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Black on Black RX 350
Also got a Set of the Limited Edition Pebble Beach/ SE Wheels last year, very nice looking wheels, only around 200 sets in Australia
I Agree! Blend Out from the crowd! the insides are still visible, just harder to see in photos,
Here is what I did today: (there is white Paper backing behind the reflectors to make them stand out, read further down)
Draco, you inspired me to do this mod, i live in Australia also,
i decided to keep the thick circular projector surrounding chrome, (custom design )
i bought a set of headlights (AU Spec) on eBay from an 05 330 model i believe, (i have an 08 RX 350)
i think it Looks SO MUCH better Blacked out, the Newer Lexus Headlights are painted black too.
So today i opened up one of them and Plastidiped the chrome Black, while leaving the projector piece Chrome, i think it looks awesome!, i also added white paper behind the reflector, (The Range Rover Sport has a nice white reflector on the side (the new models) which is where i got the inspiration for the reflector.
I am also going to get the lenses polished/restored and might even get the Black inside painted High-Gloss Piano Black for around $250 (both sides done) - although i have plastidip which costs me nothing,
More Photos: Painted With Plasti-Dip (Leaving Chrome surrounding of Projector stock) Adding Reflector, with White Backing looks better, Outside Photo, Direct Sun, the lens need a Polish another Angle My RX 350 headlights currently ON the car have nice clean lenses, unlike these used ones Facing Away From Sun/ in shade - they look great IMO Inside the AFS Headlights
Here is how i made the Clear Reflectors look better : (AU Spec models with Clear) White Backing on Clear Lens - Australian Spec Models have Clear instead of ORANGE ( the paper backing makes them Pop), they Looks Refreshed compared to the greenish UV look from before,
I will post more photos in the future, i am taking things slow, took me about 25 mins to open the headlight,
and its my first time doing it, i was lucky to get a set of spare AFS headlights on Ebay for a good price, so i can take things slow,
i also wanna do some projector mods to enhance the Cut-Off line/ width while i have a spare set to work with too,
Just got my housing painted a high gloss black, looks amazing,my IS has gloss black housings,
Can't wait to get the new black housings on the RX,
I also bought a new set of lenses/ housings from America , waiting for them to arrive, want the lights to look brand new,
Here are some photos taken on my iPhone, the black paint looks even better in real life,
the Black looks much more "classy" when compared to the chrome IMO, I've never liked the slight greenish tint on the factory lights, I think it's the "UV" protection or something?
Inspiration from my IS (2012 headlights)- they are painted gloss black:
Looks fantastic LexusAU. Where did you source the new covers from? Tempted to get a new seat so I can reseal my lights. My passenger light seems to every so often get a little water in it which erks me no end. The lenses are weathered and I would love to get a new set.
Draco:
I redid my headlights with satin black paint (krylon fusion for plastic). The first time I blacked out the headlights was with plasti dip and I wanted a darker black.
This time around, I figured that while I had them apart, I would also change the covers.
I had tried to restore my covers several times, but the last time I did it, I went overboard with the sanding, resulting in a lot of small cracks or "crazing" on the covers.
Since I couldn't find the covers separately and I didn't want to spend a lot of $ on new AFS headlights, I bought a pair of aftermarket by Eagle Eye (under $200 total) baked them and put the new covers on my OEM AFS headlights. I gambled that the dimensions of the covers would be the same, regardless of halogen, HID or HID with AFS and I was right! No issues with fitment of the aftermarket covers.
they are around $200+ Postage to Australia (around $70), had one of the best packaging methods ive seen on an ebay item, they came in separate boxes (strapped together of corse) with inflatable/inflated foam around the headlights, very neat! ive never seen that before lol.
took 1 week to arrive via FedEx also.
I got the new lenses off in around 15 mins (only done 1 side so far) , i placed it on a milk crate and used a heatgun and slowly rotated the milk crate heating the edges of the lense where the sealant/glue is, its important not to stop in the same place for longer than 3 seconds, i tested on an old lense and it does melt/go blurry. practice makes perfect.
Also the american lexus' have orange reflectors, whereas our Japan/Australian RHD spec models have a clear reflector, im having a hard time deciding which to use, ORANGE/CLEAR/NONE~ (which is just gloss black)
they all look great but i think im gonna use the Orange reflector as it look different/ ive never seen an RX in AU with Orange headlight side reflectors, although the new 2014/15 models have orange ones.
I will be installing the new lights in a week or so, trying not to rush as i need to buy a sealant and make sure they are 100% sealed, dont want any water getting in
Finally installed piano black painted headlight Rx350 2nd gen
Finally installed the new painted lights! I've waited months and months for this to happen,
Here are some iPhone photos for now:
Looks much much better imo than the standard chrome, love the piano black , and I also changed the clear reflectors in the housings to the orange ones that came with the new lenses, as the car is black, it improves visibility of the front end at night when parked./in a Carpark.
The new housings really have refreshed the look of the front imo, I'm also going to put tint over the fog lights as I never use them, and they kind of stand out,
I will take more photos on my SLR camera, the lights look excellent in real life, I also put heaps of silicone around the housing to help with the seal.
I discovered I had a leak in my passenger headlight (thinking back it was the first headlight I pulled apart). I took the headlight off the car and tried to heat the water out of the housing. It took a while but got 95% of it out. Thought I had it all till I spotted some water up around the indicator. Moving the headlight around I found that on the corner where you peel the headlight open from (the part of the headlight that is pointed and "connects" to the the front quarter panel), that is where the water was coming in (not a lot), just enough to annoy me. Anyway sealed that up heavily and so far so good.
I was thinking about the fog lights and will take them off, peel them and paint them rather than tint them. That however is a project for another day.
Took a few photos on my DSLR Canon. In The last few weeks, Sydney had one of the worst rain storms in years, it rained for literally a whole week, with heavy winds and it was a good time to test the headlight seals, as the car was park outdoors the whole time. The seals held up great.
Only recently there has been more heavy rain, and the passenger side got a few tiny condensation droplets near the indicator (top), but it fully cleared up the next day as the RX headlights are vented (there are vents on the back of the headlight), i might put more silicone on that headlight, i think its the top corner part ?, but all is good, my Stock headlights had condensation anyway, had one replaced under warranty in 2010, and that one still fogged up years later!. any way here are the pics:
Closeup in Driveway - High Gloss Piano black paint.
High-Angle (the white marks are just reflections, as the lense is brand new with not a mark on it)
Zoomed in parked on the street, car was slightly dirty
Parked @ a local hardware store
Headlight before putting on the lense (Orange and Clear Reflector, to show the difference, i chose Orange as the car is Black)
(With lense on - before sealed) as you can see it looks very shinny!)
lexusAU good test. I found with mine that I got condensation into the headlight after sealing it. I found that water was getting in on the pointed corner of the headlight (where it "connects" to the front fender). No problem with the right side but definately the left side. I took my headlight out again and rolled it around to identify where the water was drained out (and of course going in) and sealed it up.
draco good job for doing the mod but how come you did not get an extra set with clearer cover to do it on ?
sorry I'm not a fan of matt black, I think doing a black chrome to match the tail lights would have been nicer
or even do a body color for the housing to make it look high end.
I had my scion light housing painted to match the body color at a body shop, it's nice upgrade
Thanks mowmow. I went with the Matt black cause I wasn't sure about the sheen it leaves. Each to their own . At the time I decided to do the project and just wanted it done. The lenses are generally ok it's just every so often they will need a polish.
11-15-14, 11:59 PM
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Painted With Plasti-Dip (Leaving Chrome surrounding of Projector stock)
Adding Reflector, with White Backing 
looks better,
Outside Photo, Direct Sun, the lens need a Polish 
another Angle
My RX 350 headlights currently ON the car have nice clean lenses, unlike these used ones 
Inside the AFS Headlights
White Backing on Clear Lens - Australian Spec Models have Clear instead of ORANGE 
( the paper backing makes them Pop), they Looks Refreshed compared to the greenish UV look from before,
Painted piano black high gloss housing
. I should have done that when I posted this thread. 
