E46JU Posted November 12, 2012 Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 (edited) Hi all. Thought I'd posts my first DIY post. I've seen other posts that cover this makeover but none of them seem to cover the job from beginning to end or using silicone sealant/adhesive. Seeing as its a well known fact that these light units suffer from product quality issues, as the seal seems to break on every one! This is a cheap and easy makeover to do and took me about 45mins to do both sides from begining to end. First thing you need to do is take the light units out. Open up your boot lid and remove the interior trim. Remove the two clips at the base of the side that you wish to remove. This can be done with a flat blade screwdriver. The clips have a top section that pulls out and this releases the whole clip. Next you have to pull down the trim and unplug the units electrical connector There is also a clip which is a part of the unit itself. Pull this down and it will release the whole bulb housing Now the only part left is a nut at the end of a plastic section. Undo this nut completely off. Now you're set to remove the lense. Pull the lense out, pulling the inner edge up first. This will also allow the lense to pull away from the outer edge which has a lip Edited November 12, 2012 by E46JU mykez and Davek318ci 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cos01 Posted November 12, 2012 Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 coool, now finish the DIY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E46JU Posted November 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 (edited) The next part is the clean up The fact that you're wanting to do this makeover means that your seals have already gone on the unit. You can try heating the remaining seals with a hair dryer or even put the units in an oven for a shot while to soften the seal but I found with a little bit of force, the rest of the seals just crumbled away and the lense seperated You can see from the pics just how much gunk gets in the units! As the unit has been letting in water and it has been sitting at the bottom, it completely destroys the reflective paint. Just goes to show if you can catch them sooner rather than later, you'll be able to make them look even more like brand new Mine as you can see we're pretty gunked up but luckily most of the damage is done to the bottom section which is hidden behind the red lense. I soaked mine in warm water quickly, then used a toothbrush to remove the worst. *important tip- for sections that you will be able to see through the clear lense, just gentle use your finger to clean them to avoid any reflective paint loss for where you'll see! Next I gave the lense a quick going over with standard car polish to bring the shine back out The next part is the re-seal. I have seen another post using a sealing tape, but I wanted to make sure these were sealed tight so I wouldn't have to do them again. I bought some clear silicone sealant/adhesive from halfords for £4.99. It's pretty much designed for the re-seal of light units. I applied one line of the silicone to the ridge of the lense where the old sealant use to sit Press the back of the unit together with the lense, then hold in place with a bit of masking tape Be careful with the sealant around the clear section as if you put too much on you'll see a bit of the sealant. Leave it for about 15 mins to set and it's good to go back in! Complete the first steps for removal in reverse and gone are those dull mold filled light units! And before anyone says it, my next job will be to wash the car! Edited November 13, 2012 by E46JU bobdisk and YemiTheOne 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E46JU Posted November 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 Can any Admin members change the title of my post to read: Rear Fog/Reverse Light Cluster Makeover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbobD Posted November 13, 2012 Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 A good writeup and turnout by the looks of things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E46JU Posted November 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 Cheers. Yeah they turned out ok. Look soo much better than that moldy dim look. The best part is that you can have it all done in less than an hour and it only cost £4.99 to do it. Beats buying two off eBay for about £20 odd for each side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz 330 Cs Posted November 13, 2012 Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 Good write up, looks a lot better, great work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilo Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Good write up. I've just done one of mine, as it started taking on water when it rained and dripped into the boot when the boot was open! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Thanks for this mate! Need to do mine too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E46JU Posted November 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Good write up. I've just done one of mine, as it started taking on water when it rained and dripped into the boot when the boot was open! Hahaha yeah mine did the same! Use to soak anything in the side sections of my boot. My only word of advice on doing this is just be very careful and take your time with seperating the lense. It makes lots of crunching sounds and would be all too easy to crack a lense. Seems that the sooner you catch them the better, as the water sitting in the units destroys the reflective paint and it just runs off when you touch it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdisk Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 Just done mine. thanks for the info! Unfortunatly, the silvering on both of them had all but gone because they had both separated at just a small place a long time ago and let in moisture. I did not notice till one let in water during a wash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James B Posted December 19, 2012 Report Share Posted December 19, 2012 Helpful! Plan for the weekend if it'll stop raining! E46ryy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsahota Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Thanks! Need to do mine too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberduckzilla Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 I have the fishtanks unfortunately the previous owner did the same thing but resealed it with supee glue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddybrown23 Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 Good write up. I've just done one of mine, as it started taking on water when it rained and dripped into the boot when the boot was open! Mine is currently doing exactly the same! Need to have a go at this DIY I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg320d Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Amazing! And I was going to buy new ones! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robson3022 Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 Boom!!! Delighted to have found this will be sorting it this weekend!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bachu Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 when putting them back do you have to put the sealant on the back of the lights to bond with the car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuBeeDoo Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 I've been waiting for a thread like this. Thanks very much! I bought a pair of Depo replacement lights to be going on with, as my originals let the car down badly. The plan is to refurb the originals, as detailed here, for refitting sometime in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sag2 Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 when putting them back do you have to put the sealant on the back of the lights to bond with the car? No only do the lens or you won't get them back out mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bachu Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 Wicked thanks for the info :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nz_e46 Posted November 7, 2013 Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 Thanks for this DIY! I hope you dont mind me asking... I was just doing this for my own car which is a coupe and I'm having trouble getting the lining/trim off. I see on this DIY and others that the lining seems to just bend down really easily but I can hardly make it budge even though I removed all of the clips (i also undid the tools compartment). Any idea what the problem is? I thought the lining would just pop right off but apparently not! Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sag2 Posted November 7, 2013 Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 Thanks for this DIY! I hope you dont mind me asking... I was just doing this for my own car which is a coupe and I'm having trouble getting the lining/trim off. I see on this DIY and others that the lining seems to just bend down really easily but I can hardly make it budge even though I removed all of the clips (i also undid the tools compartment). Any idea what the problem is? I thought the lining would just pop right off but apparently not! Thanks in advance! Hi,all I did when I took mine off was remove the clips round edge of boot and mine just pulled back enough without removing it all,I even left my tool kit in place. Make sure you've removed all the clips round the edge only thing that can hold it I think. StuBeeDoo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuBeeDoo Posted November 7, 2013 Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 all I did when I took mine off was remove the clips round edge of boot and mine just pulled back enough without removing it all,I even left my tool kit in place. Me too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nz_e46 Posted November 7, 2013 Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 Oh man I am sure I undid all the clips though. I guess I will try again tomoro Thanks for the replies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
