love all of them, except the rear light tint. It was too small and even with an hour of the hair dryer heat and stretching, the tint never made it to the outside edges.

The 2011 models and newer (I think) have bulbs in the rear fog lights ( I always thought they were just reflectors). We connected them to become the fourth and fifth brake light.

 

Turbito, I am looking into turning my rear fogs into brake lights as well, but am having trouble finding information on how. Is there a wiring kit that is compatible with 2011's, or did you just jury-rig it?

EDITED: Sorry Jerry! ;p

 

Coogz, not to minimize your question, but you should have said "jury-rigged"

Jerry rigged is a really negative connotation.

But, as far as I know, there is not kit.

What you can do is just tap into the brake light wires in the tail lamps. My 2010 didn't come with rear fogs, so I ordered the housings, lamps and plugs. I installed the housings, but haven't wired them up. Just never got around to it...lol

 

it's illegal where I live, but I like the way it looks.....so screw it
I even tinted the back-up light too
besides they been tinted for about 13-years now with no problems (expect for one time when I was passing through VA)