I just finished swapping my OEM lenses with 100% clears. Also switched from 4300k bulbs to 6000k.

Gotta say thanks to Shakeyourbrakes for the info on how to bake open headlights, worked perfect.
link http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=144633

These pictures don't do it justice but here they are.

Pictures:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11423.jpg

Comparison shot- Clear lens: Left, OEM: Right
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11418.jpg

Look at the focus difference here
OEM-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11421.jpg
Clear-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11422.jpg

Night shots-
Back-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11429.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11432.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11427.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11433.jpg
W/PIAA Ion Yellow fogs
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11448.jpg
Front-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11446.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11431.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11445.jpg

wow. those are bright... may blind other drivers though...

Where did you get the lenses?

wow. those are bright... may blind other drivers though...

Thats just my camera. I think its over exposing the light. They are aligned properly as you can see in the garage door shots. I've been driving the last two nights and haven't been flashed.


Where did you get the lenses?

theretrofitsource.com (http://www.rx8club.com/theretrofitsource.com) The lenses are not listed on the site(as far as I know). If you want them either call or e-mail matt@theretrofitsource.com. The diameter was spot on but the beveled edge was too low. They jiggled around so I used a piece of wire between the lens and the housing.

Nice, I swapped my lenses with a pair from an e30 bmw. Much sharper cut off line.

I kept the stock bulbs (4300k)

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u274/rx8rasp/Lens%20Swap/DSCF0233.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u274/rx8rasp/Lens%20Swap/DSCF0241.jpg

Ahh I like those E30 lenses. Looks like you modded your cutoff shield too. Lookin good.

That is beautiful. I think I may have to do this now. :)

that's awesome. looks great man.

Rotary Rasp, wanna do this for me? haha

Man I wanna do this.

^ Dude same here; let me know when youre bored one day and we do both of them :D:

Would the e30 lenses work on a aftermarket HID kit if your 8 used to have halogen bulbs?

Ahh I like those E30 lenses. Looks like you modded your cutoff shield too. Lookin good.

Yes, I made my own cut off shield.

Would the e30 lenses work on a aftermarket HID kit if your 8 used to have halogen bulbs?

I would assume so, but I don't know for sure.

hey Grif, you should help me out with this for my car.

^ Dude same here; let me know when youre bored one day and we do both of them :D:

me too! lets all get together and bake the sh** outa our headlights lol

^ damn makes me want to fly over to you guys with my headlights for a headlight baking party

Sure, when you get the parts lemme know.

hey Grif, you should help me out with this for my car.

wow, didn't even realize you could/would do this. looks very good. nice subtle but useful change. i think i'll look into this as a diy. approx cost of lenses? i have no idea what to expect price-wise...

I think the lenses were $75.

All you need to do this is:

oven
tin foil
butter knife(no serrated edges)
painters tape
canned air/air compressor
phillips screwdriver
microfiber towels


When I get home later this week i'll mess around with my camera settings so I can get better pictures for ya'll.

^ Dude same here; let me know when youre bored one day and we do both of them :D:

Looks like we haz a mini install partay :ylsuper:

Now we just gotta scout out lens.

love it!

that shit's ill! good work

Real e30 lenses are hard to come by....

There are plenty of knock offs on ebay though

Hey man can you post a pic of the headlight during daylight? Lights off, just want to see the housing in the daytime

I wanna see some installed pics :)

That looks nice. Someone should try this with 8000k bulbs.

I heard the TSX lens are just as good

couple of people around here have done the TSX lenses too. they look sweet. this is on my ever growing winter list.

Hey man can you post a pic of the headlight during daylight? Lights off, just want to see the housing in the daytime

You asking me or Rotary Rasp?

I'll find some pics anyway

Oh I did try TSX lenses. The TSX ones from theretrofitsource were too small, maybe the OEM ones would have fit. I heard about the RX-8 ones so I just sent them back for an exchange.

Rotary is right , I tried finding E30 lenses a few weeks ago and they are rare, I even went to a few junkyards and could'nt find any.

That looks nice. Someone should try this with 8000k bulbs.

Look at my pictures again. With clear lenses you don't need 8000k bulbs to get a blue hue. Facing my car, it looks like I have 8000k bulbs. However, from inside the car, its pure white light. (stock bulbs)

It's truely the best of both worlds. You achieve more usable light and your lights look blue to oncoming traffic.

This is the stock bulb. My fogs are 6000k but yet, the head looks still look more blue.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u274/rx8rasp/Lens%20Swap/DSCF0241.jpg

These are 6000k bulbs, I might switch back to 4300k's to see if they look better.
The scratches you might see are on the film, not on the headlight lens.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11553.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11471.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11489.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11474.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/IronWolf22/SNC11478.jpg

+1 on being bright

:cool:

I wonder how it would look swapping out the parking light lens to clear ones too...

Nice! I really want to do this, but am afraid of the risk of damaging such expensive headlights. Did you say you have a clear film over the headlights? I have a Lamin-X film over mine, and am afraid if I tried this in the oven, it would just melt onto the headlight. How easy was it to replace the projector lens? Did the old one just pop out and you snapped in the new one? A response would be great. Thanks.

Looks great by the way! :)

Nice! I really want to do this, but am afraid of the risk of damaging such expensive headlights. Did you say you have a clear film over the headlights? I have a Lamin-X film over mine, and am afraid if I tried this in the oven, it would just melt onto the headlight. How easy was it to replace the projector lens? Did the old one just pop out and you snapped in the new one? A response would be great. Thanks.

Looks great by the way! :)

Thanks man

I have headlight armor film on mine. I didn't put it on until after I baked mine though. Ive tried lamin-x too but I liked headlight armor better because it didn't have any tabs to cut off and it fit pretty well without me having to stretch it.

It was really easy to replace the lens, yes you just pop out the old one. The only thing you should be careful of is is make sure you use compressed air to blow dust out of the headlights before you seal them back up.

Bump. I really want to do this, but want to know if the laminx headlight film will end up melting if I am to put it in the oven? I don't want to take it off since it was a pain to get on, and have heard bad things about people taking them off. Anyone have any ideas or know how to help me? Thanks.

I just finished mine... quite happy with them.

I doubt that the laminex will melt unless you really crank up the heat.

The rest is easy. Just pry off the lens, unscrew the projector housing and pop out the old projector. My new lenses came with a steel spacer which was to big to fit in the housing, but nothing that a few minutes with a dremel didn't fix.

This is much easier than it sounds. I had my doubts but I'd do it again. Just give yourself a few hours and take your time. Took the opportunity to paint the silver parts too:

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs239.snc3/22675_315720488601_535923601_3506881_7175826_n.jpg

a lot of guys use s2000 or TL projectors for these swaps. They seem to be the best of the relatively cheap and small projectors.


http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/

good source of info^^

Do you know if the plastic lens for the parking lights can be replaced? Mine are cracking from age.

Do you know if the plastic lens for the parking lights can be replaced? Mine are cracking from age.

Yes, you can pop it out of the headlight assembly when it's baked open, 3 clips -- I did it to paint the ring. I don't think you can buy it separately though, you'd have to salvage a broken headlight or something.

FWIW I used TSX-R projectors from RetrofitSource.com. Great deal and lightning fast shipping -- 2 days in my hands, in Canada!

I'll probably just have to get new headlights :(

I just finished mine... quite happy with them.

I doubt that the laminex will melt unless you really crank up the heat.

The rest is easy. Just pry off the lens, unscrew the projector housing and pop out the old projector. My new lenses came with a steel spacer which was to big to fit in the housing, but nothing that a few minutes with a dremel didn't fix.

This is much easier than it sounds. I had my doubts but I'd do it again. Just give yourself a few hours and take your time. Took the opportunity to paint the silver parts too:

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs239.snc3/22675_315720488601_535923601_3506881_7175826_n.jpg

Thanks. I mean the laminx is a film so I would still be worried about it melting. If I become serious about doing this, I'll contact Laminx and ask how much heat the film can sustain before melting. Otherwise, I could always source a cheap set of headlights on ebay.

nice!