its not a matter of whether they are available or not, because with the right contacts, im sure people can get them, even i could, if i tried hard enough.

But history has proven over and over that alot of people that will say that they are interested will back out when its time to pay. that has happened when i ran the RMR lip group buy, and when i ran the cedia headlight groupbuy, and even with the HID kit group buy that is going on in the moment. hell i even offered to do the retroes for people, everyone was like im interested, but once the price tag came out, everyone goes in the dark.

drummerjun- had about 4 sets of leftover cedia lights that came out of his pocket becuase so many people backed on on him after he ordered them. i wonder why he doesnt come on here much.

Buschur- stopped supporting the platform because of the same reason.

so, would it be worth it for people or companies to import them over? NO, because they know no matter how rare the part, 99% of the lancer guys wont spend the money something like that.

you guys demand, and when the supply comes, there is no longer a demand, cus no one wants to pay

 

and obviously you dont understand what it takes to be different... i had about $800 invested in my headlights alone



cedia headlights-280

HID kit -350

projectors -100

eyelids -25 /pair(3different pairs)

paint and

other materials - 40

labor - over 20 hours of labor invested



being one of the few to have projectors on my cedias, with and HID kit, along with the customized amber turn signal - pimp



but not a lot of people would understand why i put all that time and $$ into them, SCLC guys loved em...

 

I understand what it takes to be different, but my whole thing is I am not going to spend that much money for headlights on a car that isn't worth jack after 1 year off the lot. This car depreciated so quickly it made me sick. I bought it because it was inexpensive transportation so I concentrated on the stuff that made sense: sound system (no, not for rap, I listen to death metal so it isn't slamming) and rims so that I could get rid of the ****ty steel wheels.

Most people's cars I work on have two cars: a toy and an everyday driver. Until I can afford to own both, I won't heavily mod anything I own. Yeah, sure, I saw all the modification possible when I went to school, but I also know that a 2.0L SOHC stock with an advertised 120HP can't handle too much power unless you totally gut the car and start over. Yes, I know RRM has a 13 second Lancer or whatever, but it also cost tons of money to do. I would rather spend that $10K on a car that is already fast and make it faster. Case in point: my customers drive a 545i as an everyday driver and an M3 or M5 as a toy car. Sure, not everyone has enough money to drop $20K in performance mods from Dinan, but not everyone's wife is the Vice President of a big company, either. I see customers all the time who drop money like it's nothing...and most of them trade their cars in every 3 - 4 weeks for a new toy.

I have $40K+ in auto school loans to pay off, that's part of the reason I don't put that much money into something I need to get me everywhere I need to go.

Props to you, though, lookslikeanevo, because I do like your ride.

 

^ya i know what you are saying also, but in the average american home, people can afford a daily and a toy...even more so to mod the toy...

reason i mod or moded my lancer, was cus i liked working on my car, even if there was nothing to be done...

but to take a crappy platforn of a car then to make it into something that is insanely quick(if thats the goal) or something the totally looks unique,(again, if thats the goal) for a fair amount of money, isnt really a bad thing.

but when it all comes down to it, to each his own.

and for those customers that you see trade their cars in every 3-4weeks...are they really someone to be envy of? ot to look up to?

i hinking you used it as a figure of speech, and i get it, but in reality, how much debt do you think those people are swimming in?

the only things that a moded m5 proves to me is that the person has money, because if they didnt have money, guess what they would be moding. now a person that takes his $15k daily to the track and mods it to have fun, or person that enters( a daily) & wins trophies at a car show, to me, shows passion, and dedication.

of course that person knows that the car isnt really going to worth anything right after they take it off the lot. but we mod it anyway, to show our own personality, and creativeness.

 

I completely understand where you are coming from, too. And I agree, those people are not to be envied. I am simply stating that they trade cars because they are tired of what they have. Trust me, they lose money everytime but they don't care. They have enough of it.

As for modding the M3, people at my work bring it to our race tech and have him do the work so they can do the SCCA racing.

 

^i mean if i had money i would do the same thing, there are also people that run the m3's for fun, but they just happn to have the money to do it.

but how much better does it make you feel that you tuned you own car and parts on that car you are running at the scca race, were carefully selected, not just "giv eme the best of everything so i can be faster" kinda thing

 

I love your mentality. I couldn't agree with you more. I like not only knowing how to do it but being able to...unfortunately I don't have the money now. But, I have the knowledge for when I do have the money. That's one area of school that helped me tremendously. All those performance classes were a great thing.

 

most of this page has been off topic - let's be real. on ebay, projectors are running, what...$250 a pop? or a little more? I coud handle that. Most people could - but anything over $300 is wayy too much for headlights. Now, How well do these people think the ralliart projectors will sell? i don't know that - but i know that i really would like some evo style projectors. they're similiar in shape (key word similiar), more so than the ralliart.

 

there is not enough, or will there be demand for a company to make headlights for the 02-03 platform, its a fact...no matter how many key words you have

 

If there wasn't a big enough demand, they could offer them and then make them when the orders come in. it would prevent the company from having left over headlights everywhere and let us 02-03 guys get what we want even though it might take a little longer.

 

well someone needs to do something. projectors aren't "important", but they are a nice looking dressup for your car. it 'd be nice to have some.

 

LMFAO!, think about it again then repost...im tired of explaning things over and over again.

hmmm lets see, how cost effective is it going to be , to make a few molds(because headlights Are not just made of one mold, AND 10/10 TIMES THEY DONT GET IT RIGHT ON THE FIRST TRY, so then get gotta try again and make another mold) then sell a whole 20 whopping pairs fo lights, especially when people that are buying them want the product for the sub-300 price point...lets see how profitable this is going to be...

if you thought exactly the way you posted you message, and ran your own bussiness, how long do you think your bussiness would last?

 

My business would last, plenty of businesses make products to order. the key would be to have a good enough mold that if you did it would work the first or second time. the cost of supplies TO A PRODUCER are pretty cheap. your cedia's, HID, and projectors, were all extreamly expensive to you because you bought them from a retailer who maked them up from the wholesaler who maked them up from the company who turned a profit on their cost. you could be looking at over 400% of mark from the start. See what I'm saying? and as nice as it would be to have headlights that were as elaborite as yours, not everyone chooses to. RRM hid kit for the 04+ is $369 and that doesn't seem like an outrageous price. but i bet it doesn't cost more then 150 to make. and 20 pairs of lights at 300 is still 6000 dollars in business.

 

Reopening. Keep it civil.

 

Yes cost of supplies are cheap, that is a given, but lets taken into consideration what it actually going to take to make a headlight. getting a good mold isnt just the whole part of it. LABOR is what makes the difference, now to make a headlight, they are going to have to design it first, then make a prototype, then mass produce. seems easy when its down on paper doesnt it? but how many first gen prototypes actually make it to the market perfectly?

Those companies that you speak of that make thing to order, any of them car specific parts, things that are not intechangeable to other cars and so forth? how is this item designed? is it a stright forward design? or soemthing the require a little more attention to detail? and lastly, how much do this item cost? and how much more does it cost over its massed produced counterpart?

your using examples like HId kits that are mass produced. give me something that isnt and, is afforadble witht eh execption food. something that not everyone orders, but can be done, when a customer is in need.