Headlight Restoration

[Colin]

A great kit , took my time at it...about 2 hours  very pleased with outcome .

[ttr]

Cracking result, I used G3 on my rears too and they polished up well, bet your kit would do same

Cheers

[pcdee]

[quote="Colin"]
A great kit , took my time at it...about 2 hours  very pleased with outcome .
[/quote]Where did you get the kit from?

They look brand new!

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[X5-D-Sport]

I got an identical result using Baking Soda toothpaste, using a cotton cloth or drill mop, then buff with normal car body polish....

I also have the Meguires kit, which is very good, but the price of it is rather steep, so I with stick with Arm & Hammer Tooth Products lol.

Tooth paste total cost about £2.50  provided you have some standard polish to use after, to buff up.

[Colin]

Got it bought for me  think it came from Halfords ,
checked online and its £16.80 

[A Blair]

Nice finish Colin.
I have just bought the 3M kit £21.10p off ebay. I am hoping to achieve a similar result to yours this coming weekend.

Did you notice any improvement in the headlights?

[Colin]

Not been out at dark yet  but don't think they were that bad as to make a difference  they just look good now,
I used to do a lot of night driving and got fitted a pair of high power slimline Xenon spotlights

[Colin]

Make sure you put up some before n after photos

[A Blair]

Hi Colin,
My night driving headlamp vision is woeful. Hence my question. The 3M kit is due 10th May.
Can I please ask you for details of the slimline xenon spotlights.
I will do a post with front bumper removal,  lights,  lenses and sensors.

[Colin]

not a great photo but you get the idea , they came Halogen but my mechanic changed them to Xenon and recessed them into that grill a bit

[wpoll]

Finally got around to sorting mine last weekend.  ::)

Before...



After...



This took about three or fours hours for both headlights. There seemed to be a layer of lacquerer on the lens that was eroded at the top edge so I hand sanded them and then used a Rain-X headlight restoration kit.

Wet sand with 600 grit.
Wet sand with 1000 grit.
Wet sand with 1200 grit.
Polish with Rain-X kit pad #1 and Rain-X lube.
Polish with Rain-X kit pad #2 and Rain-X lube.
Polish with Rain-X kit pad #3 and Rain-X lube.
Wash and dry.
Polish with Rain-X kit polish and microfibre cloth.
Wash and dry.
Polish with CRC Headlight Doctor polish.
Wash and dry.
Sealed/protected with Meguiar's Headlight Protector.

I tried the Rain-X sealer and and it looked good while wet but it doesn't dry and it washed off etc.

Knackered but pleased...

[themoog]

I did mine the other day. Cost - £0. I took the headlights out, sanded witha bit of 2000 I had laying around then polished up with my car body mop. All I need now is something to seal them with. I thought about spraying with laquer but they are too polished to do that now..

[Richyroos]

It is a shame that headlight covers like these get so badly affected, I have had a few BMW's and all of them have been affected to a greater or lesser extent. I have tried several different restoration kits, the 3M one works pretty well, and to be fair even polish like Brasso is quite succesful. I tried the Turtle wax restoration kit and was left very under impressed! Farecla G3 does well, and might even be worth trying rubbing compound, followed by polish.

The suggestion of Arm and Hammer toothpaste is a novel one - I assume it was Arm and Hammer he used!! I may give that a go, as my headlights have that slightly milky effect around the edges. My car has halogens, and I improved the lighting performance no end, by fitting Ring high power bulbs, they cost £20 odd, but the difference was well worth it - I can see in the dark now!! How BMW get away with such poor dip beam light performance I just don't know, it is so easy to improve it. My last 5 series had Xenons, which were very good, but on my previous E39's, I resorted to fitting HID kits, and some of those CCL angel eyes too - again big improvement, both in lighting and looks!! 

[Colin]

wpoll  they came up like new    well done  good job ..

[svvg]

Ha - that's nothing! Mine were yellow - like they'd been sandblasted! I used the 3m Kit - but word of warning - keep an eye on the sanding pads - as when they wear through, the foam backing melts onto the plastic and leaves deep ruts.... it is also VERY easy to damage the paintwork around the lights - regardless of how many layers of tape you fit round the lenses/bodywork.

I think if (when...) I do it again, I'll do the sanding by hand, and work up to 3000 grade wet and dry and finish with paste on a powerdrill mop/adaptor. I've also got some Mothers Mag and Alloy polish - and used that with great results...

I also bought the McGuires kit as it comes with a spray can of clear UV sealant (wasn't sure what else to buy but a mate of mine recommended it...). I did them in Ocotber 2017, and they still look pretty good.