What is STEK light film?
It is paint protection film cut and shaped for headlights, fog lights and taillights, with a tint added for looks. STEK, the maker, calls it Light Protection Film and describes it as “a Paint Protection Film (PPF) application designed to protect automotive lights and enhance their aesthetics.”
STEK’s light protection page says the films are “true PPF or TPU-based plastic materials, offering 8mils of durable protection”, and lists three properties of the top coat:
- “Hydrophobic (advanced water-repelling properties)”
- “Anti-Contamination (stain resistant)”
- “Fast Recovery Self-Healing (by heat or hot water)”
The damage STEK says the film is there to prevent is the everyday kind: cracks from stones, acidic marks left by bugs and birds, fading from pollution, and haze built up from fine scratches. On a polycarbonate lens, those are the things that pit and cloud it over the years.
Which STEK light film tones are there?
STEK publishes four tinted DYNO tones and one amber film, each rated by transmittance: how much of the lamp’s light makes it through the film. The darker the tone, the less light leaves the lamp.
| STEK film | Transmittance | How STEK describes it | STEK’s warranty |
|---|---|---|---|
| DYNOstorm | 50% | Its “lightest neutral gray” | 7 years (DYNO series) |
| DYNOshade | 45% | A shaded look with “a slight blue/purple color hue” | 7 years (DYNO series) |
| DYNOshadow | 34% | “a medium darkness” in a charcoal tone | 7 years (DYNO series) |
| DYNOsmoke | 30% | “the darkest option” | 7 years (DYNO series) |
| FORCESHIELDamber | 85% | A “bright yellow color”, for headlights, fog lights and turn markers | 5 years |
How the shop’s shades line up with STEK’s list
Brookswood Tint lists its light film as 30% and 50% smoke, plus yellow and clear. On STEK’s chart, the 30% and 50% numbers belong to DYNOsmoke and DYNOstorm, and STEK’s yellow film is FORCESHIELDamber, which STEK backs for 5 years rather than 7. STEK’s light film page lists no clear tone. Ask which STEK product goes on your lamps and which term will be written on the invoice.
Is STEK light film legal on headlights and taillights in BC?
Not reliably. BC’s 2025 Vehicle Inspection Manual, Section 6, item 1.0(a), rejects any lamp whose “lens is clouded or reduces transmission of light, is not clearly visible or is covered in any manner.” So smoked or yellow STEK over a headlight, taillight or turn signal may fail inspection or earn a ticket, and clear STEK may still be questioned, since the lens is covered either way.
In BC: a STEK tone sold by its transmittance reduces the light leaving the lamp by design. DYNOsmoke at 30% passes under a third of it. If the car is heading for a designated inspection, plan to have the film taken off first.
Before booking, the shop walks you through that inspection and ticket risk. If the car needs to pass later, warming the film lets it peel away from the lens. The lamp rules are set out in full on are tinted headlights legal in BC and are smoked taillights legal in BC.
What does the 7-year warranty cover?
Brookswood Tint publishes a 7-year manufacturer warranty on its STEK light film against yellowing, cracking and peeling. STEK’s own page words its DYNO-series term as “a 7-year warranty against delaminating, yellowing, bubbling and cracking.”
The warranty is on the film, not the lamp. If a lens was already hazy or yellow, film over it doesn’t change that, and taking film off so a car can pass an inspection is your choice rather than a film defect. Keep your invoice with the film’s name on it, and see the warranty page for how a claim starts.
How is STEK film fitted to a headlight or taillight?
By hand, one lens at a time: the film is warmed until it takes the lens’s shape, then trimmed to the housing, and a pair takes about two to three hours. Lamps with deep recesses add time, since the film is worked into each contour by hand.
The lens has to be clear before film goes on. A yellowed or hazy headlight gets restored first; the shop’s restoration with progressive wet sanding, finished with clear or smoked STEK film, takes about half a day. Moisture inside the lamp, or a housing that has cracked, needs a new assembly rather than film. Restoration on its own is covered on headlight restoration.
STEK film, restoration or PPF: which suits your lights?
Start from what you want: a new look, a repair, or protection that leaves the lamp looking as it did. The table sets the options side by side with the time each takes at the shop.
| Option | What it does | Time | BC inspection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoked STEK film | Darkens the lens and guards it | 2–3 hours a pair | Can fail: the lens passes less light |
| Yellow STEK film | Tints the beam yellow and guards the lens | 2–3 hours a pair | Can fail: covered lens, changed colour |
| Clear STEK film | Guards the lens without changing the look | 2–3 hours a pair | May be questioned: still a covering |
| Polish and seal | Clears light haze; no film goes on the lens | About an hour | No film on the lens |
| Restoration plus STEK film | Wet-sands a tired lens, then covers it | About half a day | Same as the film chosen |
| A PPF package | Clear LLumar Platinum over the headlights, along with the paint | 1 day and up | May be questioned: still a covering |
If you are already booking paint protection film, the headlights are part of every PPF package, so they don’t need a separate light film job unless you want a tint.
Booking STEK light film in Langley
Light film is quoted for your model rather than priced from a list. Tell the shop the car, which lamps and which shade using the headlight and taillight film request; you can also phone or text 604 534 6433.
A pair of lamps is a two-to-three-hour visit to the Langley Bypass shop, which is open six days a week, closed Sundays. Shades and fit are shown on headlight and taillight tint, and the rear-only option on smoked taillights.
