Cleared Headlights

[Mr Zipps]

I just bought a 01 525i... I want to clear the headlights.(take out the orange piece toward the sides) Has anyone taken the headlights apart. Any info would help....

[Daved]

I think you can't do that because it's an one piece thing (IIRC). You'll have to buy some euro clear headlights.

[dinomite]

Yep, what you want are "euro clears" or "clear corners".

[Mr Zipps]

I want clear corners. I want to take that orange piece out....

[///M LIFE©]

I think you can 'break' out the orange piece

[shragon]

i've seen where the head light is taken apart and the orange reflector was removed. heard it's a real pain in the ass. looks good on a black car.

for clears, you need to get the euro angel eye headlights.

[dinomite]

I didn't notice that it was an E39... For the three series you buy a new piece that is clear. Perhaps it's different for the E39?

[Greco540]

The E39 units are sealed. You can not take them apart. To get a clear side, you need to purchase new assemblies.

[shragon]

the person who removed the orange reflector is lee. his s/n is lee22.

i've seen this car in person at last year's tuningwerks show at wheel power in socal. very clean.

[Greco540]

Yes and if you asked Lee about it he would say, "Even if someone paid me to do it, I would never do it again." Try and find a replacement lens, luckily I was able to get a set from overseas, but in order to get the lens out, you need a dremel, steady hands and lots and lots of patience. Plus if you f-up, you still need new assemblies.....

[EUPHORIA]

I have a black E39 and always wanted to remove that orange reflector (just like Lee22's).
I emailed and sent private messages to him asking if he would do it if I pay him whatever it is he's asking for, he always ignored the emails. I could tell there's no way he would do it. Never gave me a straight forward YES or NO, just didn't reply to me. So forget him, he won't do it.

I went as far as taking the whole unit out and disassembling it until I came to a point where only thing separating me and the orange reflector was the seal. To open the unit I'd have to break the seal. This kinda scared me, because I thought if I break the seal, then seal it back, it will never be as tight as original factory seal, and water condensation will appear inside the headlight unit. So I just got disappointed and put the headlight unit back again.

I'm still very interested to remove the reflector and maybe a few interested parties can get together and we can think and figure out how to do this. I'm the type that I won't mind someone else having something badass done to his/her car if I've done it, too. And if I find a way to do this I"ll let you guys know and help you out.

Anyways if you figure something out please share or private me :D

[Greco540]

The thing is to have an extra set of lens covers befroe you try anyting. They re extremely rare and only available if you can find them in Europe. Luckily when I purchased my AE's from Europe the bloke was nice enough to send me a spare set of lenses.

So I stress before you try anything, get yourself a replacement lens first. Then when you got that I will be more than happy to coach you through it....

[///M LIFE©]

I dont think it should be too hard, Just bake the lights open, depending on how it is placed, remove the yellow side. Rebake and seal.

[Mr Zipps]

Originally posted by ///M LIFE©
I dont think it should be too hard, Just bake the lights open, depending on how it is placed, remove the yellow side. Rebake and seal.

That is what I thought. I have cleared tons of headlights. Just never the 5 series. I have some1 who asked me if I could do theres.

He doesnt want to mail them to me unless he is positive that I can do it. If I could only get his headlight for a day I can try some different methods.

If some1 is willing to send me there headlights or pass by with them and let me try some thing. I will not distroy your headlights...

[Mr Zipps]

check out my website www.cardomain.com/id/mrzipps

[Greco540]

Originally posted by ///M LIFE©
I dont think it should be too hard, Just bake the lights open, depending on how it is placed, remove the yellow side. Rebake and seal.

Yes works great on GM, and Japanese assemblies when youare able to remove all the internals first. How do you think the halo glass will respond to 400F temperatures? How about the other parts?

Normally when you bake a headlight to get the lens off you remove all the internals first.. to bad on these the internals only come off when the lens is off in the first place...

[Mr Zipps]

When I bake the headlights the only thing I remove is the bulbs.... Never had a problem...

[shragon]

i have a few friends that have done the procedure on civics. they use a heat gun to heat up the seal and a screw driver and exacto knife to seperate the lens from the housing.

my dad has a 2001 e39, and i just looked at the head lights. i can't really tell how it's put together without actually taking out the whole head light unit. it looks like it's clipped in with a seal?

[Noman]

Think about it this way.....

On ebay they sell "euro clear" e39 angel eye halogen headlight units for about $600...made by HELLA

I see auctions for used "USA spec" angel eye halgogen units for for $400-$500.

SO, if you buy the euro version and then sell your stock headlights you are really paying about 100-200 dollars for clear corners...which is not unreasonable because when u buy the euro headlight version not only do you get the clear corner reflector but the blinker lens is clear too.