cleaned out rear lights, WOW!

[kmarei]

instead of concentrating on the important mechanichal problems i have with my M3
i focused on the visual

i took out both rear lights
removed the bulb panel and washed the plastic lens part
so much filth in there
then i wiped the inside of the reflectors with a cotton towel dipped in alcohol
came out filthy
cleaned out the bulbs and sand papered the metal contacts that connect to the terminal
finally i installed them
they look sooo much better
much brighter and it looks like a new car
definatley worth the effort
took less than an hour

[El KuRLy]

cool, another thing to add to the "To Do" list

[noro]

You're saying there was dirt from inside? I thought those tings have pretty tight rubber sealing around them

[kmarei]

lots of dirt
they are tight from the outside of the car
from the inside they are not that tight
and just think, over the last 20 years you can pick up a lot of dust
and the seal is foam, not rubber
so with age it starts to show some cracks
and since they inside of the reflector is coated like a mirror
any dirt wil affect how much light it can reflect

the biggest difference is now the light is spread out
not just a small ball of light in the center
also the bulbs were dirty
i cleaned them out with alcohol too