C32 AMG, C55 AMG (W203) 2001 - 2007

Caution when blacking out your headlights...

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Old 05-29-2010, 09:32 AM
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Caution when blacking out your headlights...

DO NOT PUT ANY SORT OF CLEANER ON THE REFLECTIVE CHROME PART OF THE HEADLIGHT!!!


My buddy and I took apart my headlights to black them out the other day when we discovered that the reflective paint on the headlight housing comes off with almost any cleaning solvent (even ones that say safe for plastic), masking tape or even your finger nail.

So I now have blacked out housings but my passenger side headlight has an ugly yellow spot where the reflective chrome came off and I sprayed with a tinting spray to try to hide it a little bit.

It still doesn't look good at all and since the ballast burnt out on it I'm going to just buy a used bi-xenon headlight

Sigh. At least the paint job on the shroud or what not of the headlights looks awesome after cleaning, sanding and painting in a booth.

Pics to come.
Old 05-29-2010, 12:11 PM
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2006 C55 AMG
Let's see a picture of your work.
Old 05-29-2010, 01:40 PM
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03 g35 coupe...........02 c32 Sold
maybe it respray it with chrome paint?
Old 05-30-2010, 01:29 AM
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Originally Posted by northyork
Let's see a picture of your work.





I actually just ordered a used passenger side bi-xenon light with the ballast because the bulb came lose a month or so ago and burnt a hole in the housing and melted the connector and frayed some wires...500 bucks down the drain.
Old 06-01-2010, 03:26 AM
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2005 c55amg, 2000 clk430, 2002 clk55amg, 2008 clk63amg black series
be sure to use good high heat paint....mine are starting to peel where the headlight meets the inside cover, so im going to have to remove them again and repaint them again. what paint did u use if i may ask?
Old 06-01-2010, 07:03 PM
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awww should had painted the chrome!





Old 06-01-2010, 07:48 PM
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no offense to anyone who likes this look (to each their own) but imo, i think it cheapens the look of the car by a lot. nothing wrong with contrast and this mod is overkill.

i hope you get your replacement and have it squared away. i hate that feeling.
Old 06-01-2010, 07:51 PM
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Originally Posted by advans
awww should had painted the chrome!





That looks great
Old 06-01-2010, 09:54 PM
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Amazing!
Old 06-02-2010, 04:37 AM
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Originally Posted by 14cue
no offense to anyone who likes this look (to each their own) but imo, i think it cheapens the look of the car by a lot. nothing wrong with contrast and this mod is overkill.

i hope you get your replacement and have it squared away. i hate that feeling.
I understand. I personally think it flows much better with the car now since my car and grill are black (well, 3m cf) and I had to take apart one of my headlights anyway to clean out the dirt and grime that got in it when the headlight bulb burnt the housing. Not that it matters anymore since I ordered a whole new housing lol. It should be squared away (I haven't said squared away since I was active duty...) hopefully by the end of this week when it comes in!

Originally Posted by advans
awww should had painted the chrome!

You have different bi-xenons on your c55 than mine. Are they the CLK ones? The reflector part and the projector are attached to the headlight assembly. The only part we painted was the chrome piece that was screwed into the lens cover. Plus, I like having the projector part still shiny to offset the darkness of the shroud or whatever you call it.
Old 06-02-2010, 09:06 AM
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C55 ///AMG, 535xi
Originally Posted by RLx02
I understand. I personally think it flows much better with the car now since my car and grill are black (well, 3m cf) and I had to take apart one of my headlights anyway to clean out the dirt and grime that got in it when the headlight bulb burnt the housing. Not that it matters anymore since I ordered a whole new housing lol. It should be squared away (I haven't said squared away since I was active duty...) hopefully by the end of this week when it comes in!



You have different bi-xenons on your c55 than mine. Are they the CLK ones? The reflector part and the projector are attached to the headlight assembly. The only part we painted was the chrome piece that was screwed into the lens cover. Plus, I like having the projector part still shiny to offset the darkness of the shroud or whatever you call it.

yah, those are facelift CLK bi-xenons
Old 06-02-2010, 11:17 AM
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I wonder how mean that would look on a silver c55? :-D
Old 06-04-2010, 10:01 PM
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Originally Posted by mb_c55amg_guy
be sure to use good high heat paint....mine are starting to peel where the headlight meets the inside cover, so im going to have to remove them again and repaint them again. what paint did u use if i may ask?
I used high temp paint rated up to 700F
Old 06-04-2010, 11:38 PM
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03 g35 coupe...........02 c32 Sold
usually peeling is the result of either not cleaning the surface before applying the paint or not using primer and just straight paint.

I know in the eagle eyes they don't even bother using primer on the blacked out head lights, thats why the paint begins the peel. When i repainted it, it was a much better quality then the stock eagle eyes.

I just use high temp engine paint. I've never had peeling on any of my retros.
Old 06-08-2010, 01:04 AM
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dude i found you! haha everyone should listen to your advice on the c55, you've done more with yours than most guys here could imagine. you don't have a c63...lol

Originally Posted by mb_c55amg_guy
be sure to use good high heat paint....mine are starting to peel where the headlight meets the inside cover, so im going to have to remove them again and repaint them again. what paint did u use if i may ask?
Old 06-12-2010, 08:00 AM
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I got my new headlight in the mail the other day and finally had the time to swap headlights and the black housing lens over.

The light was off of a CLK with the bi-xenons and works just fine but it has an extra box on the cover that goes over the main HID light. The c55 I had did not have this and all the wires went from the ballast. The light I have now has wires that goes to what looks like a voltage regulator in the "lid" of the headlight and I have no idea what it does other than it works lol.

Heres some new pics of the light and better pics of it on the car.
Attached Thumbnails Caution when blacking out your headlights...-img01062-20100611-1643.jpg   Caution when blacking out your headlights...-img01063-20100611-1723.jpg  

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