Smoking the tails...

[benDASHDASH]

I want to smoke my tails really soon, but I have a question. I heard some of you say it looks bad when you do it yourself. How does it look bad? And is it really easy or hard to screw up?

[OldUser1]

Save and buy MHW. DIY smoked tails might look good on the internet, but in person they look like ass.

-Kenyon

[benDASHDASH]

how?

[royalflush313]

i havent personally done it myself, but i would imagine it would come out alright.
As long as you prep the surface well, make sure you throw a thin coat on, and wet-sand, throw a coat of clear on, i dont see why it would look that bad.

[Jordan]

It MAY look good if you do it right AT FIRST. but... the paints people use are not made for outdoor use. Water and sunlight will fade and oxidize the paint, making them looks milky/cloudly IE like shit.

Buy MHW's and be done with it.

[royalflush313]

It MAY look good if you do it right AT FIRST. but... the paints people use are not made for outdoor use. Water and sunlight will fade and oxidize the paint, making them looks milky/cloudly IE like shit.

Buy MHW's and be done with it.

do you think it will be that way even if you use automotive clear coat, meant to be used on the exterior?

I painted my taillights red just the orange part, and the sprayed clear on the entire taillight, and it came out good. I think if I did it again, i could make it look a lot nicer too.

but yah, if you got the money, get the MHW and be done with it.

[e30evolution]

my all reds look like shit... but one of my tail lights is cracked to so i dont care

[benDASHDASH]

So it perhaps might maybe possibly look decent if I used automotive paint?

$300+ is ridiculous.

[DSchultz325e]

bear in mind that painting is an art mastered by few. also find pictures of people who tried to do this themselves. the "smoked" look that actually looks good isn't just a black/grey tint painted over the plastic lenses, either. as you should know, the stock lenses are colored inside and out. what it looks more like they did is color the inside of the bulb holders reflective shield, and instead used a clear lens with a smoked tint. look in detail at the closeups of jordan's tails, it will show you what i'm talking about. just a heads up before you go delving into the 20-30 bucks worth of material it will take to paint them knowing that it could have been 20-30 bucks towards the real deal.

[DSchultz325e]

here's some pics:

that looks goddam hideous, like a hack paintjob over existing tails.


even though the detail isn't there, these are the real deal. Much better looking and actually look like they could be an OEM part. i do agree, 300 bucks is outright ridiculous, but you have to pay a premium for premium products.

compare: photoshop a dark tint over the top ones and compare it to the lower one. i guarantee you won't come near the look.

[nameisbradgreen]

I

I did mine myself with the spray shit, and it came out so-so not really shiney or anything so i took it to my fathers friend who owns a auto body shop and had him put a coat or 2 of clear coat on it and now they look good

[318driver]

pics :!:

[kylebes1]

the 300 dollar ones are supposed to look smoked, the factory ones are not, you will never come close; the MHW's have a more clear lense where as the factory one is red throughout.

[hamann318is]

Just paint the turns red and start saving.

[Stu]

I loved my MHW lights



My brother had the MHW's on his M3 (early lights), and complained that they looked too 'pink,' I don't blame him for going back to stock tails.