Cloudy plastic headlights, clean or replace?

[RA272]

Hi,

Does anyone have any experience on fixing the usual cloudy, yellow-ish, slightly rough headlight outers? Some options would appear to be,
- various kits to help do this.
- use a professional detailer.
- replace the headlights.
Would cleaning (or getting them cleaned) actually last in the long term, or would the problem reoccur? Has anyone had success with any of the avalable kits? Any tips welcome.

[Super Sonic]

RA272 said:

Hi,

Does anyone have any experience on fixing the usual cloudy, yellow-ish, slightly rough headlight outers? Some options would appear to be,
- various kits to help do this.
- use a professional detailer.
- replace the headlights.
Would cleaning (or getting them cleaned) actually last in the long term, or would the problem reoccur? Has anyone had success with any of the avalable kits? Any tips welcome.

Clean them, then seal them against UV.

[Arnold Cunningham]

I polished the headlights on my old RS6 and they came up a treat. Make sure to use 3M wet & dry, it gives a better finish.

[SodiumThiopental]

You’ll need to get a variety of increasing grit sand paper, and a sander. Start with the lowest grit paper, and make sure you’re on the lowest speed setting of the sander. Rinse and repeat with increasing grit papers, until they’re clear again. Or say sod it and get decent replacements from EBay or whatever.

[E-bmw]

As others have said.

600 grit, 1200 grit, 2000 grit, 3000 grit, Fine rubbing compound, takes a couple of hours each & they will be like new again.

Make sure you use lots of water when using the paper & you don't need a polisher, I only ever do it by hand using a small dense foam block.

[RA272]

Thanks all, I guess the other main point is, will this last? How long? Do you coat them with something? The original lights lasted a decade or so.

[Super Sonic]

UV resistant clear lacquer.

[SodiumThiopental]

RA272 said:

Thanks all, I guess the other main point is, will this last? How long? Do you coat them with something? The original lights lasted a decade or so.

once you’re done, if you’re all lacquered up, they’ll easily outlive the car, in my experience.

[Simpo Two]

As a newbie to the subject when I tried it, I used this kit and if you follow the instructions it works well: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Autoglym-Headlight-Restor...

[davek_964]

I did my Audi TT about a month ago using Cerakote kit from Amazon. Very easy - took 15 mins max.

It's an odd thing. Stage 1 (essentially wiping the headlights with something similar to a wet wipe) didn't make them look any different.
Stage 2 - lightly sanding the lights with 2 grades of sandpaper - made them look ready for the bin.
Stage 3 - literally just wiping a coating across them (took about 5 seconds) - transformed them into crystal clear lights that look brand new.

Amazing result and highly recommended.

[Robertb]

I’ve done a few now with the sanding process as set out by others. The 3M kit was the best.

I’ve never bothered with lacquer as it seems faffy and it would be easy to undo all your hard work. I just coat them with a ceramic coat such as Carpro Dlux or Cquartz and I’ve not had an issue yet with deterioration.

When they go yellow and foggy again it’s because people haven’t sanded off all the old coating.

[Smint]

Unless they're really bad a strong metal polish, eg Peek or Solvol, will do the job in minutes with just hand action.
I don't bother laquering, just a coat of wax polish, redoing the job when they start to fade again takes 5 minutes each side at most.

I have used the 3M kit, decent metal polish did the job just as well without giving you heart failure as you see the state of the lenses after using 3Ms low grit count first off.