DIY: Lamin-x smoked sidemarkers

[santos.]

Like most of you I got sick of waiting for someone to release smoked sidemarkers, so I figured I would give Lamin-x a try. Total cost was about $10 and it took less than 30 minutes. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out. Still reflects and lights up orange.










With running lights on


With flash for reflection


Also swapped the footwell lights to red (DIY for that here)


So to do this yourself, order one Lamin-x universal 4x8" film, found here. Props to Lamin-x, it arrived very quickly via USPS. I went with charcoal, which is dark but not black, perfect for CSG.

Cutting the film longways down the middle will leave just enough to do both sides. You can either apply it to each sidemarker while on the car, or pop them out to apply. I popped them out, which is accomplished by removing the small panel in the front of the wheel well (on the GTI at least), and then feeling for a plastic tab at the rear end of the marker. Pushing this will swing it out; simply pull off the light harness and remove.

Once you've got them off, clean them well, and then apply and trim the film. The best way I found to do this was to apply each strip (starting at one end and squeegeeing along the way to avoid air bubbles), then put them face down and trim around the perimeter with a sharp knife on a cutting board. Very simple. Reinsert and enjoy!


Hope this helps anyone on the fence, as you can see it's well worth the (very little) time and money.

PS- insert disclaimer about sharp knives and damage to fingers and/or cars here.

[Arne]

Good thread!

So if I want to do my United Gray TDI and not be too dark, I'll probably want to use either gunsmoke or smoked. It's cheap enough that if I get the wrong color I can afford to do it again.

[santos.]

Yeah definitely. It's about $8 for one and $15 for two, not sure if you can get different shades if you order two but may be worth a try.

[evosky]

nice .... i'm taking my car to the tint shop on saturday, so i'll ask the guy if he can tint my sidemarkers while he's at it.

and i'm planning to do the same red lights myself.

props to another csg.

[santos.]

Nice. Love CSG. The footwell lights were easy, few bucks at Autozone and swapped them right out. It looks great at night; the long exposure above over-exaggerates it, it's really subtle and compliments the overhead and dash lights nicely.

[c35ar32]

the red lights look nice!!! how can i do this on my mk6 golf?

[santos.]

I added a link under the photo

[romanl]

red lights do look great, i will check out your link and hopefully if its not too dificult ill do the same.
i jsut realized that i have not noticed, but does the pasenger footwel light stay on when drivers side is on? *(when you're driving?) i turned mine off for now because with regular white light it was too bright and distracting while driving. so now mine only comes on when you open doors, but i wonder bout pasenger side since i didnt think to look till now.

[santos.]

Both driver and passenger footwell lights are on at the same time when not disabled. The white lights were a little distracting for me too, the red is much more fitting. You know you can adjust the brightness level right?

Swapping the bulbs is very easy using the instructions in the above link, and they only cost about $4 from Autozone. Glad I posted that photo, people seem more interested in that than the sidemarkers

[romanl]

true, its just red lights look so cool, and not to take away from your tint job, that looks good as well
i've had my car for 2 1/2 weeks so far and need to get it tinted asap, so when i do that ill just ask the tint guy to put some tint on those as well, im sure it can be removed eventually if i dont like it.
as for dimming the lights, you can only lower it few % i think down to 15 ro something, right?
i still didnt like it, it kept constanly distracting me with my left foot being all light up when resting on that foot placement side part when im not clutchin

[santos.]

Yeah, low end of 15% sounds right. Definitely suggest the red lights then, not only are they less out of place, they seem dimmer and more subtle in general.

Those of you talking to your tint guys about doing the sidemarkers, make sure you ask whether they have film designed for use on the outside of the car (like Lamin-x). I don't think standard window tint will hold up on the outside.

[evosky]

that's a good point santos. i'll have to ask. either that or i'll just do what you did with lamin-x.

off-topic ... found a new door ding on my rear fender today wtffffff

[santos.]

Doh, sorry man.

[SoCalMK6GTI]

I love this cartoon because it's soo very true and so unexplainable. Wow there is a parking spot way out there in the middle of nowhere right next to that lonely car, lets make him feel less alone by parking directly next to him. DING CRASH POW*

[cleanmk2gti]

Im going to order the lamin-x tonight and get this done this weekend. Just to occupy my time.

[cleanmk2gti]

Just placed my order. I really need to get this done. Those sidemarkers are just too bright. I should have done this sooner.

[santos.]

Cheap, clean, reversible. Great solution for the time being, still very happy with it. Throw up a pic when you get yours done!

[evosky]

just ordered a smoked sheet since i still want a hint of orange to show through. gonna see how it compares to charcoal.

[DvS21]

I wound up using Oracal on mine. Same ****, different name

[cleanmk2gti]

Did lamin_x yesterday also changed foot well bulbs as well

[VWPOPS]

umm... oracle is not the same as Lamin-x. Lamin-x offers protection - Oracle does not.

[joshGOLF2.5]

i was wondering if anyone has tinted the back reflectors as well along the bumper? i dont think these pop out tho

[MAGICGTI]

Coincidently I ordered Charcoal Lamin-X in the same size as you did for my CSG. The size is perfect if you follow this writeup.

I learned that you do not really need to wrap the edges of the lens, as it is a tight fit into the bumper already, and Lamin-X is pretty thick. You want to pretty much cut the outline of the lens, no more.

Also use the technique of applying a bit at a time. For the first one, I laid it face down onto the Lamin-X and therefore got a few bubbles. Second one I did a bit at a time moving my way up and no bubbles.

I won't repost a pic since it's the same as the OP but what a visual change for what, 8 bucks?

[santos.]

Nice. Definitely the best 10 bucks I've spent on the car!

[SoCalMK6GTI]

i was wondering if anyone has tinted the back reflectors as well along the bumper? i dont think these pop out tho

Nope, you'd have to pull the rear bumper

[Code3VW]

Nice. Definitely the best 10 bucks I've spent on the car!

The best $10 I spent on my car was the RNS-510 and 9W7 combo...it was a ton of $10 though! LoL

[reelknead1]

OP:

What tint percentage did you go with on your windows?

[santos.]

The best $10 I spent on my car was the RNS-510 and 9W7 combo...it was a ton of $10 though! LoL

I can just see you paying with a stack of tens...

OP:

What tint percentage did you go with on your windows?

100% Probably a combination of the lighting and reflections, but I have no tint on my car. PA law doesn't allow any, makes me miss AZ... It's honestly not horrible though with the dark interior.

[projectracerabbit]

for those looking to do the rear reflectors, they pop out as well.
I covered mine in flat black vinyl

[Aonarch]

Did mine a couple of months ago.

I'm going to do this again to my GTI and yellow on my fogs.

[U-96]

Did mine a couple of months ago.

What color is the car, shark blue? What film's color did you go with?

[SVTunit]

I did mine in Red Lamin-X to match the car.
[IMG][/IMG]

[SoCalMK6GTI]

for those looking to do the rear reflectors, they pop out as well.
I covered mine in flat black vinyl

Seriously? I've read a couple of posts from people who have colormatched these and it involved complete removal of the rear bumper to take them out.

[atherton213]

has anyone tried using just normal window tint to do this? instead of laminx

[DHonovich]

I will be giving this a try on my TDI as well.