Sprayed rear lights.

[RevBillyG]

It's not much but it's another thing crossed off my list.
I know the rest of the car's looking a bit minging. Needs the bumper spraying, a good clean and a new reg plate as well as many other things.
I'm starting on the little things that I can do without buggering anything up too much ;)






The interior is coming along too. I'm in no mad hurry, just trying to do things as cheaply as possible.

2 used rear lights Ԛ£15inc p+p
1 can of spray Ԛ£11.95 free postage

[TOURINGDADDY]

DUDE put some refelectors on ur car....... the filth will ave field day with u could even take ur car if they want to b ares holes.... otherwise looks sweet

[Borderbmw]

we all have to start somewhere.......as some bloke said once,,,"from small acorns,mighty oaks will grow!" im sure that means something!?!?!?!

[RevBillyG]

Sorry to sound stupid but do you mean reflectors on the inside of the light units?

Can you get them premade anywhere?

[TOURINGDADDY]

Yeah Halfrauds or any rip off place like that

[RevBillyG]

OK, I'm really paranoid now. I think I'll pop the old ones back on before I go out later.

Is it possible to get brighter bulbs? Either that or I'll just have to remove some (most!?) of the tint.

[TOURINGDADDY]

Its not the brightness of the bulbs thats the prob its u got no refelectors so cars can c ur parked at night....

[RevBillyG]

aha! I assumed it was due to the darkness of the tint (although I'll have to wait until the sun goes down a bit to see if I've gone too dark with the tint)

Hmm, where'd I put that tinfoil? ;)

[TOURINGDADDY]

TINFOIL

[Zayyan]

Surely you can get some little reflectors that stick on the bumper/rear valance?

[Zayyan]

Something like this is what I'm talking about!

[RevBillyG]

You reckon that'll keep me legal then?

Is there anywhere I can check on the legality of it all?
/me rushes off to see if the DVLA website has any info.

[Zayyan]

Yeah something like that'll be fine.

As long as the rear lights are the right colour as well you'll be OK, not sure about brightnesses required though

[Davenotouring]

Another option which looks quite smart is just tinting the orange indicator part red.

It is a small change but makes a big difference.

[Zayyan]

Sure does....I've got them going on soon

[Ziggy]

Another option which looks quite smart is just tinting the orange indicator part red.

It is a small change but makes a big difference.

Have you ever had any problems with the law cos of the indicators not flashing red? Or for those who've swapped the indicators with the reversing lights, is it a problem for the indicators not to be seen from the side?

[Zayyan]

I put an amber indicator bulb in the indicator socket and asked a few people, and everybody said it was orange rather than red....it seems if you don't spray it too thickly you're okay.

You thinking of doing this one Jon? They do look great on red cars

[RevBillyG]

I did think about going red but figured it'd look a bit daft on a dark red (wein rot) car.

I've done some digging on the MOT site.

Stick-on reflectors are fine, the rear lights must be the correct colour and must be able to be seen "from a reasonable distance". That could be interpreted as you see fit.

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_140.htm

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_110.htm

[Zayyan]

Well then get some reflectors and you're sorted

Doesn't seem to say anything about the indicator position on there

[E30Adam]

Sorry to burst the bubble but they look hideous.

You can tell they've been DIY'd because of the awful dull finish. I think you'd have been better off spending the money on a decent polish and giving it a nice wax.

That look is so chav, all the boyracer escorts seem to do that to their cars, don't fall into that category please, I'm guessing you're young and will think to yourself one day "what the hell was I thinking". I'd also ditch those god-awful hubcaps.

[Ziggy]

I put an amber indicator bulb in the indicator socket and asked a few people, and everybody said it was orange rather than red....it seems if you don't spray it too thickly you're okay.

You thinking of doing this one Jon? They do look great on red cars

Cool & yeah, I expect I'll do it sometime... Still got a couple of bits to do just to get it up to standard though! Then I reckon some clear fronts, & red side & rears'll have to be done.

[Jhonno]

Sorry to burst the bubble but they look hideous.

You can tell they've been DIY'd because of the awful dull finish. I think you'd have been better off spending the money on a decent polish and giving it a nice wax.

That look is so chav, all the boyracer escorts seem to do that to their cars, don't fall into that category please, I'm guessing you're young and will think to yourself one day "what the hell was I thinking". I'd also ditch those god-awful hubcaps.

Have to very much agree with this

[RevBillyG]

Tough I like it :p

I'm a 32 yr old father of one as it happens. I'm not trying to chav the car up. I just like those lights.

I hate the wheels too but I'm skint and it's going to take me a while to be able to afford anything better.

I'm not trying to make the car look like a street racer or anything (it'll never be a fast car short of strapping a jet engine to the roof!) I just want to clean it up and make it tidy.

Yes the lights need finishing off properly. I just wanted to see if they looked any good on the car. The reason I bought a set of lights instead of painting the originals is just in case it looked awful I can always put the old ones back on again.

I'd love to be able to go out and buy an M3 with a set of Ԛ£600 wheels on but I can't so I'm trying to make the best with what I have.

[Jhonno]

I'd love to be able to go out and buy an M3 with a set of Ԛ£600 wheels on but I can't so I'm trying to make the best with what I have.

Neither can i...

[RevBillyG]

ah well, maybe I get little sensitive. Yes the car is grubby, but I love it to bits and I want to make it look nice again.

It's certainly going to look a lot worse before it gets better

[320Touring]

TBH mate, not too keen on the lights, but as you said earlier-its YOUR car!!

you like it, you do whatever you want!

way I see it is that you'r keeping n e30 outta the crusher-A GOOD THING!!

keep up the good work

[Borderbmw]

You've tried it mate,to see what its like and at least you,ve got the option of putting the old ones back on

[johnono]

but all red would look good also ona red car??

theyԚ´re a bit dark, but like its been said it's up to u

[RevBillyG]

I'm going to take them off. Give them a damned good laquer and polish and then try them again and see what they look like. It's true they are far too matt.

I've got this idea in mind of what I want the car to look like. The colour scheme's already black and dark red so I wanted to carry the theme over.
Remove the chrome trim around the side windows, get tinted indicators, lower it a little, new wheels of course.

I just like that real dark front and back look.
I'll have to try a photoshop session on it.

[Wilson]

In my opinion, I think you may have gone a little dark with them, maybe a bit lighter would look better, more of a smoked look than a black look., plus I think you may have some trouble with the police!

Keep up the good work, and give the car a damn good polish, perhaps a cut, most colours can look good if well polished.

Thanks
Wilson

[Wilson]

Actually looking back at the pics the paint looks quite good, a good t cut will give it a deeper shine.

Keep it up

Thanks
Wilson

[RevBillyG]

Thanks. I've now taken the lights off in order to really shine them up. I've done one so far (I've used this stuff called Peak which is primarily a metal polish but is also great for use on plastics). I'm trying my damnedest to get a decent photo of new vs old. It's really looking good so far (and a touch lighter I might add!) it looks like that even the reflectors will be ok.

Bank holiday Monday = time to clean the car! Shame that the fact there's no carpet or parcel shelf in there at the moment. Really getting fed up with that

Still, carpet should arrive sometime this week (hopefully) and I'm going too pickup the parcel shelf next Sunday.