Milky headlamp lenses - restore kits

[Zippyworld]

Apologies if this is elsewhere on the forums, I have a 2003 audi A4 cabriolet which has the original (and expensive) xenon headlamps, they are really showing their age, milky and scratched, and I am considering buying one of the restoration kits, maybe 3M, or similar.

Has anyone used a kit like this ? Or does anyone know of somewhere that provides this as a service ?

Thankyou

[Adamski69]

hiya, common problem and a relatively straight forward fix, just some materials and elbow grease to correct them.

depending on how bad they are, first stop is to test a patch with some compound like Farecla G3 Scratch remover (halfords) and see what comes up. Unltimately the best way is to sand them back working down through 1500, 2000, and 2500 then machine polish them. This will get rid of most of the pitting in the lens surface rather than just polishing the pits as well.

Where are you based in the country?

[Zippyworld]

Adamski69 said:

hiya, common problem and a relatively straight forward fix, just some materials and elbow grease to correct them.

depending on how bad they are, first stop is to test a patch with some compound like Farecla G3 Scratch remover (halfords) and see what comes up. Unltimately the best way is to sand them back working down through 1500, 2000, and 2500 then machine polish them. This will get rid of most of the pitting in the lens surface rather than just polishing the pits as well.

Where are you based in the country?

Thankyou for he information, not afraid of a bit of graft !
I am assuming the lens has to be removed from the headlamp unit, or am I wrong ?

I am based North Cheshire / Manchester

[Magic919]

I used the 3M kit to good effect. Any decent detailler would be able to do it.

[S0 What]

I've polished quite a few HL to get a vehical through an MOT and the best advise i can give is simply buy new headlamps, once the protective outer layer has gone the plastic will haze over quicker and quicker, most need doing every year after the first time and after a few years they haze up after a few months! i do polish but only if the customer insists, of course some headlamps require the bumper removing to change the headlamps so i understand why people do it.
I have had longer lasting success with polishing then laquering the lense, bodgetastic but then a lot of my customers prefer a cheaper bodge to the propper fix, the down side of running a back street garage i spose.

[hygt2]

Restoring the headlight surface is easy. Just make sure that you re-coat the surface with UV protective coating immediately and cure it with UV light. Done well, you should get another 5-10 years before you need to redo them again.

[Zippyworld]

It turns out I may have one of the following issues:-

A) Club hands
B) An inability to read and understand directions
C) A great lack of patience
D) A knack for buying the wrong product
E) All of the above

Off to main dealer for new ones Ho Hum.........

Anyone know how to get there ..............?

[swisstoni]

Zippyworld said:

It turns out I may have one of the following issues:-

A) Club hands
B) An inability to read and understand directions
C) A great lack of patience
D) A knack for buying the wrong product
E) All of the above

Off to main dealer for new ones Ho Hum.........

Anyone know how to get there ..............?

Really? It's worth a go. You don't have to take the lights out, you just mask up around them. There's loads of stuff on YouTube. And if you really screw up, THEN you can buy some new ones

[Penelope Stopit]

Dont mess about buy new

[Zippyworld]

Penelope Stopit said:

Dont mess about buy new

At £558, messing about has a certain appeal

[Jonsv8]

Try toothpaste (yes, the stuff you clean your teeth with) as its a fine abrasive then a wax on top.

Plenty if YouTube videos on the subject, it just depends how bad your lights are.

[hygt2]

Zippyworld said:

Penelope Stopit said:

Dont mess about buy new

At £558, messing about has a certain appeal

I got mine done last year on a 996 Turbo, both headlamps cost £90 + VAT with 5 years guarantee.

[Zippyworld]

hygt2 said:

Zippyworld said:

Penelope Stopit said:

Dont mess about buy new

At £558, messing about has a certain appeal

I got mine done last year on a 996 Turbo, both headlamps cost £90 + VAT with 5 years guarantee.

Where did you get these done ?
I may as well get the old ones sorted out and try and claw a bit of the outlay back....

[hygt2]

Zippyworld said:

hygt2 said:

Zippyworld said:

Penelope Stopit said:

Dont mess about buy new

At £558, messing about has a certain appeal

I got mine done last year on a 996 Turbo, both headlamps cost £90 + VAT with 5 years guarantee.

Where did you get these done ?
I may as well get the old ones sorted out and try and claw a bit of the outlay back....

I use Glasweld, a US firm with franchise in the UK. What brought me to them is the UV hard coating they use to re-seal the clear plastic.

https://www.glaswelduk.com/headlight-restoration/

Once you sand the milky UV coating away, the clear plastic below will go milky again in months if not UV protected. You can ask your attending Glasweld technician to put a few more coat on (cured by UV curing light in between for 15 minutes of so) to give more protection on the plastic. The whole process on my car took 4 hours but has to be done with no wind, cool places with no sunlight, preferably in a dust free environment. I used my underground car park.

The finishing is very good. However, it was let down by a slightly dusty environment as in between coatings, some dust stuck to the surface so now I can see some small dots on the surface. However, it was the best he can do with the environment provided by me. Best results will be in a dust free chamber like in a spray booth inside a body shop.

Porsche 996 has very large surface area so I was charged more at £90 + VAT. If your headlights are smaller, you maybe charge less.

I'm not sure if the 5-year guarantee is transferable up on change in ownership.

[Zippyworld]

Thanks for the details, local technician is coming to take a look next week.