[was]

I have always liked the Angel Eyes look on the 5 series BMW's so I tried doing something similar on my TT

I used a produst called Glow wire which is made my a company called  Surelight Â

http://www.surelight.com/content.php

They sell a kit for  BMW's but I fabricated my own as i wanted a complete circle of light.

some pics of how it was done. There will be some new pics later this evening :
http://public.fotki.com/wasim/audi_tt_angel_eyes_mod/

The colour is a 100% match to xenons but obviously much lower light output.

 

[TTombo]

was, how do you open up the light units?

 

[was]

the headlamps are "sealed" with a heat set adhesive. I used a hot air gun on a low setting to soften the adhesive and slowely eased the lens off.

 

[coupe-sport]

a more advanced way of doing it here (but on a golf) - it'll get Wak thinking

http://www.jslesser.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/headlights.htm

james.

 

[Dont I Recognise You]

nice one - cheers!

 

[PaulRS3]

i wouldnt advise this. not for the cost of the headlights.

headlights are leak tested before they are sent out to the manufacturer and you will never get them to reseal once you have pulled off the lense, no matter how hard you try.

even with glue applied by robots and automatic assembly processes we get leak test failures which are scrap.

look forward to ingress of water, and condensation

how much is a TT headlight? £450 IIRC.

you been warned :

 

[Matthew]

i wouldnt advise this. not for the cost of the headlights.

headlights are leak tested before they are sent out to the manufacturer and  you will never get them to reseal once you have pulled off the lense, no matter how hard you try.

even with glue applied by robots and automatic assembly processes we get leak test failures which are scrap.

look forward to ingress of water, and condensation

how much is a TT headlight? £450 IIRC.

you been warned  :

I was interested in this but the mod seems to be a lot of work using the Glow Wire (although it looks great). I thought that maybe someone did a kit for it or something. Anyway - Thanks for all the info guys. I'm astonished at how thorough and downright adventurous people can be!

 

[TTej]

Was

The eyes look great! even better on the car. Oh and the car looks great too! Well happy for you mate.

With regard to the lense allowing condensation through, i thought they already do this as the seal is not 100% something to do with the Xenons, so i dont think there should be a problem with your mod. Whats next now??

 

[PaulRS3]

there are vents on every headlight,( ie an allowed leak) its not related to xenon or not.

not much help if your lense is leaking from the top.

jet wash, car wash, rain, dirt  :

and they wont be designed to get rid of that much condensation. Just what the lamp was designed for.

 

[TTej]

there are vents on every headlight,( ie an allowed leak) its not related to xenon or not.

not much help if your lense is leaking from the top.

jet wash, car wash, rain, dirt  :

and they wont be designed to get rid of that much condensation. Just what the lamp was designed for.

Thanks for clearing that up, always enjoy learning more. So why do they have a 'allowed leak' is it to do with heat??

 

[Wak]

Was, it looks great, we'll try to hook up and take some pics soon.

that number plate doesnt look right though!

 

[was]

Wak, TTej
thanks for your comments guys

the number plate will be changing very soon just waiting for my V5 to come through the post!

there is a risk element when doing a mod like this but IMO the risk was worth it.

was.

 

[phil]

I think they look evil. It's looking at me funny.

 

[aycer]

Was,
Looks like your back on the road again after all that frustration. Enjoy ;D ;D

 

[PaulRS3]

heating and rapid cooling can create condensation. They will be there to help that and been designed for it.

no doubt they also help stop pressure build up from the heat expanding the air inside the headlight, they can get pretty hot. Even more so if your not moving.

the vents remain the same from xenon to halogen. Sometimes they are just relocated as xenon "Housing" (the back moulding) shapes differ slightly to accept the larger modules required for xenon fitment.

and your TT polycarbonate lenses are almost certainly going to have a lacquered finish. Something else to think about when your thinking of waving a hot air gun about. ;D

 

[was]

Paul S3

just for the record I have been working on this mod for a while & it was not a case of attacking the car with some tools : I am well aware of the construction methods & materials used on the TT headlamp.

Oh BTW the TT headlamp lens does not have a lacquered coating and the polycarbonate is injection molded at 285'C at 60 PSI, a heat gun set at 80'C will cause no damage

As with any mod you have to educate yourself with any potential risk involved. I am not advising anybody to do this mod, just showing what is possible

 

[spilmah]

Was,
Looks like your back on the road again after all that frustration.  Enjoy  ;D ;D

I guess that wot you call glow in the dark!!!

Enjoy the new car Was, It does look great!!!

Take care

Sam

 

[andya]

how much is a TT headlight? £450 IIRC.

you been warned  :

I'm pretty sure a TT headlight unit is more like £1,100....

definately not one to mess with

 

[PaulRS3]

Paul S3

just for the record I have been working on this mod for a while & it was not a case of attacking the car with some tools  :  I am well aware of the construction methods & materials used on the TT headlamp.

Oh BTW the TT headlamp lens does not have a  lacquered coating and the polycarbonate is injection molded at 285'C at 60 PSI, a heat gun set at 80'C will cause no damage Â

As with any mod you have to educate yourself  with any potential risk involved. I am not advising anybody to do this mod, just showing what is possible Â

Im not clutching at straws either. ive worked for one of the largest headlight manufacturers for the last 6 years.

id be very supprised if it isnt lacqured, everything we make is. Its the same process used across all our plants worldwide.

as is the reflectors. Â moulded, lacqured and then vacuum plated . The silver finish is actually evaporated aluminium electroplated under vacuum.

and injection pressure is way more than that.
and usually in 650 ton or 800 ton (clamping force)Krauss Maffei moulding machines

1000 tonner for the bigger stuff.

;D

 Having said all that, if your into that sort of thing the end results do look good, I just wouldnt wanna risk my wallet to do it, knowing the cost to fix it if it goes wrong.

 

[Matthew]

Well, not sure if I would be confident in my abilities to attempt this myself but if was is accepting commissions I'd be interested....

Was - Could these be used in conjunction with Xenons?