# Silver turn Signal Bulbs



## stream (Jan 24, 2005)

*Silver Turn Signal Bulbs*

I replaced the front, rear and side turn signal bulbs with silver coated ones from Bimmian.com, called Solaris Invisi-Bulbs. They blink amber, but since they are silver coated, don't show a yellow shadow when unlit. I've used Philips Silver Vision bulbs on others cars, but they don't make the front wedge type bulb, so I found these:









Here's a shot of the rear before and after:


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## stream (Jan 24, 2005)

Here's the front before and after--the after isn't as clear since there is still the orange lense on the side of the headlight assembly:


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## stream (Jan 24, 2005)

These 2 front shots show the contrast better, particularly on the left side--the difference is much more noticeable in person:


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## stream (Jan 24, 2005)

Side turn signals:


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## Centurion (Jan 16, 2005)

These make the lights look cleaner, namely the side markers and rear lights.


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

stream said:


> I replaced the front, rear and side turn signal bulbs with silver coated ones


Looks great! Great paint, too! I have a silver E39 and I LOVE getting the paint to sing! Dunno if you've seen the detailing forum here, but lots of folks over there will drive your car waxing OCD to new levels.

For silver bulbs, I did the old silver spray paint trick. Works well and was inexpensive. In fact questions about it's long term effectiveness can be answerd by now I suppose. I did it in '01. This is a couple of pics I stitched together for someone who said that it would make the lights more dim.


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## poleposition (Feb 14, 2005)

Stream, are the lights as bright as the factory bulbs. I'm planning the same modification and just wanted to know if I'll lose any brightness. I did this in my E39 and they weren't as bright. Don't want the same result for my E60. Thanks.


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## stream (Jan 24, 2005)

poleposition said:


> Stream, are the lights as bright as the factory bulbs. I'm planning the same modification and just wanted to know if I'll lose any brightness. I did this in my E39 and they weren't as bright. Don't want the same result for my E60. Thanks.


I didn't do any before and after comparison, but when the silver coated bulbs flash, they are very bright.


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## jetstream23 (Mar 9, 2004)

PropellerHead said:


> Looks great! Great paint, too! I have a silver E39 and I LOVE getting the paint to sing! Dunno if you've seen the detailing forum here, but lots of folks over there will drive your car waxing OCD to new levels.
> 
> For silver bulbs, I did the old silver spray paint trick. Works well and was inexpensive. In fact questions about it's long term effectiveness can be answerd by now I suppose. I did it in '01. This is a couple of pics I stitched together for someone who said that it would make the lights more dim.


What kind of silver paint did you use? And how much? Were you careful not to spray it on very heavily and to just lightly spritz them??? I'm thinking I might follow your process for my e46. I guess I just can't believe that spray painting a light bulb would still allow it to glow 90% as brightly :dunno:

Much thanks.


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

jetstream23 said:


> What kind of silver paint did you use? And how much? Were you careful not to spray it on very heavily and to just lightly spritz them??? I'm thinking I might follow your process for my e46. I guess I just can't believe that spray painting a light bulb would still allow it to glow 90% as brightly :dunno:
> 
> Much thanks.


I got the idea from apexcone.com. The guy has or had an M3 that he spent crazy time on. It looks like he's gone commercial, though not for silver paint on bulbs.

Painting was easy and not very technical at all. I used a high temp silver spray paint. I wore rubber gloves and held the contacts tightly so they wouldnt get paint on them. I ruined one bulb by checking to see if the paint was dry with a touch. The touch took all the silver paint AND the amber from the area.

I did lightly dust the bulbs with the paint so you could just barely see the orange beneath. I was then careful to reintsall the bulbs without touching the glass on them.

That was probably '01 or so. I did lose a bulb this weekend, but not one that I'd painted. It was a brake light bulb.


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## Mr. The Edge (Dec 19, 2001)

BMW sells a silver coated bulb


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

atyclb said:


> BMW sells a silver coated bulb


Yeah, I noticed that in our 04 X5. I was impressed. Not so much that I removed the bulbs I'd painted in the 5. I wonder when they started selling it? If someone doesnt already have the silver paint, and the bulb will fit from other models to a 5, it's probably about the same cost for the bulbs as the spray paint. Certainly less effort.


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## dasWolf (Jan 4, 2002)

atyclb said:


> BMW sells a silver coated bulb


Part Number?


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## Mr. The Edge (Dec 19, 2001)

dasWolf said:


> Part Number?


http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87083&highlight=silver+bulb


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

atyclb said:


> http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87083&highlight=silver+bulb


Well, THOSE wont work for the E39's signals.. ours are clip (or slot or whatever) type.. I wonder if those are the ones in the X5's turn signals..


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## breytonX5 (Sep 27, 2004)

poleposition said:


> Stream, are the lights as bright as the factory bulbs. I'm planning the same modification and just wanted to know if I'll lose any brightness. I did this in my E39 and they weren't as bright. Don't want the same result for my E60. Thanks.


I currently have these Solaris invisibulbs for my front blinkers and they look great unlit but they are noticeably darker than stock when lit.


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## BahnBaum (Feb 25, 2004)

I also had invisibulbs for about 10 months on my M3. One night I sat with my e-flashers on for 10-15 minutes. From that point on I had intermittant problems with the invisibulb acting like it was burnt out (on both sides). If I removed and replaced them they were fine again. Eventually this problem isolated itself to one side, but it became a pain in the ass to remove and replace each week or so. I ended up swapping back out to the originals. 

I really like the look, so I'm tempted to go back at some point.

Alex


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## Tahoe (Jan 9, 2004)

High temp silver paint here too. No problems after over a year of use. I just cut a few X s in a piece of cardboard and gave them all a light shot. No more egg yoke and still good amber lights when lighted.


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## Ron Stygar (Mar 31, 2002)

PropellerHead said:


> Well, THOSE wont work for the E39's signals.. ours are clip (or slot or whatever) type.


Not into E39's, but the Euro E39's use them.


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

Ron Stygar said:


> Not into E39's, but the Euro E39's use them.


I've been looking for someone to pull their turn signal bulbs to confirm. It's been so long since I did the paint and only this weekend since I changed the brake light bulb which was a type 921.

Tahoe? Do YOU remember what kind of bulb the turn signals use?


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