Cleaning up "cloudy" plastic headlights (e.g. E39)

[TC535i]

Decided to post this one up here, some of you may have 2nd cars that use plastic headlights, luckily our 5-series don't suffer this fate.

Over time, plastic covers can get pretty nasty, increase glare, decrease light output, and make a car look worse. As cheap as the materials are, most automakers don't even make these replaceable, so the only option is to buy a whole new housing.

Well, my Kia's headlights were starting to get a bit nasty. In this shot, you can see the weird "scum" buildup I had on there. There was a haze on the plastic that wouldn't come off with ANY cleaner I used (including 3M plastic cleaner, 3M plastic polish, rubbing compound, "headlight cleaner", wheel polish, etc).



Anyway, hit it with some 2000 grit sandpaper, and used a pitcher to pour water over it so it stayed wet while I was sanding. I could feel it getting smoother, but once I dried it off, it looked WAY worse.



It felt nice and smooth to the touch tho, and those were just very fine scratches. Enough to make it look completely hazed over, but easy to remove. Some rubbing compound mixed with a touch of elbow grease, applied with a rag, and voila!



So, there you have it. Definitely works, and it makes the car look totally different. Doesn't have that "yellowed" look anymore, really made the car look much older/cheaper than it was... Looks MUCH better now!

So, the comparison side by side... these photos weren't edited in any way, besides for contrast. You can DEFINITELY tell the difference, worthwhile job in my opinion!




And yes, afterwards I did go fill up the tank, and double the value of the Kia, just to get that out of the way...

[netmgr]

okay enough already!

you messed up and went a bought a new set didnt you!!

well i guess when you have nothing to loose you try things like this and sometimes they work sometimes they dont, but this one looks good!

shame u cant do it with pitted glass!

[Torque]

that looks real good. you should go post that on some kind of ford escort/taurus/mustang forum too they need it more than anyone else.

[DaCan23]

WTF r u doin w/ a Kia Tim!! What happend to the E30 & stuff.. I know your E34 had issues but thoguht u still had the old 3'er as a daily...

[632 Regal]

I wouldnt have thought it would have been possible without a buffing wheel spinning at 5000rpms. Im the guy that would have burn holes through the whole cover. Amazing, how long did it take you?

[shragon]

iirc, metal polish works. i'd do a search on bf.c.

[TC535i]

iirc, metal polish works. i'd do a search on bf.c.

Nope, tried that too. This was some funky chemical etch something on there... I used Mother's Aluminum Wheel Polish, didn't do anything.

[TC535i]

WTF r u doin w/ a Kia Tim!! What happend to the E30 & stuff.. I know your E34 had issues but thoguht u still had the old 3'er as a daily...

325es blew the head gasket (~258k on the clock or so)

I'd fix it, but that car has serious rust issues... not worth putting money into.

Bought the '99 Kia for $1200, no problems yet (besides replacing some worn-out motor mounts)

[TC535i]

I wouldnt have thought it would have been possible without a buffing wheel spinning at 5000rpms. Im the guy that would have burn holes through the whole cover. Amazing, how long did it take you?

Took me about 3 minutes of sanding and 2 minutes of polishing per side. VERY simple!

[winfred]

sorta like my console wood