Jeffs

Are smoked taillights legal here?? Or does the tint rule apply to headlights as well... I want to make my car more "black" and since i already have tints and black grill black headlight is the best way to go....but not willing to spend money and get it done and get a ticket and having to reverse the process. Can;t find much stuff on smoked headlights and taillights....anyone know anything?

Ralph-NL

I know hella used to produce them for the e60 (so they are probably legal), think they are legal as long as they provide enough light.

Jeffs

Yeah that was one of my considerations also, smoking the headlights AND changing the bulb so as to make my argument stronger should I be pulled over for this offence. But how much brighter??? I have no idea about any rules or regulations regarding this. I have seen many examples of cars with smoked lights done in CA but few in MA. Maybe its legal in CA but not MA?? I do not know.....r

EuroCarFan

Just because Hella makes them, doesn't mean they're legal. They may have a disclaimer that says "for offroad use only". I believe the only legal lights that you can put on US cars are ones that have the DOT approval stamped on the bulbs.

I don't know about MA but here are some of the laws in CA: http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/streetlegal.html

Looks like your tail lights must be red.

bleudyno

I have the same setup as you. Black car, dark tint, black grill, and I had my taillights and rear reflectors smoked. I had e60 member "jonstintedtails" do it for me and he did a great job! You might want to look him up. His website is www.jonstintedtails.com. He can also do your headlights if you want, though I think that maybe going too far. I love the look of my car now with the tinted rears. A lot of people have them in the Los Angeles area - on high end cars i might add: CLS500, RangRovers, 7 series. I've seen a lot so I'm not quite sure if they are actually illegal or just tollerated by cops. Either way, I'm keeping mine. haha.

EuroCarFan

Hey bleudyno...I remember seeing your name on a bid on eBay and if I remember correctly, it was for a set of smoked tail lights..hahaha...

Did you not win that bid so you got yours tinted instead? It looks cool. I've seen a lot of cars around here with smoked tail lights also but still don't know if it's illegal or not. That link I provided above says any tail lights other than red are illegal and technically, the smoked units still light up red...they just don't have the red lense. Will that argument stick? hehe

bleudyno

EuroCarFan, I don't remember bidding on any smoked tail lights so I don't think that was the right auction. I had the lights done since my car was in the shop one time and i thought it would be the perfect time to remove my tail lights and send them out to be done. Anyways, I had a light tint so the red and clear still shows through.

EuroCarFan

Hmm...maybe it was another auction.

Anyway, it looks good. As you can see from my signature, I was thinking of getting the Hella smoked tail lights some day. I saw them once on eBay for about $319. I also saw another auction where they were about $449. Tinting would be the cheapest method it looks like.

Jeffs

Wow...i really love the look of tinted lights. Visited jonstintedtails.com and loved the pic of the silver E60 with the red part of the taillights tinted.....gonna ask them how much it cost. I still cannot find rules regarding tinting laws in MA but if I can see others do it.....I'm in as well. Besides....I will go for the lightest tint and show the cops that its still RED not black....

EuroCarFan

Here's the Hella one on eBay. I think this seller is ripping people off though. They charge $1999 for the M Tech kit when the dealer's MSRP is only $1690.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-5-SERIE...019032096QQrdZ1