z4 headlight amber delete

[pokeybritches]

You don't get the angel eyes though. Buying used is fine if you only want clear lights, no change in housing (like painted to matte black), or smoked signal strips.

[Z4inAZ]

Originally Posted by pokeybritches

You don't get the angel eyes though. Buying used is fine if you only want clear lights, no change in housing (like painted to matte black), or smoked signal strips.

Cheers, I had forgotten about that

It may seem like a lot for angel eyes but considering these lights cant be baked open, I do understand paying something a few hundred bucks for peace of mind that it will be done "right" ...these lights arent cheap.

But for anyone who just wants clears, you have the option to stick with OEM parts now from junkyards or wherever else. $250-400 for OEM clear lights is pretty darn good in the BMW world

[Z@T]

Originally Posted by Z4inAZ

Things must have changed in the 3 years since this thread was started...

Why pay $330 for Tekarbon to take your current lights apart? You can get good condition clear 2005 lights for $250-400 easily. I just scored a set for $400 and only paid that much because all mounting tabs are intact and they come polished and look like new.

Then you can resell your old lights for about what you paid for the new clear ones, and instead of paying Tekarbon $330, you instead have a net cost of $0 and you have clear lights.

I was getting really mad because I didnt want to drop $800+ on lights but also for my project build amber lights REALLY would not have worked. So I did a lot of digging and found someone sold a set of clear lights for $250 shipped so I did some digging myself and there are junkyards all across the US with clear Z4 lights that they are selling at $200 OBO a piece... call em up, offer $325 shipped for a set and most will take it. No point going to Tekarbon anymore IMO... 3-5 years ago when these cars were brand new it made sense to go there because there were not junkyard parts. Now with a few of these cars having been wrecked, where is the motivation to pay a third party to disassemble your lights instead of just buying new (to you) units?

Not to mention they dont sell the clear lenses anywhere, Tekarbon never stocked them, so youd end up having to pay the $330 for the labor PLUS youd have to buy clear lights for parts or find the unobtanium clear sidemarker seperate from the headlight...

Thank you for that answer.

I have sides, tails etc already clear. Just headlights still amber.

I'm tracing eBay, Craigslist and vendors at least twice a week but haven't found a set clear/black inlays for a decent price. The best offer was in Germany 630 Euro for Halogens new.

Besides:
I have a friend with an 2.5l with clear turn headlights who would trade. I started ripping both cars apart but I forgot to check if he has Xenon. Mine are Xenon and he has Halogen.

I could have modified the halogens for Xenon but he would have had lights with holes.

Giving him my Xenon didn't work either since he is missing the wiring harness.

If I ship both (My friend and mine) to Tekarbon to give me his insert, strip and paint the amber in his housing would cost me $630 (probably $700 incl shipping) what I think is too much for having the same headlights back.

If you have a source for a set, please help me out!!

[Z4inAZ]

Originally Posted by Z@T

Thank you for that answer.

I have sides, tails etc already clear. Just headlights still amber.

I'm tracing eBay, Craigslist and vendors at least twice a week but haven't found a set clear/black inlays for a decent price. The best offer was in Germany 630 Euro for Halogens new.

Besides:
I have a friend with an 2.5l with clear turn headlights who would trade. I started ripping both cars apart but I forgot to check if he has Xenon. Mine are Xenon and he has Halogen.

I could have modified the halogens for Xenon but he would have had lights with holes.

Giving him my Xenon didn't work either since he is missing the wiring harness.

If I ship both (My friend and mine) to Tekarbon to give me his insert, strip and paint the amber in his housing would cost me $630 (probably $700 incl shipping) what I think is too much for having the same headlights back.

If you have a source for a set, please help me out!!

www.car-part.com
2005 (best to do 2005, they fit 2003-2005 models and 2005 were mostly sold with clear headlights)
BMW Z4
Headlight Assembly

Then you choose what type of headlight you want... there are several options and you will also need to search left/right lights:
amber turn lens, w/o xenon; chrome trim
amber turn lens, w/o xenon; graphite color trim
amber turn lens, xenon, chrome trim
amber turn lens, xenon, graphite color trim
clear turn lens, w/o xenon; chrome trim
clear turn lens, w/o xenon; graphite color trim
clear turn lens, xenon, chrome trim
clear turn lens, xenon, graphite color trim

Sounds like you want one of the following:
clear turn lens, xenon, chrome trim
clear turn lens, xenon, graphite color trim


Xenons are much more expensive than non-xenons so it may be wise for you to buy a set of non-xenons and retrofit your HIDs.

Dont forget to haggle... asking prices are about $600 for a SET of clear/graphite, but you can haggle them down to $400 if you are skilled, or $500 if you arent

Usually the first thing I do is make a list of all the vendors of Left side light units, then go to Right side lights and cross-check to see who is selling both Left and Right lights. Then call them all up and see their initial asking price, then i usually take the 3-5 lowest initial quotes and call them back and haggle

Can be a bit of a faff but can get you lights you want for a better price than alternate sources.

They even sell broken light units on there so it may be possible to buy broken clear lights with the clear hockeysticks intact.

[tom_48]

I have no idea what this thread is about. ...

[pokeybritches]

Good info! I didn't think about haggling.

[Z4inAZ]

Originally Posted by pokeybritches

Good info! I didn't think about haggling.

These showed up earlier today... $400 set! Cant wait to get my car done...


By all means, haggle at every junkyard you go to. They are expecting it.

Good luck on your search, www.car-part.com is an invaluable resource for anyone into DIY work or OEM upgrades.

[Z@T]

Originally Posted by Z4inAZ

These showed up earlier today... $400 set! Cant wait to get my car done...


By all means, haggle at every junkyard you go to. They are expecting it.

Good luck on your search, www.car-part.com is an invaluable resource for anyone into DIY work or OEM upgrades.

Congrats! I'm jealous as hell!