Euro foglight restoration and tinting

[dcains]

Here in FL we can get some pretty heavy fog in the early morning, as well as frequent heavy rain, and while I almost never drive the E24 in inclement weather, I've found over the years that I prefer yellow foglights. The scientific data, may or may not be in agreement, and even in France, where yellow lighting was the norm for years, it's no longer a requirement. Here's an interesting article from Daniel Stern's site:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/lights/light_color/light_color.html

Daniel recommends tinting the lenses with a particular paint, but I decided to try something a bit different and use vinyl film:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008BLFHS0?keywords=12%20by%2048%20inches%20Self%2 0Adhesive%20JDM%20Golden%20Yellow&qid=1450472442&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

My foglights were somewhat pitted and cloudy, so I first gave them a good soap and water wash, which brightened them up considerably. The film doesn't come with any real instructions for application, but there are YouTube vids out there. In short, I just floated the film on with some mildly soapy warm water, used an old Starbucks card as a squeegee, and shrunk the edge wrinkles with my wife's blow dryer. Here's a before and after pic:

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-JbS2Wgs/0/L/i-JbS2Wgs-L.jpg

I'm pretty happy with the result, especially the new smooth and shiny lens surface, and hopefully the film will hold up well. I've got plenty of film left, for probably 8 more sets of lights, and the task only took about 20 minutes. New clear lenses are available, and for my '85 E24 Euro, I've found that E30 M3 lenses can be used if new ones are ever needed.

[n2bimmer]

I did the same with my fogs, i used laminx, really nice product.

[1SGDHORN]

Being one who has used the spray tint method on my 1982 Mercedes 300sd with Euro front bumper and foglights, I can say your lights look a much brighter yellow using the film. The ones I did came out a deeper amber color. I guess a matter of personal preference. I do like the brighter color of the film.

[dcains]

When yellow lights were readily available from Cibie, Marchal, Hella, etc., this seems to be close to the color I recall them being. I'll be waiting for a foggy night and a test run. I've also got all new 12 awg wiring and relays installed for the fogs and the Hella H4 and H1 headlights, but I'm waiting for a set of the Hella Bi-Focus low beams and Narva +50 bulbs to arrive to upgrade the H4's. All my car's harnesses in the engine bay were completely exposed, so I rewrapped them all with German-made Tesa tape, and it's all looking great now, and the new lighting wires look almost original. Finally, I added a new set of Hella horns, too.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-CKcQ7tX/0/L/i-CKcQ7tX-L.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-xtdJ2Rp/0/L/i-xtdJ2Rp-L.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-MWsgwwp/0/L/i-MWsgwwp-L.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-mBGJb2v/0/L/i-mBGJb2v-L.jpg

[RSheiman]

Having Hella yellow fog lights I can say your tint is pretty much on the mark. Mine were pitted so I hit them with some 2k clear coat and they came out nice. Perhaps consider a clear coat for added durability (with a check first to make sure it doesn't just dissolve the film). I am still miffed that my 86 635 is U.S. spec and had yellow lights from the factory.