A little headlight tinting on Mach-E

[Murse-In-Airy]

Yeah, light meters aren't hard to come by if he wanted to make a more accurate comparison.

Well, now I feel like an idiot. Why didn’t I think of that. Just ordered one for $18 on Amazon. I’ll report back in the difference between my wife’s headlights and mine.

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[cyper]

Unfortunately the person who made the video is probably not familiar with how cameras handle exposure. The camera was likely set to auto-exposure ... so when the car lights got dimmer it compensated by increasing the exposure and the net result looks the same.

For example... if you cut the light output in half, the camera will double the exposure to compensate and the resulting video would look the same.

This appears to be the case, you can definitely notice the camera adjusting exposure when he moves it to show the film on the headlight (around 4:30)

 

[Jimrpa]

I want to see this done with a light meter and with a headlamp calibration pattern. Did anyone catch the “hex pattern” he kept talking about? I’d be concerned about both dimming AND optical distortion of the beam pattern (which effectively will result in further dimming). Also, I’d like to see a color temperature measurement of the light after tinting. I like the color temperature of the white from the Mustang Mach E LED headlamps and putting a color filter over them is going to screw that up.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

Well, even from his eyes, and now mine, the report was very little, if any, decrease in light output. So camera or not, I’m satisfied. ??

Eyes also adapt ... so they have similar issues as a camera.

BUT ... I have noticed over the years that headlights keep getting brighter and some cars are ridiculously bright (it seems like people are driving with high-beams on... when that's just the low-beams). So I'm not against dimming them down slightly.

 

[OttawaGuy]

Eyes also adapt ... so they have similar issues as a camera.

BUT ... I have noticed over the years that headlights keep getting brighter and some cars are ridiculously bright (it seems like people are driving with high-beams on... when that's just the low-beams). So I'm not against dimming them down slightly.

That's most noticeable with LED headlights... they are super bright, especially at a certain distance/angle

 

[BMT1071]

I want to see this done with a light meter and with a headlamp calibration pattern. Did anyone catch the “hex pattern” he kept talking about? I’d be concerned about both dimming AND optical distortion of the beam pattern (which effectively will result in further dimming). Also, I’d like to see a color temperature measurement of the light after tinting. I like the color temperature of the white from the Mustang Mach E LED headlamps and putting a color filter over them is going to screw that up.

I don't think you're gonna get that kind of evaluation from a tint shop owner.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I want to see this done with a light meter and with a headlamp calibration pattern. Did anyone catch the “hex pattern” he kept talking about? I’d be concerned about both dimming AND optical distortion of the beam pattern (which effectively will result in further dimming). Also, I’d like to see a color temperature measurement of the light after tinting. I like the color temperature of the white from the Mustang Mach E LED headlamps and putting a color filter over them is going to screw that up.

I’m guessing that this mod isn’t for you. It’s not to everyone’s liking, just like every other mod. Personally, I’ll pass as well, not the least reason for which is the annual safety inspections — and those include meters for tinted windows as well.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

Did anyone catch the “hex pattern” he kept talking about?

If you zoom in on my comparison photo, you can make out the hex pattern. If you turn the lights one, you cannot tell. But it sounds like you would have to see it in person before you believe anyone. So I’ll leave it at that.

Personally, I’ll pass as well, not the least reason for which is the annual safety inspection

Here in NY they use the light meter on the window tint too, which is why I’m not messing with that. But the headlights laws don’t really address tinting. So I’ll give it a try. If I have to peel it off next year for inspection, I’ve only lost $30 and 30 minutes of my time. ??

 

[RedStallion]

Now, if only we could tint the license place, that's one ugly piece on the otherwise great looking car.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

Now, if only we could tint the license place, that's one ugly piece on the otherwise great looking car.

I’m kinda proud of my plate. Thought of it all by myself. ?

 

[Jimrpa]

We have terribly antiquated headlamp laws here in the US. If we could have the types of headlamps that are allowed in Europe, a lot of those concerns about “too bright” headlights would go away and the quality of the headlights would be such that I think fewer people would want to interfere with them.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

For those following this, I finally got my cheap amazon light meter. It measures in LUX. After parking both MME side by side
1. Hers with premium headlights naked
2. Mine with premium headlights tinted in VVIVID light smoke

Both were parked in the dark garage 5’ from the white interior closed garage door.

Hers on left measured 13650 LUX at the brightest spot. ?

Mine on the right measured a measly 4580 LUX at the brightest. ?

I swear it looked fine when I drove, so for confirmation I also checked my F150. 4120 LUX. So I think it’s understandable that I thought the tinted lights were plenty bright. But this does have me seriously considering pulling the tint back off. 66% reduction in light is A LOT of reduction

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

@BMT1071 @Jimrpa See above folks ?? Got my light meter. ?

 

[Astraea]

For those following this, I finally got my cheap amazon light meter. It measures in LUX. After parking both MME side by side
1. Hers with premium headlights naked
2. Mine with premium headlights tinted in VVIVID light smoke

Both were parked in the dark garage 5’ from the white interior closed garage door.

Hers on left measured 13650 LUX at the brightest spot. ?

Mine on the right measured a measly 4580 LUX at the brightest. ?

I swear it looked fine when I drove, so for confirmation I also checked my F150. 4120 LUX. So I think it’s understandable that I thought the tinted lights were plenty bright. But this does have me seriously considering pulling the tint back off. 66% reduction in light is A LOT of reduction

I'd been lurking on this to see the outcome. I'm sad to see such a heavy reduction in light as I thought the mod looked great! This much loss would be a deal breaker for me though. Style is great but safety is better, especially with how much deer and other hard to see randomness we have up here.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

I'd been lurking on this to see the outcome. I'm sad to see such a heavy reduction in light as I thought the mod looked great! This much loss would be a deal breaker for me though. Style is great but safety is better, especially with how much deer and other hard to see randomness we have up here.

Yeah. After sleeping on it, I‘m commited to peeling the tint off. Though I’d still like to take both cars out to the feild and see what the difference is in how far I can actually see with both regular headlights and brights. I’m not sure how many of those LUX are in the bright white spectrum, nor how far it changes the projection. ?

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