So today I set about tinting my headlights whilst installing my hid's done them both with tinting spray and they looked spot on but after finishing off it crossed my mind is this legal ? Stupid i know and should have checked beforehand :( After dooing some research I was getting mixed answers so decided to ring durham constabulary which informed me it was illegal to tint headlights :(

So after half an hour of scrubbing with nail varnish remover they are now back to standard

Has anyone got them tinted and if so had any bother with police stopping them?

Mine are tinted with vinyl! Never had any issues and tbh nobody ever makes any comments unless its on the forum!

I really like them though!

Edited 3 March, 201313 yr by DanHam

hid's in standard halogen head lights are also illegal without the projector lens so tinting the lens making them a little less bright might work in your favour

Looks unreal that dan that's how dark mine were looking! And yeah Iknow holmsie do a lot more daylight driving than night time so more chance of been pulled with tinted headlights:( my hids are 5000k so just look a bright white but as you say would be in my favour if they were tinted

You've done the right thing my removing it, spray will chip on the front mate! Get some vinyl like mine, mine is applied so well that you couldn't tell it was vinyl even if I was stopped!

When I did it with the spray it did look a bit patchy tbh I will probably go and get a light tint next week did you do yours yourself dan?

Yeh mate did them myself, really easy. Got the tint off ebay for a tenner. Enough to do the headlights, fogs and the clear bits at the rear! You want a link mate?

Please mate do you need a heat gun to apply it or would our lasses hair dryer do haha ?

I'm not going to say whether you should tint or not, but here's a quote from lamin-x UK. I have their yellow tint on my fogs.

Our coloured/tinted headlamp protection films may not be legal for road use on primary lighting in your country. An off-road use disclosure is hereby declared as our light protection films are manufactured for motorsport use. Please check your local laws before application if you have concerns. Installation of our tinted protection film on your headlights, indicators or fog lamps is done so at your own risk.

The law/Mot hand book within the UK states that front primary lighting must produce a White or Yellow light. There is no documentation about the colour of the actual lens.

Our Amber tinted indicator turn signal protection film produces an orange light.

Our Clear/GunSmoke/OpticBlue/SubtleTint light protection films all produce a legal natural light colour, and our Yellow produces a Yellow tinted light which is of course perfectly legal within the UK.

None of our light protection films change/adjust the beam pattern. Our GunSmoke light protection film can reduce light output in some cases with older vehicles.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261115763316?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Hair dryer would do fine mate, give the headlights a good polish before so you can remove the bugs, etc or even clay them if you have some. I only used a hair dryer on the edges then trimmed around the sides then more heat and push it into the edges. Use a credit card to smooth out any bubbles while your laying it over the surface.

Just to add mine passed MOT with it fitted.

And what I meant in my post with the pic in about not making comments was that they don't notice they are tinted. Plenty of cars headlights look black now as the insides are black.

Heres a couple of another of my cars I did....

Edited 3 March, 201313 yr by DanHam

Hmm see this is what made me check because if that's the case then why would durham police say they are a illegal,

And sound that dan mate thanks a lot al just go ahead and do it see if I get pulled at least if its just film I can just peel it off their and then

Yep you sure can mate, doesn't really reduce light out put either, well I didn't notice much difference

legally you dont need lights for day time use? you can pass an mot with black head light covers / no lights so during day time surely tints cant be illegal if black light cover are legal and with hid's on a night the tints would do you a favour :

All MOT testers should be aware of the criteria, as it is detailed in the MOT Inspection Manuals for all Classes of vehicle that fall under the MOT Scheme. In fact, the information is repeated several times in the Manuals as it is covered in the sections covering: Front and rear position lamps, headlamps, stop lamps, rear reflectors and direction indicators.

The standards applied in the MOT test are taken from the Regulations appropriate to the item in question. In respect of lights, these regulations are The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989, as amended (SI 1976). Regulation 4 (3) (a) states:

"Nothing in these Regulations shall require any lamp or reflector to be fitted between sunrise and sunset to

(a) a vehicle not fitted with any front or rear position lamp,"

Regulation 4 (4) states:

"Without prejudice to regulation 16, for the purposes of these Regulations a lamp shall not be treated as being a lamp if it is

(a) so painted over or masked that it is not capable of being immediately used or readily put to use; or

( an electric lamp which is not provided with any system of wiring by means of which that lamp is, or can readily be, connected with a source of electricity."

In case you are concerned about the reference to regulation 16 in reg. 4, this only refers to the fitting of blue warning beacons, special warning lamps and similar devices.

so a vehicle does not actually have to have any lights on it at all to run during daylight hours

Whats the difference between tinted headlights and headlights which haven't been cleaned for 4 months..? I wonder if they pull you over for dirty headlights....

Whats the difference between tinted headlights and headlights which haven't been cleaned for 4 months..? I wonder if they pull you over for dirty headlights....

Hmm suppose your right mate

What Holmsie says in #14 is fine as far as it goes; it does ignore the points that:-

1. You would have to present the vehicle for MoT as being "for daylight use only".
   
2. You would have to inform the insurance company of this.
   
3. I'm not sure whether you have to inform the DVLA or if that's automatic with (1). Either way, it would be illegal to use it between sundown day 1 and sunup day 2. If you have to inform the DVLA first, then informing them would have to be point (0) or else you'd fail the MOT on all sorts of lighting related items.
   

I'm not saying "don't do it"; just pointing out that if you don't do it in a legal manner, and then use the vehicle in accordance with the restricted registration you could cause yourself all sorts of expensive legal bothers.

Whats the difference between tinted headlights and headlights which haven't been cleaned for 4 months..? I wonder if they pull you over for dirty headlights....

For sure you can be done for having dirty lights. Its a drivers duty to inspect a car before driving it to ensure its roadworthy and a car with bogging headlights isnt roadworthy.

legally you dont need lights for day time use? you can pass an mot with black head light covers / no lights so during day time surely tints cant be illegal if black light cover are legal and with hid's on a night the tints would do you a favour :

All MOT testers should be aware of the criteria, as it is detailed in the MOT Inspection Manuals for all Classes of vehicle that fall under the MOT Scheme. In fact, the information is repeated several times in the Manuals as it is covered in the sections covering: Front and rear position lamps, headlamps, stop lamps, rear reflectors and direction indicators.

The standards applied in the MOT test are taken from the Regulations appropriate to the item in question. In respect of lights, these regulations are The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989, as amended (SI 1976). Regulation 4 (3) (a) states:

"Nothing in these Regulations shall require any lamp or reflector to be fitted between sunrise and sunset to

(a) a vehicle not fitted with any front or rear position lamp,"

Regulation 4 (4) states:

"Without prejudice to regulation 16, for the purposes of these Regulations a lamp shall not be treated as being a lamp if it is

(a) so painted over or masked that it is not capable of being immediately used or readily put to use; or

( an electric lamp which is not provided with any system of wiring by means of which that lamp is, or can readily be, connected with a source of electricity."

In case you are concerned about the reference to regulation 16 in reg. 4, this only refers to the fitting of blue warning beacons, special warning lamps and similar devices.

so a vehicle does not actually have to have any lights on it at all to run during daylight hours

While I don't disagree with the logic regarding a daytime MOT it's not quite that simple. Remember the judgement of day and night time varies during the year, in winter on a morning it's dark and it's the same at 4pm on a night.

A daytime MOT exists but if you are caught in the dark you will be treated as having no MOT, it used to be a popular way of getting track bikes through an MOT.

Why anyone still thinks it's a good idea to put anything over a device fitted to make sure you are seen and alert other road users to your actions is beyond me but putting that aside. In the event of a disputed liability claim you risk getting ripped a new one with tinted lights, combined with a pair of HID's in reflectors and all the other driver has to say is they were dazzled by your illegal lighting or its strange glow/colour and suddenly you have a problem that could result in your insurer attempting to recover the cost of the claim from you and voiding your insurance (they can't void the third party claim under EU law) which will put your premium up for life (insurance cancelled or refused question) and have you facing charges of driving without insurance.

Now that's a worst case scenario but it does happen, my ex used to work for the AA insurance side, for minor non disclosure they usually just requested an additional premium to bring the policy up to the premium that would have been charged (if the owner had been honest eg after market wheels you forgot to declare as you didn't purchase the car 'new') but for a significant and deliberate misrepresentation eg 'its standard' when it's been featured in a magazine as a custom project and it's clear the owner chose to misrepresent the risk then forget it.

Usual rules apply, it's your life/car/money so do as you please, as long as it doesn't impact others negatively then good luck to you

Whats the difference between tinted headlights and headlights which haven't been cleaned for 4 months..? I wonder if they pull you over for dirty headlights....

My parents were stopped for exactly that a few years back, they're both retired and my dad was driving a newish car sensibly and within the speed limit. My dad was given the choice between cleaning his lights or being written up.