Pics of DDM E36 LED tail lights here.Smoked 'em too.....

[TeamNextGen]

I love cars with OEM LED taillights(TLs and M5s come to mind),but I'm too poor to afford anything that has factory LED tails
I liked the DDM/DEPO LED tails,but I still haven't seen any good pics of them on the car,how bright they are,etc,plus I didn't like that they weren't available with smoked upper halves.I finally bit the bullet and bought some,and smoked them myself.
BTW:
-With the supplied resistor boxes(which plug right in),these blink at the correct speed,and don't trigger any OBC codes.
-The brake lights and turn signals are definitely brighter than OEM lights with stock wattage bulbs.

On the car,with the shop lights on:


Parking lights:


Brakes:


Turn signal:


Resistor boxes tucked under the trim panel.Wire loom around the body opening to protect the resistor wires:


...Now,the fun part.I used the VHT Night Shades spray.You need to spray this stuff on in VERY light layers.It's very thin and will run if you make more than about two passes at a time.With it as dark as I applied it,it doesn't seem to lower the output of the light at all(I know the pic makes it appear to,but I forgot to turn off the shop lights behind me,which are off in the untinted turn signal pic above).I think I went a little too dark for my tastes-I may respray them a little lighter.

All taped up:


Sprayed:


Turn signal:




Sorry,blurry.Didn't preview it to see I needed to take another:

**I'll take better pics of them on the car once I clean the car up**

My other DDM addition,black grills.Not so pleased with these-they're smaller than the stock grills by about 1/8",and leave a line visible from where the factory grills had rubbed the paint and damaged it.


Chris

[Eryan36]

I wish I could like those.

[TeamNextGen]

I wish I could like those.

They seem to be a pretty polarizing mods for these cars
Chris

[dRock13]

i liked the LED tails, could do without the smoke though. looks good on silver, however.

[TeamNextGen]

i liked the LED tails, could do without the smoke though. looks good on silver, however.

I'm not really liking how dark I made them.I just didn't like how bright the chrome backing was through the turn signals the way they came.I should have left them as-is after two coats of the tint(the pics are with four coats).
Chris

[RADI0ACTIV3M4N]

I don't like how the brake light is on the left instead of the middle.

[ImplicitFiber]

I kinda like it

[TeamNextGen]

I don't like how the brake light is on the left instead of the middle.

That's one thing I actually prefer.These are the only cars I've ever noticed that have the brake lights in the centermost part of the tail lights,and I've always thought it looked weird.With the stock lights,it looks to me like the whole bottom half or the outer parts should also be lighting up too as brake lighs,but something's wrong.
The LED tail lights have a bulb socket that's unused in the innermost section.I believe it's a foglight in Europe?That part could easily be made into a brake light,or whatever else you wanted it to be,but I'm not messing with it.
Chris

[M3mo]

looks good ! good job

[///M3Vader4dr]

I may buy a set and do the reverse.

[GiRARDsays]

looks good. I picked up a set of LED tails for mine. I might lightly smoke the clear part if I decide not to sell em.

[Turbo ///M50]

I love them, but my biggest problem is the the inner portion of the llight is where the brake light is supposed to be. If i could figure a way to correct that I may buy a set. Other wise it just looks wrong imo

[TeamNextGen]

I love them, but my biggest problem is the the inner portion of the llight is where the brake light is supposed to be. If i could figure a way to correct that I may buy a set. Other wise it just looks wrong imo

Like I said,there's a bulb socket(1156 I believe)in that innersmost section.No reason you couldn't cut the brake wire to the outermost LED section(so that it'll still function as a running light),and hook that bulb socket to the brake wire(and even put an LED bulb in it)....But,that's a lot of work just to have an 1156 LED retrofit bulb-might as well just put LED bulbs in your stock tails.
The brake light being moved really doesn't bother me.I don't think anybody can honestly say that the innermost portions being the brake lights(as it is stock)is the most logical location.I've thought it was unusual ever since I saw it.I guarantee that if you didn't know any better everybody would guess that the outermost portion,or all of the bottom half would light up as brake lights....
Either way,E36s weren't supposed to have LED tail lights either
Chris

[BballDan]

What kind of headlights & angel eyes do you have and where did you get them?

I cant decide where to get them and whether what place to trust them from..

[TeamNextGen]

What kind of headlights & angel eyes do you have and where did you get them?

I cant decide where to get them and whether what place to trust them from..

Mine are Apexcone,no angel eyes.After modding the shields for the projectors,I'm very happy.
Chris

[BballDan]

Mine are Apexcone,no angel eyes.After modding the shields for the projectors,I'm very happy.
Chris

I just purchased some LED tails too this week and I decided to smoke mine just like how you did it but lighter.. Did you have to do any prep or anything to it after you smoked them? Or did you just spray them just like that? by the looks of it, it turned out good.. I just have a feeling that after you spray them it might turn out a little flat without a shine?

[SmokedBMW23]

like the tails, match the rear trim... well kinda.

[TeamNextGen]

I just purchased some LED tails too this week and I decided to smoke mine just like how you did it but lighter.. Did you have to do any prep or anything to it after you smoked them? Or did you just spray them just like that? by the looks of it, it turned out good.. I just have a feeling that after you spray them it might turn out a little flat without a shine?

After I masked them off,I scuffed them with 800 grit sandpaper,then cleaned twice with alcohol.
The finish is sort of semigloss.I didn't intend to make mine that dark,but I sprayed a couple places too dark,so I had to match them.I plan to wetsand them a little to get them a little lighter.
Chris

[Tony Soprano]

its be cool if someone would put these guts into stock housings. i like them, just not to hot on the "jewel" theme.

[jmo69]

I like them, but I would have smoked the whole light like the ones I have already. I Night Shaded them too, but I also put a coat of clear on and wax them every time I do the car. I just wish that they didn't look brown when up close.

[Nixxon]

The inner most part of these tails is used as the rear foglight on the european versions, I believe you in the US don't have/need them, but it's the law to have them overhere.

PS: Have the same set waiting in the box for my project. Love how you protected the wires and the black boxes. I'll do that to.

[Carlos12]

What do you guys use to make them smoke?

[BRUNO]

nice

[wolffbimmer]

I actually like how they look on a silver car, how are you liking them after all this time OP? Any problems or no.

[IWannaBMW]

i like them good job!