That car looks insane doesn’t it? Pulled it from a thread on the community talking about custom headlights.

 

Partly the car, but mostly the photography. It's a really, really good shot. IIRC, OneEighty used to have a trove of excellent photos.

And not to go on too much about Vossen, but holy cow so did Vossen. They used to have an endless collection of still photos and videos that were professional quality stuff. I don't follow them anymore since they went way upscale with their forged wheels, but back in the day it was car **** spending time on their website.

 

I wonder if in the coming decade we will look back on that period from the late 1990s to 2010s as another golden age for the automobile. I’m hesitant to blame Covid for anything else, but it definitely served as a demarcation point for so many things.

 

Alex is a great guy as you noted. He took a look at my car and noticed alot of small chrome accents (grille top/bottom, emblem, wheels, etc) so he feels we should keep a little chrome inside the light. Wasn't a fan of the darker gray since everything else on my car is black.

He thinks that the headlight housing in black with the chrome shrouds would go really well, and of course the LED rings. See the photos attached of this color scheme and of the LEDs turned on. Let me know your thoughts.

 

Not for nothing, but I basically said the same thing.

Also, if you're into subtle branding, considering having the amber marker painted dark to match, with the OneEighty decal over that area, to somewhat match your brakes and engine cover. That would look good, IMO.

I'd love to see you take on this project. Have you ever removed the headlights before?

 

My headlights have Diode Dynamics halos, which were $100 per set back when I made these. I upgraded the lenses from the OEM fesnel to Morimoto STI-R clear lenses. Lenses plus lense spacers were around $55 at the time. Matte black BBQ grille paint for the main housing and gloss black for the projector shroud. Butyl glue was another $10. Some other small bits and pieces like wire, wire terminals, etc. was another $20. The whole project cost me just under $300 USD and a few days of work. Never tried something like this before and turned out awesome, so if you're willing to try the DIY route, it's very much worth it and isn't as scary and complicated as it seems.

Now, the prices have gone up in the last 5 years, but I think it still beats paying full price. Of any mod I've done to my car, I feel like dark headlights changed its 'charachter' the most. Like eye liner and mascara completely transform a face, same thing here.

 

Painting the Amber Marker darker to match the calipers and engine cover? I'm not following. The inside of the housing where the amber market resides on the lower corner of the light? I'm still thinking that a darker gray would look more OEM compared to black, which looks full custom to me. Maybe pull in a gray from the CF PPF on the lower lip?

I have never removed the lights. I believe that the front end needs to be removed, or at least broken free at the top of the fascia. Will need to look into this....

 

Looks very clean. I like the idea of texture combining different shades of gloss and flat colors. I feel that one could combine several shades lighter and use a charcoal gray to maintain a more OEM look, then gloss black for the lenses. Need to noodle over this a bit.

 

There's an area inside the headlights which is an amber (orange) reflective marker. OneEighty paints over that with the same paint they use for the rest of the housing, then applies a tiny amber OneEighty vinyl decal. It's a really good look, IMO. Ask your contact what I'm talking about. I can't find an example online just now.

 

They have a thread on this forum with images. They have an example in there of what you're talking about, except its in purple instead of amberr: https://www.myg37.com/forums/lightin...m_content=post

EDIT: they have an amber one too:

 

That's what I'm talking about! I think that looks really good. If ever I were to have OneEighty do up my headlights, I'd be wanting that decal.

The eyebrow, not so much.

 

When I was painting, I tried leaving the eyebrow chrome, but even that was too much.

 

I figured out the reflector last night when I got home from the Bay, but the site was acting fussy and wouldn't let me post a pic from my phone (it's how I post photos, otherwise I need to email them to myself).

The decal in amber would be a very nice touch John. Thanks for finding a pic @hexotic

I actually love that matte dark silver innard color as well; perhaps do the rings around the light housings a few shades darker in gloss. I fear that if I go with black as Alex (vendor) suggested, the lights will look too custom. The eyebrow isn't my cup of tea for the same reason.

 

Hey everyone - is there a rough consensus on the weight of passenger needed to make the airbag be armed? When no one is in the passenger seat, airbag off light on center console is off. When my kid gets in - comes back on (indicating airbag #2 off). She weighs about 80#.

If that weight is about the trip point then it's behaving - otherwise it seems to be working backwards. No codes for the SRS system.

FWIW, I did have the passenger seat out years ago to replace the upper seat/back leather cover. Only wiring I messed with though was the seat heater mat, and that works fine...???

Edited to add: I did search the site and I'm seeing numbers from 30# all the way to 120, hence the question.

 

I know that once you get an idea you chew on it for a long time, research it from every direction, box in the expenses, reach out for info from companies, etc. And it seems you're doing that again right now. So I'm going to recommend you start a thread while you're at the beginning of things, and chronical the progress as it happens. I've done that a few times over the years, and the thread became not just a whiteboard for ideas and advice, but an actual part of the hobby process itself. Without psychoanalyzing it too much, it's enough to say that approach can be rewarding.

Then again... thread participation is a fraction of what it was like 10 years ago (sigh). IDK, just throwing that out there.