[kcalhoun27]

First and foremost - using this DIY is at your own risk. I am mechanically inclined as i have worked on planes for the past 10 years, and cars even longer. This is fairly straightforward, however, if you mess something up it could be VERY costly to replace.

So, i decided to paint the chrome pieces in my headlight black because i dont like chrome, and i think they look way better this way. And, i had a day to burn, so why not do something fun! I am glad i did it, but in the end, im not sure if the amount of work required was worth it. If i was not a tinkerer, and fairly confident in my mechanical skill i would have paid for it. I have a feeling most of the cost that companies charge for this work is spent on advil.

Tools you will need:
-heat gun
-screwdrivers (3)
- 2 regular sized flatheads
- 1 small flathead
-spray paint
-sandpaper (i used 400 grit)
-T20 torx driver

Tools you might want:
-super glue
-paper towels
-radio
-coffee/beer

MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU NEED:

PATIENCE!!!

i cant stress that enough. this will take about 5 hours all told, and i felt like i could have slowed down. to that end, i broke a piece, so i could have certainly used a break. PLEASE, take your time.

With that said, here we go.....

1. Remove your front bumper and wheel well linings. if you dont know how, look it up or just wing it like i did. its fairly easy, and you cant progress without doing it

2. Once the headlight is removed, take it apart.(1 screw)



You will need to use the heat gun to heat the adhesive, and then slowly and carefully pry the two pieces apart. it takes a little time, just move around the perimeter of the housing and youll be fine. Also, there is one screw on it. There is a piece of rubber, and its underneath it. dont forget about it!



BUT WAIT----
when you are splitting the housing, you will see wiring. you need to unplug that clip before you separate them completely, or you will tear the clip apart. i know, i did it
NOTE-- it seems that no error will be thrown if these plugs are not plugged in. so, if you desire to lose the small LED in the corner of the housing, just leave it undone and it wont be on anymore



moving on
3. Remove the angel eyes.(1 screw)



turns out, they are just pieces of glass that are snapped in place and reflect light, unlike the e46. but no worries, its easy to do. use the small screwdriver to gently pry the plastic holding it apart, give it a wiggle and it will come out. its in 2 pieces on the inner light. for the outer lens, its one piece. for that one, unclip one side and gently pry it up so you can see underneath it. Then, slowly pop out the lens one side at a time.


4. Unscrew the to plastic pieces that you want to paint.(5 screws) there are four screws on the inner, and two on the outer, although one is already removed during the angel removal. also, on the outer, there is a clip in the middle portion. its come out easy, so dont force it, just use the small screwdriver if you have to.




5. Sand and Paint!!! i used flat black. but really the choice is yours

6. At this point, everything else is reverse order, so im not going to write it out. if you made it this far, putting it back should be the same amount of work.

NOTE-- when reattaching the lense to the housing, i reheated the glue on the housiong and pressed them back together. i cant say whether this is the best solution or not, but its the one i used. if you feel that more adhesive would be beneficial, by all means use more


All in all, im satisfied with it. but, i still have the same bulbs, so not that much has changed yet...
heres the final product:

[Addicted2Boost]

nice work!

[darik67u]

Looks good, I love when people are not afraid to crack stuff open!!!

[BlkNWhite]

Originally Posted by darik67u

Looks good, I love when people are not afraid to crack stuff open!!!

...&those people who arent afraid to crack shit open are the same people who teach the ones who dont know shit lol

[darik67u]

Originally Posted by BlkNWhite

...&those people who arent afraid to crack shit open are the same people who teach the ones who dont know shit lol

They have to learn some how.... or you could just go buy them. I think it says alot doing stuff yourself.

[lpphreakx06]

Great DIY, so did you use super glue to re-seal the housing back together?

[kcalhoun27]

Originally Posted by lpphreakx06

Great DIY, so did you use super glue to re-seal the housing back together?

no, i used the heat gun to reheat the adhesive, and pressed it back together. the channel that the lense fits into is still full of the stuff, so as long as it gets nice and warm, it will be plyable and re-adhere. i guess i should add that part

[qclik]

i am planning to do this too but plus led ring like oss, i got instructions from the led ring seller to bake the headlight will be faster.

[kcalhoun27]

Originally Posted by qclik

i am planning to do this too but plus led ring like oss, i got instructions from the led ring seller to bake the headlight will be faster.

it only took about 5 minutes per light to reseal them with a heat gun. if the baking method works well, post it in here to help! thanks

[reggiecmah]

going to probably attempt this, this weekend

[kcalhoun27]

Originally Posted by Reggie@MWDesign

going to probably attempt this, this weekend

if you have any questions, PM me and ill get back to you as soon as i can. also, if you find out any ways to do this that are easier than what i posted, lmk, and ill add it to the original post. GL

[E92-Lighting]

very informative guide and well done

[NiVeDh]

Good info here!

[reggiecmah]

i am halfway done pretty much, seperately the lights wasnt as bad as I thought, i did the heat gun method with a few butter knives haha

[kcalhoun27]

Well im glad to hear it is going well. And i hope my directions were helpful

[reggiecmah]

Originally Posted by kcalhoun27

Well im glad to hear it is going well. And i hope my directions were helpful

well here is how it turned out guys! thanks for the DIY!

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=488828

[spandeli]

Originally Posted by kcalhoun27

it only took about 5 minutes per light to reseal them with a heat gun. if the baking method works well, post it in here to help! thanks

i did this to my old MRS headlights a few years ago. I baked the headlights in my oven, actuallly it was a brand new oven, and the first thing i cooked was my headlights

[qclik]

just baked my headlight at 200F 10mins, the glue soft moderately around the edge and easily pry open just in 3mins . but remove the bumper and the headlight took me 3 hours to do.
applied several layer of paint clear coat makes it glossy black.


LED ring + blackout

[kcalhoun27]

looks great guys!!! i really like the tinted blinkers. i need to do that too, i just didnt have the tint spray at the time. good job!

[BMSe92]

So I just tried this... Couldn't get the headlights apart. Tried everything! Baked them in the oven, hair drier, heat gun... Nothing worked. The sealant wouldn't budge. Maybe BMW started using a better sealant on LCI models

Every time I'd heat the housing up and try splitting them apart, the plastic housing and lens would deform from being hot, before the sealant would let go.

Not too mention, the headlights were a complete bitch to remove once the bumper was off.

[spiike32]

There are two screws that you need to unscrew underneath rubber pieces. I will put money you didn't unscrew these.

[J-Sin]

I want to see a completed POORMAN OSS on someones LCI