RXREY

Ok, as I promised... To be honest I would say that if I could have the gauges slightly brighter on daylight conditions, it would be perfect. Nonetheless, I found that altogether, the set-up is satisfactory and I intend to keep it permanently. Best to all! :) There are different types of acetate. Some are less dense in opacity and a little more in the cerulean blue hue....But I think mine are fine in the day time. Great to hear from you and your input. Rey in L.A.

Thanks for your support Rey. I had a great time in LA about 30 years ago.. I was supposed to spend three weeks and I stayed 6 months. I must say I was at a friends house in Malibu and life was real sweet at the time... Have you ever seen a house on the beach with blue turquoise tiles covering it's roof when walking along the ocean a bit north of Malibu? Well that was the place.. Best ! Yes, I love LA! I live in a really nice area, up high and can see a good distance from up here...thanks and let me know if you are ever out this way. Oh, did your gauges look ok in the day? toodles, Rey

It looks FABULOUS Agosin! $10? Wow, I thought I spent a lot at $2.49! This is the best mod for the buck ever! Way to go...looks nice...oh, and it will look great in the daytime as well. Rey in LA

Rey, the mechanics probability is for 4 clips to avoid undue extrusion or vibrations so if I were you, I'd take it as almost certain but you won't know for sure until you peek below the kimono, will you ..lol Mine is clearly 4 clips as shown on the pic and soon I hope to post the final work.. Best. I might take it off to see...It wasn't hard to take off but I'd hate to take it off unless I really needed to.

I get neither highlighting nor ads.... it's a wonderful world! I lost track, Paul, did you do the blue acetate mod? If you did, how did it go?

Hey, the highlighting stopped...or maybe it doesn't do it for me....

Hey, I just saw all of the ads! Even on the word "Acetate" Let me see if I simply write the word... acetate if it highlights that word....interesting in an Orwellian kinda, creepy way... hey, I wonder of Orwell will now be highlighted or Animal Farm?

Yes, I know, this has been a funny post....my little idea is growing. I now have someone that I know loving the idea and did it to his Infinity! Oh, I hadn't noticed the ad thing....weird....

I still don't remember having four snaps...I don;t want to pull out the bezel to see but maybe someone else will confirm.

Light filters would be great too like the types that are on spot lights in photo or art studios

I am so glad that we found out that there were four clips and not what I remembered to be only two. I remember that the bottom part of the bezel came out so easily that I must have simply supposed that there were only the two that I DO remember. Anyway, it's a neat mod and about as simple as a mod can get. I love that. Rey

My apologies, I guess there are four clips. I remember only the two but I really didn't want to take it off again to check. But now this topic has really become very clear for anyone wanting either put the acetate on or to take off the bezel for whatever reason. I think that we all did a great job educating each other and anyone else interested. This is what forums should be about. I stopped being a part of this forum because it got so negative about our car...but this is what I love about car forums...helping each other. Cheers from Los Angeles California...

Thanks. Absent new pictures, I'll try anyway as you said but believe me, a perfectionist like myself would suffer from things he knows but can't see.. ;-) Agosin, It really was very easy to take off the bezel when I did it. I was admittedly a little nervous but I did it. I pulled and felt that it moved and I knew then that it would come out without any problem. By the way,remember that when I came up with this acetate method I didn't even know about taking off the bezel so I did it without taking it off. Of course it is better to take it off so I redid it.. Oh, and the acetate that you find will be fine. I don't know if they have a light blue acetate, the one that I got was pretty much a regular dark blue , the dash lights are so bright that I have so problem seeing any of the gauge info and it is actually much more soothing now and very,very nice looking. Good luck. The two clips that hold the bezel in are both at the top, the rest just fits snuggly in the dash.

I agree, I have NEVER,ever been happier with a dealership as I have been with my Lexus dealer. For the four years of having my car I have had nothing but great service and attention. I get questions answered, emails returned, I have always gotten a loaner car. They ask me if I want the ES or RX,so I get a choice...that's how I found out how much nicer ours is compared to the gas only RX. I am hoping to get to drive the 450rx soon while my "Princess" gets her service work done. Sorry about the bad experience that you got, but I feel lucky. I have never had a luxury vehicle before. Rey

Should be easy, let us know.

cduluk is correct, it will hold. If it were me I might just use a little 3M automotive, double stick tape, the gray, foamy stuff with the red peel back. It'll be OK. Rey

Well..... My 'bezel' is probably the only one which does not come off so easily: two clips extension broke (stuck into the slots) and some little pieces (the metal around the plastic) falling somewhere down into the lower dashboard.... and I haven't even yet bought the acetates or gels to test the different colours (by the way, did anyone try green, like old Fords?). How much does a new bezel cost, anyway, and does anyone know the best place to buy it? In response to an earlier post: I was the one who suggested red. I find my (older) eyes are a lot less bothered by the dash lights in red than they are in the white, lowered to the max. but not out, and that the legibility of the gauges is not diminished. I haven't yet tried it nd haven't 'chosen' it - so don't be upset with me yet - but I stand by my conviction that the red BMW gauges are the best combination of lack of eye fatigue, legibility of dials and no loss of night vision that I have experienced during long, dark night drives. Paul, I am so sorry that the bezel broke for you. I feel a little responsible. It was easy and if it wasn't for cduluk's pictures, I would not have tried to pull it off. But when I saw the pictures I was able to understand how the bezel was attached and pulled it straight out. Yes, it takes a little persuasive tug but it was very easy. So I hope that others that try it are now aware that the clips can break and to simply be more careful not to force the disunion too much. Rey in still rainy L.A. Rey: Thank you for your kind words/Of course, you are in no way responsible. I am. But I will forge ahead nonetheless ... Be well! Paul, have you looked on line to fine the bezel? First see if the broken one can be fixed. It's a really simple fixture so I would think that you can easily find a way to affix it without any problems. The other thing is to look on line. Last resort would be to have LEXUS do it. You might as well buy a new car with what they would charge...I imagine. I love my dealership and everything they have done...BUT...but I wouldn't go to them if I needed a part like the bezel unless I had no other choice. Good luck and again, I am sorry about your experience. Rey

Well..... My 'bezel' is probably the only one which does not come off so easily: two clips extension broke (stuck into the slots) and some little pieces (the metal around the plastic) falling somewhere down into the lower dashboard.... and I haven't even yet bought the acetates or gels to test the different colours (by the way, did anyone try green, like old Fords?). How much does a new bezel cost, anyway, and does anyone know the best place to buy it? In response to an earlier post: I was the one who suggested red. I find my (older) eyes are a lot less bothered by the dash lights in red than they are in the white, lowered to the max. but not out, and that the legibility of the gauges is not diminished. I haven't yet tried it nd haven't 'chosen' it - so don't be upset with me yet - but I stand by my conviction that the red BMW gauges are the best combination of lack of eye fatigue, legibility of dials and no loss of night vision that I have experienced during long, dark night drives. Paul, I am so sorry that the bezel broke for you. I feel a little responsible. It was easy and if it wasn't for cduluk's pictures, I would not have tried to pull it off. But when I saw the pictures I was able to understand how the bezel was attached and pulled it straight out. Yes, it takes a little persuasive tug but it was very easy. So I hope that others that try it are now aware that the clips can break and to simply be more careful not to force the disunion too much. Rey in still rainy L.A.

Well, obviously you are wrong, it is practical..it's the model of practicality.....Yes there is a little less light but it looks great so as you can see from the pictures, it works as an overlay. I know you want to be "Right" but the overlay works and very few people are going to take their dashes apart. Bottom line, the overlay looks great and IS practical by any definition!

I'm a bit surprised you feel that way about red. My daughter's Mazda also has red gauge illumination and in most cultures, red signifies "warning", "caution", or "danger". I find it somewhat distracting compared to the soothing blue color which for most people signifies "cool" or "calm". Also, I think Lemon found that a red tint results in a pink hue, not red. If you're not female, having pink gauges can easily be misconstrued.... I didn't realize that the plastic behind the bezel was tinted. Maybe that mixed with the red acetate gave it the pinky hue I experienced. The other possiblity is that there are different shades of acetate. A deeper red shade might come out less pink looking. As you mentioned, I do find the blue to be a soothing colour. Wife used to have a 2000 Beetle and the blue was quite nice, compared to my in-laws Pontiac which was a garish orangey red. I do find the red used by BMW and Audi to be a different shade from the Pontiac, and a bit more pleasing to my eye anyway. hasn't all of this been so interesting? Lemon, I noticed that when I got more acetate, I went to a different place, that the blues were different. They both looked great, but different. So it makes sense that there would be different reds. But, the blue, its really nice! And the fact that the bezel comes off so easily makes my project so great now. I just put the new acetate in and it lays more easily, being one piece and it doesn't get messy from fingers as I tried to slip it in with the bezel on...it looks GREAT!!!

Thank you very much: the outer bezel is the part I wanted to pull out, but did not dare. Where are the clips (e.g. right and left, top and bottom.... and how many?) I had already pulled reasonably hard but was scared to pull more strongly.... Great info. Tks. again! [i'll let you know how it went, and what colour I chose to put over the 'window' - I have to see what red looks like - I've got that colour in the BMW and it is very easy on the eyes at night while being very legible = like fighter planes during WWII!]. Yes everyone, I can attest to the simplicity of taking off the gauge bezel. Thanks to the great info by cduluk and his equally fab pictures, I went to my car, took off the bezel and put one sheet of blue acetate over the whole window (pictured above). I then very easily placed the bezel back on (it snaps into place) and it is fabuloso! In using my simple method, there is no need to take off the plastic window..... The gauges are a gorgeous blue and very soothing both night and day and so,so very easy to do. Five minute mod, as cheap as you can ever want, and it looks great! Rey

I'm a bit surprised you feel that way about red. My daughter's Mazda also has red gauge illumination and in most cultures, red signifies "warning", "caution", or "danger". I find it somewhat distracting compared to the soothing blue color which for most people signifies "cool" or "calm". Also, I think Lemon found that a red tint results in a pink hue, not red. If you're not female, having pink gauges can easily be misconstrued.... Who wanted red?

Yes. this was a great bit of information and like lemon, I am going to redo my acetate method and just cut one piece instead of the three that I did before knowing how easy it was to take off the gauge bezel. I just love the blue gauges! Rey

To cduluk: Well, it makes you happy. I have my career that takes my time and happily I might add...I am very fortunate... we all spend our time in different ways so I don't spend that time on a car. But it does seem to make you happy and we all like to see what you do...so keep doing it! Rey Bustos in rainy L.A.

I think this is super-neat, and also so easily reversible. How do you slip the acetate in front of the gauge'windows? Do you start in the middle or is the side gauge large enough (since the acetate sheet must be larger than the gauges). Yes, you can start with the larger center gauge and then decide, as I did, to do the two flanking gauges. As LEMON stated and I have since redone mine...you need only to cut them like arches, bigger than each gauge and carefully and with perhaps gloves, slide them on top of the plastic gauge window and under the gauge rings. It looks really nice, night or day. They just sit there, no tape needed as LEMON found out. Rey Bustos in rainy L.A.