has anyone completley blacked out the inside of their 03-05 headlights? I know the 03-05 style works off the projector and the inner reflection but im curious if anyone has blacked it all out and how much light output is cut down from it. i really like the idea of having all black headlights but i want some general opinions. Also what kind of headlights you have if you have done this... I have 8000k HIDs so im thinking my light output will still be decent.

 

Try it out and see. Your light output is already diminished running 8000k HID's anyway.

 

my 8k HIDs give much better light output that my stock 4300s and I have no idea why. I know that after 6k it starts to lose output to color but these are MUCH better than my stock setup.

 

Worth trying out...I'm curious too...I have an 03 and have thought about it, but I just haven't decided if I really want that look yet. I'll probably go paint match (PPW) the housing before I black them out.

 

heres a picture of one. This is minho kim's car from team emotion. i think he sold this car... he was the one trying to sell it for 80,000$.
This should give you an idea of the look. i would imagine light output would be terrible, better get a good set of piaa fog lights!

 

found more pics
go here:

http://www.t-emotion.com/emotion/minho.html

 

You are being tricked by the contrast, anything above 4300k is going to put out less light than stock. Its not possible for your 8k to be brighter in actual lumen output. Its like how people with blue coated bulbs swear they are brighter than stock when obviously a coating has to cut down on light output

 

I did it...I didn't paint the portion around the projector (main headlights), but I painted everything else; I knew the high beams would be dimished greatly, but didn't realize that they'd be 99% non-existent! I like the look and wasn't worried about high beams anyways...

I went w/ a flat black high temp paint...in some pics, it looks off, but in person I'm really happy w/ it.

 

I know it doesnt put out MORE light but for some reason it doesnt give out any LESS light, just a different color. I know all about Kelvin temps and I thought it was strange as hell myself. I put my Z next to my buddies with stock HIDs and did several visibility test from short distance as well as ranged, and the results came out the same. Call me ****in crazy, I dont know.

 

4300K is the best