Colouring rear lights = Illegal?

[rusty-94]

I want a set of jewels, but I want the bottom half to be red so I will have colour them.
Does this make them illegal?
Ones like this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SAXO-CLEAR...#ht_500wt_1414

[Pricklep]

Few people have dont that on here iirc. No problems?

[sam_16v]

they only become illegal when the brightness of the light is effected

[AXracing]

There is some misinformation above. There are several regulation that cover vehicle lighting so the answer to any such question is normally not so strait forward.

Vehicle that are legitimately E marked and are fitted as per regulations are perfectly legal. So buy the look of it fitting the ones in your link with the correct bulbs should be fine as long as you inform your insurance company.

However you do find that many aftermarket lights even though they are E marked are not actually a full lighting set. So you may have to add other lighting systems such as rear fog light, reversing light or reflectors if there not part of the lighting setup you are fitting.

Also to modify any light as in tint then, fit covers over or anything like that would not be considered road legal unless said modification are also E marked for this application.

The fitting of none approved parts to a vehicle that require them is an offense however as to what the police would do you for can often be a little less clear. The normal would be failure to maintain the vehicle however there are several other things they could potentially pull you on.

[Saxo_Mick666]

I had tinted rears on my previous cars, neither would pass an MOT, failed on rear reflectors not being red and product on the lens, I think one place stated there was not enough light shining through too. Old bill never pulled me over for them, but they would follow me and I assume see for themselves if the light was clearly visible, then turn off once they were happy.

[Xplodee]

You cant tint lights much if you want too keep them legal. Will probably cause problems at MOT time as said.

[Manu]

You can't spray e marked lights, it's a void. I have perfectly legal ones on mine yet the car failed the mot for one slightly dim lightbulb.

[StealthSteve]

Originally Posted by AXracing

There is some misinformation above. There are several regulation that cover vehicle lighting so the answer to any such question is normally not so strait forward.

Vehicle that are legitimately E marked and are fitted as per regulations are perfectly legal. So buy the look of it fitting the ones in your link with the correct bulbs should be fine as long as you inform your insurance company.

However you do find that many aftermarket lights even though they are E marked are not actually a full lighting set. So you may have to add other lighting systems such as rear fog light, reversing light or reflectors if there not part of the lighting setup you are fitting.

Also to modify any light as in tint then, fit covers over or anything like that would not be considered road legal unless said modification are also E marked for this application.

The fitting of none approved parts to a vehicle that require them is an offense however as to what the police would do you for can often be a little less clear. The normal would be failure to maintain the vehicle however there are several other things they could potentially pull you on.

The reality is that barely any coppers know the actual law, and if you get a jobsworth that does then he's doing you for everything he can so rear lights won't be a priority.

[jeffchiz]

iirc the only lights on the bottom half are brake, tail lights and the fog lights all which shine red so by tinting the light red it won't effect the color output, whether the brightness is effected is a different matter, but I had clear rear jewels with the bottom half tinted red and passed three mot's