khoaster

I'm curious if someone can explain to me why the 03 CL headlights have black shade to it where my neighbor's 01 CL headlights are bright in chrome?

Thank you for your answer

jimcol711

just a styling change, simple as that. probably to make the car look "sportier" for 2003, along with the body colored front grille, door handles.

darrinb

they look better, i think the chrome headlights look sorta outdated, if you look at alot of new cars they are using blacked out headlights

KCPreki11

I like the chrome look better.

spdy0001

Depends on the color of the car.........

I love them on my black car, but on white I hate them

CLS2001_97124

But I like my "outdated" look...

123456SPEED

I've never liked the headlights -any color. Way too big, does not look sporty. My goal is to some how make them look slimmer. Painting the top part to match body color might make them look more streamline. Some have put on body color eyelids for this. I have a white with the black lights. Looks like a chevy I see driving around. I hesitate to take them apart to alter them cause I don't want leaks.

Jon Bon Bonachinballs

i just upgraded to clear 2k3s and the car looks much sportier, granted the others were nice but you are right they are a little outdated

zeroday

my Z came with a non blacked out mirror headlight housing...although I'm itching to black it out.

mattg

i think it all started when they painted the housings, then they were black...

zeroday

i'm thinking this could be the root cause as well. lol.

khoaster

I C! Thank you for all your feed back. My wife likes the non-black headlights. I think it is all right the way it is, but I sure like the 03 taillights better than 01 taillights. I don't understand why they don't include the foglights any more. I feel cheated. :P

zeroday

don't feel cheated...the people that bought the 01-02 CL's thinking they were actually fog lights should feel cheated. The 'roadlamps' as Acura calls them (because they aren't fog lights), were almost useless and prone to rock damage and burning out. They had a beam range of like 5 or six feet...

CLS6SPD03

The black housings give the car a JDM ( japan domestic market ) look. If you notice . the S2000's headlights are blacked out. I bought the JDM asseblys when i had the S2k because it has the corners cleared out. I like the look of blacked out headlamps.. And you are right..the headlights look big..but i think they look smaller blacked out. Only thing i had wished for and am going to do on my 03 is black out that chrome around the window. Will make teh car look shorter than it is.. that thin chrome line adds length to the car. I like how you can get what is call the *shadowline* package on BMWs were everything that is chrome is either painted or blacked out. Just my .02.

spdy0001

I know what your saying.............

I look across the parking lot at my car and all I see is the freakin trim around the window it stands out like a sore thumb

Jon Bon Bonachinballs

khoaster, dont feel cheated!!! the road lamps suck. i put in polarg bulbs and even though those are way better than stock bulbs, they still dont match the clear, white light of the headlights. I like the look of the housing in the daytime, buy at night they really are useless. I am going to remove the bulbs in the road lamps, but keep the housings.... try that for a while. what acura should have done is put real fogs in there. i still cant understand why they didnt.

ktgumbo

I still cannot understand Y they have not updated their Nav system, even though i dont have Nav, and they are still searchin for a tranny "fix."

Joe5.0

I think the blank spots for the fogs look worse than any yellow bulb could.

Shawn S

Another great thing about the 2003 BLACK housings is the fact that the “Alien search light” effect is eliminated.

I’m sure all you 2001 & 2002 owners know what I’m talking about.

Shawn S

Meth

get yourself some true HID foglights for your car...I have sylvania osrams and they look hot...they even have chrom trim so it matches our cars well...$54 bucks for factory switch and voilla!

darrinb

hmmm.... i dont get it

zeroday

the mirroring on the 01-02 headlights reflected a beam of light almost straight up in the air....you notice it going through tunnels, trees, etc. Hence the term 'alien search light'

KavexTrax

its not a true black shade, its just that theres a reflection casting a black shade from a piece thats painted dark grey (instead of chrome for '01s).

I thought it was because the '01 headlights would cast a beam too high creating some sort of UFO effect someone had complained about (maybe reference the FAQ or NovawhiteTypeS for further details).

mattg

chrome > black