Getting my front bumper redone... painted reflectors?

[tunamelt]

Hey guys, after picking up my car earlier this year, I'm finally dealing with some of the cosmetic issues that sour my mood every time I see them. The car was apparently in a minor fender bender before I took ownership, and the body shop did a lousy job with the front bumper. It's on a little crooked and the paint job is weak. I'm getting having it replaced with a reconditioned OEM bumper. I'm wondering if I should have the front reflectors painted while I'm at it. The car is a TiAg coupe, and I have clear reflectors that I can install which I think is an improvement over the orange...

I know people seem to love the painted reflector mod, but to me it looks like... they had their reflectors painted. What do you think?

[johnrando]

I went with body colored, but black is easier to match, so it doesn't stand out. I know a lot of people vote clear or smoked. Personally, I'd change out over the orange, so to me, you're on the right track. EDIT. You can see in my sig, how the black reflectors blend in.

[Hermes]

personally I would love to have a euro spec bumper with no reflector holes cut out but that's not likely to happen. At one point I had the clear reflectors but I like the body colored ones I currently have much more because from a distance they blend in. It could be more the fact that the clear really stood out on a red car, it's probably much closer on your color.

clear
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c288/jhermes/zhp%20projects/IMG_1163.jpg

body color
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c288/jhermes/ZHP%20Photos/foggyday.jpg

EDIT: I'll throw in what it looked like stock in 2008 when I bought it

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c288/jhermes/zhp%20projects/330zhp.jpg

[toddness]

I have a '06 TiAg coupe and would love to see how the clears and/or TiAg painted reflectors look if you go that route.

One of the few things that bothers me on mine is the orange reflectors. Please post pix either way you go!

[tunamelt]

Thanks guys. I think the painted reflectors look good on darker colored cards, but I'm going to try the clears with the TiAg for now. Will definitely post pics once the bumpers done. Have a date with the body shop on Oct 22!

[webster]

Go with clear. Looks OEM plus to me. matching reflectors, like you said, look...painted

[BCS_ZHP]

ECSTuning has smoked or clear reflectors for only $10/set, a great buy with good quality, I just bought extras.

[webster]

what's a decent price for a front bumper respray?

[Stu]

I saw one for $300 to recondition the whole thing on Groupon. If you're patient you might find one like that :)

[alexandre]

$300-400 seemed to be the going rate when I asked around for mine.

I vote for clear reflectors.

[tunamelt]

I shopped around alot. Finally found a shop with great reviews on Yelp that quoted me ~$500 for installing and painting a reconditioned OEM ZHP bumper. I was torn between this and buying a Khoalty MTech II replica, but the body shop guy was skeptical of fitment for the 3rd party vendor. I will keep you all posted on this.

The major bummer is that I noticed--post purchase--that some paintwork had been done on part of the hood and one of the fenders. On close inspection, it was not done all that well (the paint has very little depth). If the bumper comes out well, I'm going to have this guy tackle the hood in the spring.

[alexandre]

Great! Yeah I'd go reconditioned OEM over a copy anyday.