I have taken a recent liking to the reflectors in the front fenders on LCI cars. I think it looks a little 3ish, which to me is good. Somewhat youthful. So I ordered the reflectors and I am going to cut a hole in my fenders with a dremel tool. Seems easy enough as long as the outline and cutting are precise? I am pondering what to use to secure the reflector...all weather black flexible caulking or a glue gun?

Has anyone tried this? Any recommendations?

DRP

 

I think you're making this project sound way easier than it will end up being. How are you going to precisely cut the shape with the Dremel tool?

You asked for a recommendation and mine is to not do it!!

 

.....not to mention that it's not going to look very pretty if you have U.S. spec headlights with the amber reflectors already in them. Then you are going to look at your car and say "now I need euro headlights".

 

DON'T DO IT!

 

I agree with Rudy... concept is easy... however the cut has to be perfect and then to secure it... it's your car, but i wouldn't do it either..

 

+1 - sounds like one of those projects that you will regret starting about 1/2 way through...and once that dremel hits the paint - you will be in for the long-haul

 

You've heard it before ... NOT RECOMMENDED.

:thumbsdown:

If you really really must have additional reflectors on your front fenders there are plenty of stick-ons at your local Wal-Mart or PepBoys. At least you will not have risked expensive paint and body damage.

 

Okay, on second thought...maybe not.

Thank you for the feedback, seriously. It's nice to get an outside perspective when your caught up in an idea.

Regards,
DRP

 

Glad you came to your senses. If you really, really wanted these reflectors retrofitted, you could always but a new (LCI) front bumper skin that has the reflector cutouts already there. I can't say with 100% certainty that it would fit a pre-LCI car but something tells me it would. (Obviously, you'd have to have it painted to match your car and you might have to purchase a few more plastic trim pieces for the bottom area. You might also need new fog lights, etc.)

If you decided to take that plunge and buy the entire bumper skin (assuming you've proven that it will fit), you could attempt to dremel your existing one first to see how good or bad it turns out. If you screw it up, you'd just go out and buy the new skin. If you are happy with how it looks after Dremeling, then you just saved yourself the cost of the new bumper.

Keep in mind that the only drawback to attempting to cut the original bumper is you won't have any used bumper to sell either here or on eBay, etc. since you've likely damaged it. (Sure, someone might still buy it and use some sort of body filler to fix up the mess the Dremel made but that's a whole other story...)

 

If you just want to replicate the look why not mask off the area and paint it , from 3 feet away you would never know the difference...................dremmels and BMW's are a no no Relective paint is easy to find ...................JFYI When my new car arrives I'm painting the reflectors the same color as the car , cause I don't like the look of them.................too Ford Escort ish for me .
Cheers