Is200 Headlight Splitting Guide

BRUC3 · February 22, 2012

Thought i would make another guide on how to split your is200 headlights. I decided to do this, as I found I still had to do a fair bit of digging around previous posts on both this forum, and various other forums!

The usual this is just a guide, and by no means should be taken as factual blah blah etc applies! I wont be held responsible should you melt hour headlights, burn your house down, stab yourself with a screwdriver/ knife or ***** your parents off due to funny smells coming from the oven or bent crockery!

I wont bother with how to remove your headlights just yet, as I followed a pretty decent guide somewhere else, but will show you how to put em back in later!

First up, pre heat your oven to 120 degrees c! NOT 250 as I did with my first headlight! I followed a vid from youtube, and only realised it was farenheight after I had nearly melted my light unit!

Then take your headlight and put it in the oven.

I left mine in there for about 4 minutes, and then started the splitting process. I found it easiest to start from the inner part of the headlight (opposite end to the indicator).

I used a not overly sharp general crockery knife. Not a sharp one! Just a normal one....

This is the weapon of choice!

See, not sharp!

First up I lifted the obvious clips.

This allowed me to move the lense about a mm away from the body. (remember your working from the inner part!)

I then placed the light back in the oven for another 2 minutes. I found it best to do it this way as it meant the unit was still cool enough to handle, but the glue retains the warmth a lot longer than the glue, making it less prone to bending the housing!

Next up I got the knife a bit further in, and started to really get somewhere! I unclipped any brackets I found as I went. I worked my way around the bottom of the headlight.

Once I had a good bit if movement in the lense, I put the unit back in the oven for another 2 minutes, and then finished splitting the lense. I had to work the knife in at some points, and it was pretty straight forward until I got to the indicator part where I had to give the lense bit of a wobble.

This left me with 2 parts!

The lense and the unit!

Ta Daaaa!!!!

You can see the glue on both the unit and the lense...

Next up was to remove the pony looking chrome part. This is easy, but you have to make sure you lift the clip pictured below, or else you may snap it, which will lead to a black hole opening up and you headlight project will be lost forever. FOREVER!

After you have lifted the clip, simply pull the chrome insert away, and admire your handy work! If you have got this far without breaking anything your on a home run!

Next was the indicator lense. Turn the chrome part over, and you should see 2 small clips. Un-clip them (be carefull if your keeping the lense as I found these were very brittle. I broke one of mine!), and lift the lense out.

Some of you may want to keep it, others wont. I think it looks pants, so I put it in the best place possible...

Thats my indicator lense in my bin incase anyone didn't realise...

So now your left with a lense, a light unit, and an indicator-less chrome insert!

Next up is to sand the chrome insert. I used 600 wet and dry sandpaper, with a decent amount of water. This keys the surface giving your primer something to adhere to. This is mega important that you get as much of the chrome part keyed as possible, and any areas left un-touched is a weak spot for the paint peeling. Thats the last thing you want after all the hard work!

Heres my insert keyed.

Rememeber, when it comes to any finishing work, preperation is the key! Get this right and you will end up with a decent finish!

I left my chrome surround somewhere warm for the evening to ensure that it is completly dry. Theres loads of small creveses for water to sit in, and paint and water dont mix!

So that's as far as I have got at the moment, but I will be spraying it sometime this week. I will continue the guide and just edit it as I go...!

Like I mentioned at the top, this isn't factual! If you ****** it up, its your problem not mine!

Hope it helps!