Redemption

Think I found some clear side-markers for the SC430. Not sure though, the site isn't very clear. Could someone verify if this is indeed for the SC430? I've been looking quite awhile for the clear lenses. They've got a lot of interesting stuff on this site.

EDIT: Are the clear bumper lenses in back the same as the ones in front?

http://www.*****************/products/lexus/

lexusk8

Hmm, interesting..





I think it looks good for show-car purposes but I wouldn't use it for normal driving; the law says only amber must be shown on side marker lights.

tfischer

Their own site, which is kindly noted above to be not clear, does indicate in the fine print that

"Legalities: - Front Side-Markers must reflect amber. These lights are not permitted for street-use."

Considering how bright they appear to be, I am trying to figure out why you would want to spend a hundred dollars to annoy other drivers and ask for a ticket from the local constabulary. What's the upside?

JCtx

I've looking for those since I bought the car. And yes, I'd say both front and rear are identical, making things easier (and cheaper) for aftermarketers. There was some kind of problem with that site; will try later.

A few points:

front markers have to light up AMBER (not be amber), and rear ones have to light up RED.
Intensity is not important on such a lamp, so the small light reduction from painting the bulbs in the proper color (amber front and red rear) would please everybody. The LED pictured above are obviously out of the question, and would require a different connection.

tfischer

Now I'm really confused.

If intensity is not important, and if you have to paint them red and amber after you get them, what have you gained, and how do you expect the bystander to know that you have "upgraded" your inconspicuous side marker lights?

What's wrong with the ones that come with the car?

As far as I can tell, they do the job for which they were intended pretty well.

I'm all for sprucing things up, but only when there is some advantage gained.

JCtx

Simple. I HATE how the red and amber lenses look, just like you might hate the wheels and would like to replace them (Is there anything wrong with stock wheels?? NOOOOOO!).
By the way, I rarely drive my car at night. But the comment about the 'less' intensity was that it wouldn't compromise safety, if one considers those side markers a safety issue anyway.

Hope that cleared your confusion. Take care.

1NICESC430

>What's the upside?<
Cool beans?

JCtx

Well, site went thru, but there's nothing under 'SC430'. Emailed the place (don't use the 'link' because 'contact' is misspelled, and won't be delivered) and asked some questions. Will report when I hear back from them (in CA), but have the suspicion will be the LED kind pictured above which we can't (or shouldn't) use.
I'm not surprised by the lack of aftermarket items on this car. Most SC owners don't touch their cars, and there're few produced to begin with.

Take care gentlemen.

Redemption

ELP, it's not listed under SC430. You've gotta look under SC (Soarer) 01-XX (Z4). They've got the regular Halogen. Here's the quote
"- Halogen: this side-marker is identical to stock except has a clear lens. It uses a factory wedge-style bulb (#194) to illuminate. This setup works well on cars with factory halogen or hyper-white headlamps."

Here's a direct link to the SC section.
http://www.*****************/products/lexus/sc2/
Link to clear-sidemarkers
http://www.*****************/products/lexus/sc2/F_smark/

JCtx

Very interesting, but couldn't find a price. Will do a bit of research on bulb paint; I'm sure it should be some in those colors. And with that low wattage, shouldn't be a problem at all.

This guys obviously use the factory housing, and just glue the lens portion in place. I'd like to just buy the lens and do the job myself; hate to have to take apart everything twice. By the way, does anybody know how to remove those? Don't have the service manual yet (well, have one, but was a rip-off ).

If price is decent, maybe we should flip a coin and see who's first, huh?

Good weekend buddy.

Redemption

ELP, you're not looking hard enough buddy? Price is right there on the page Far from decent though. $100/pair for regular, $175 for single LED, $250 for dual LED. I guess that's to be expected since they seem to be the only ones making these. As for them not being street-legal, I wouldn't be overly concerned about that. I've had clear-markers with white bulbs on my BMW for years with no trouble. And on my old SLK, the side-markers were painted black. A lot of my friends also have them on their cars and I've never heard anyone ever getting a ticket for it. I'm not saying it won't happen, but just not very likely.

Well I live about an hour away from them (located near Hollywood). I might pay them a visit when I have the time.

JCtx

I didn't 'click' on your first link man (it's there); no price on the 'right' page, however. But $200 for 4 pieces of plastic? Ridiculous. I paid $70 for the clear lenses on my BMW bike, which I thought was expensive, but included the entire housings and amber bulbs. The rear lenses only, which are more plastic than the ones for our SC, cost me $14 a pair (and we're talking BMW mark-ups man).

I don't support rip-offs, even if I want them bad. Fortunately, I don't want those markers that bad. Same principle Jay Leno applies to not buying Ferraris, even though he can afford them.

As far as the legality, I'm not worried about that at all either; federal crap IMO. I always remove the tacked-on reflectors on my motorcycles; unfortunately, I can't do that on my cars. If I was to put clears on, I might just leave the bulbs out, especially if the red and amber paint on the bulb fills thru the lens. Never heard anybody get a ticket because you have a side marker burned-out. White light wuold stand out, however.

Let me know how your 'visit' goes. I'd pay less than 3 figures for all 4 lenses only (shipped), and install them myself.

Take care man.

Redemption

Yeah, I agree with you man. They are extremely over-priced. Then again most aftermarket parts are. Well I'm willing to buy them cuz it's a one-time thing and you'd never have to replace them. But I'm in no hurry to get them. Probably be one of the last things I get.

Will post some pics if I do.

JCtx

Okay man. Oh, and if you go there, ask if they'd sell the lenses only.

Later.

herragge

I was just cruising through Carson's l-tuned website and they have availible Tom's clear side markers with amber bulbs already included. Looks cool, and its certainly affordable at around $50, and probably no problems here with the po po.

Come to think of it actually....am I even looking at the right thing?