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Modification Details

Angel Eyes 451

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Angel Eyes 451
Fit angel eye lights to the headlights of your new fortwo 451

Below is what you will be fitting, you will need 2 rings and 2 inverters for 1 car.
To buy these angel eye kits just click on the SmartMods banner above.

They're not the crappy acrylic rings with an LED in each end, these are cold cathode fluorescent lamps. Thinner, brighter and have a much better colour than even the standard BMW halo lights.

Test that both angel eyes work before beginning this modification.
Remove the front panels, remove the headlights and disassemble them.

Glue the inverter in place as shown below, there is plenty of room in the 451 headlights.

As the indicator's circular aperture is interrupted, you have to use a rotary tool like a
Dremmel and a set of small files to create a long thin line in the side of the dipped
beam cover. The wires and the end of the ring will sit in this slot.

If you are going to paint the reflector, do it now and allow it to dry properly.

Mark all the way along one of the wires attached to the ring with the marker pen you used earlier, this will help you later on when you have to cut and reconnect the wires.

Cut both wires halfway in between the ring and the connector. This is necessary because the hole you make will be too small for the angel eye plastic connector to pass through. The mark you made on one of the wires will help you when you come to reattach these wires back together.

Apply a small line of contact adhesive to the back of the ring
and to the headlight reflector where the ring will touch it.

Allow the glue to cure for about 10 minutes before pushing the wires through
the holes and gently pressing the angel eye into place. Keep light pressure on the
ring for about 5 minutes, try not to let the ring move as the glue dries.

Rejoin the wires you cut earlier and insulate properly, ideally with heat shrink tubing.
You don't want these wires shorting out as the inverter creates thousands of volts.

Plug the ring into the inverter, partially reassemble the headlights and test.

Once you are happy, clean the inside of the headlight with a microfibre cloth to remove finger
prints then use a tack cloth to remove any dust that has settled on the reflector. Wiring these
into the existing sidelights isn't as easy as the sidelight wiring doesn't enter the headlight.
You will have to run the wires out of the headlight and splice into these wires in a waterproof way.

Reassemble the headlights and refit to the car. Wait until dark and test.

I was the first to do this when I fitted these to my 451 in March 2008,
at the time of writing I believe it is still the only 451 with angel eyes.

Common Question

Q - Why didn't you fit the angel eyes in front of the low beam lights?

A - that's a simple one to answer. Money and the current smart 451 modifying market.

We were lucky that the rings that we had made for the 450 fitted perfectly in that position on the 451. To fit in the low beam position they would need to be larger, this would mean new tooling costs for a new size production. We will do it eventually but at the moment there isn't enough people happy to take their cars apart to make them worth doing yet. If the ones we are selling now do well we will pump the money back into the new design and sell over the long term as we are in a good position to do that. One thing we would have to take into consideration is the amount of heat produced in that position but we will look into that closer to the time.

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