Here's the deal. I have HID headlights and had partial overlays. I took off the overlays today and found a bunch of hairline cracks in my lens where the overlay was...it's strange and don't know how the hell that happened.

I don't want to buy brand new headlights but just want a pair of new lens. Is there a way to get new lens or would I have to buy new headlight assemblies?

 

how long did u have the overlays on for?????

 

2-3 years. I took them off thinking the vinyl was cracking but found out after I took them off that it was the actual headlight. I have no idea how it happened. They were installed using dish soap!!

 

ooo crap...i have black overlays ...but i only had them on for 6 months...o i guess im not ever taking them off......are the cracks letting water and condensation in??

 

No water or condensation can get it...it just sucks big time. Really long and not deep hairline cracks.

Is it possible to retrofit non-hid headlights with the hid hardware from my cracked ones? Like a direct drop-in?? Anyone?

 

+1^ bump...i would like to know also

 

wow!? thats weird...never heard of Bats overlays causing any sort of damage and i can vouch for that as my previous car of 4 years had headlight and rear light vinyls and well now the Z 1.5 years and still going strong. gl

 

Yea I have them on the rears as well but the rears didn't crack at all. They were installed the same day 2-3 years ago.

Here's a picture of the cracks...it's slightly exaggerated due to the flash on my camera but they are still there.

 

!!!

 

+1

didn't think there were going to be that many cracks

 

wow that looks serious. but i would hesitate to put the blame on the blue bat overlays. my non-overlayed headlights also have some hairline cracks as well (granted, not as severe looking as yours).

i'm curious how many miles you have on your car? mine is a 2003 model, but under 45k still.

 

cincity will replace your current lenses with new oem lenses for $325.00.

 

75k miles. I'm not blaming but it's just odd that the cracks only occured where the overlays were. Almost like the cooling/heating caused it.

I left a message in cincity's thread. Can anyone just get OEM covers? If that's the case I'll try doing it myself.

 

Just checked this thread before i've seen my own.

Here is the deal. Overlays can and do cause stress cracks. Not all lights get it, but it does happen. I made my own overlays about 3 years ago and took them off for painted just 5 months later. When I did, stress cracks were everywhere my overlays were. On the same note, a friend of mine who also used the same material I did on his 350z lights had 0 cracks. We installed on the same day doing the same thing, but he just lucked out some how.

Anyway, you can NOT just buy covers alone. You must buy the entire light which is really gay. All the covers I have are from people who had broken mounts and didn't need covers, or I just found really good deals on lights and jacked the covers from them. Either way, thats your only option if you want to do that. Or I guess you could just buy new lights all together?? Sucks any way you slice it.

 

I warn everyone when they post requesting info on these headlight overlays. Those cracks occur because you are bonding two different materials together, each with it's unique ability to expand and contract under ambient temperature change. So when the headlight lens does either of those faster or slower than the overlay stuck to it, it has to "break free" of the overlay and cracks are the result.

 

The cracks are a natural occurrence.

Any overlay will cause it.

Bluebat's vinyl overlays are top notch products, and are not the culprit in this situation.

 

Bluebat in particular isn't the culprit, but overlays in general are the culprit. Either his overlays, or any other brand of overlays will do this. Overlays in general will do that over time. I've seen it happen in the past.

 

EDIT - title changed so no blame is concentrated on a specific maker

 

I would check with a couple local body shops. They have access to used headlights for 1/2 the cost of new ones. The insurance companies accept these all the time.

 

If you're not allowing the plastic to breathe, and since you're NOT running HIDs (halogens get HOT), then it will crack - yes. This is common when people get that 3M clearbra stuff installed, and they ask to get their foglights done too. This causes the lamp to explode if used in the city, because not enough air is cooling the lens if they're covered by lexan (or whatever 3M uses).