Yellow ellipsoids illegal?

[E30Kaiser]

My headlights are yellow and i have never even been looked at by the cops, my brother's are the same way and several Mercedes in the area have them too. Either they are fine in NC or the cops don't know/give a crap.

[e30edward]

yeah i think some older MBs had yellow fogs or high beams b/c my friend used to have one and it had yellow highs.

[stegosaurus]

If yellow headlights may or may not be legal, what about yellow fogs? I'm trying to imagine what it'll be like driving in all the snow with brand new ellipsoids, I'll probably go blind. What about spraying the interior of the fog with a yellow clear?

[Sam Cogley]

They're illegal because they're not DOT approved - same as the regular Euro ellipsoids, or E-code H4 and H1 housings. The odds of anyone caring are very minimal in my experience. Just about every vehicle I've owned for the past decade has had E-spec headlights, and I've never been bothered once about it. That said, the yellow lenses might be a bit more likely to draw attention, just because they're so visibly different from normal.

Because libs like to make everything illegal. Pretty soon your car will be illegal since its not "green".

Astonishingly stupid comment.

[rThor432]

I had no idea most of that stuff was illegal, though now I'm curious as to why.

Euro grilles-- Block off too much of the headlight.
Euro Trim (late bumpers)-- No side marker lights; nobody can tell that the lights in the dark are actually a 3-dimensional object without them.
Euro Bumpers (early bumpers)-- Light stamped steel bumpers dont pass crash tests, so the diving board is born.

There are other things and plenty of them. [Stupid] little odd things like door bars and mirror glass.

[daniel]

many lexus cars have yellow fogs. i dont think yellow fogs are illegal.

[BeirBrennerE30]

many lexus cars have yellow fogs. i dont think yellow fogs are illegal.

Yellow fogs arent illegal... the laws for fog lights are nto very well defined. However, in most states if you have them installed they have to function properly, oe or not. if you dont have them its not a problem.

for euro stuff... yes its all illegal. Same as bringing over a euro spec car and not fedralizing it. Most cops and inspection stations dont care but if someone really wants to stick it to you then your screwed.

[GnarMachine]

Thanks again for all the help and info. However stegosaurus brings up an interesting question, what if you sprayed the insides of DOT approved lights with some sort of yellow clearcoat material?

[wagonizzle]

Hey man do a search for lamin-x. I think that would solve your problem a lot easier than pulling the lights apart to spray the insides

[Van Westervelt]

Thanks again for all the help and info. However stegosaurus brings up an interesting question, what if you sprayed the insides of DOT approved lights with some sort of yellow clearcoat material?

They dont care about the stamp on them. The law states the low or "main beam" headlights must emit a white light.

There is no way around it buddy. You either do it, and live with the chance of getting a ticket, or you play by the rules. Yellow really only comes in handy at really high speeds and poor weather. Beyond those two times, its actually more of a hindering factor.

I have run my yellow 50w HIDs for near 6 months, and have only gotten a warning. Course, I dont always drive the e30 everywhere either.

[Sam Cogley]

I have 55w Hella Yellowstar bulbs in my low beams. It's not a screaming yellow light, it's more of a more visible version of regular white lights. Very nice in the rain, and no one has bugged me about them.

[BeirBrennerE30]

also just to debug any myths... yellow lights put out less light energy than white light. Its essentially like putting window tint over your headlights. You are going to see less, just that what you do see will have more contrast cuz its yellow on a back background

[GnarMachine]

Well thanks again for all the help everyone. I guess I'll just take my chances.

[Sam Cogley]

also just to debug any myths... yellow lights put out less light energy than white light. Its essentially like putting window tint over your headlights. You are going to see less, just that what you do see will have more contrast cuz its yellow on a back background

http://www.coolbulbs.com/HID_faq.asp

[NC325iC]

lexus comes with yellow lights (some of them is300 used to for sure) so they cant be illegal