Headlamps misty and scratched

C

Captainken

Member
Hi all, this is my second post as a newbe and after reading lots of post on here it seems that everyone is very friendly and always willing to help
My z4 is coming along a treat, with lots of tips from the forum I am bringing her up to scratch. I will soon be respraying the front bumper after sorting out a few niggles and replacing exhaust trims and various badges, cleaning the hood and leather interior and carpets.
Ive just fitted some new wheels and tyres ( I have 4 x BMW 17" wheels with very good Bridgestone Potenza runflats if any one is interested in buying them)
My big problem now are the headlamp covers which are misty and badly scratched, it looks like someone has tried to rub them down with wet or dry paper. I feel the only option is to replace them.
Does any one know if they can be replaced seperately, what sort of job is it and where can I buy them. Is it an MOT failure as they are
Any advise or tips would be very welcome
Thank you
Ken
 
You can get restoration kits from 3M & Meguiars do a search and you'll find them. The Megs kit is about £20 in halfords.
 
I had similar problems with my headlights. I used the 3M kit, it worked really well and I was very pleased with the results.

I did a write up for it here.
 
Thanks for your comments
I have tried the Megs kit without much success, I think the scratching is too deep
Does any one know the guys in the South East who say they can polish them, can I buy the covers without buying the whole units

Thanks
 
They are a sealed unit, you can't buy the lenses separately I'm afraid. You can only get new Xenon units from the dealer, but they are stupidly expensive. There is an aftermarket replacement for halogen units (around £300 I think). You can obviously pick up used units on ebay, but the chances these will also need a polish to get them looking as good as they can.

Have you got any pictures of the damage? I surprised you couldn't get them out, my lenses were pretty bad in places but they came up really well?
 
Thanks for your reply
I could take pictures but must confess I find it extremely difficult to post pictures on here
Perhaps I will take some pictures and try to posts
Thank you
 
Just had another look at your article when you refurbed your lights. I think the 3m kit is better than the Megs one
I have just ordered the 3m one on Amazon so will give it a go and see what happens as I have nothing to loose at this stage.
Thanks for your help and I will let you know how it goes
 
No problem mate and good luck. The 3m kit is really good. If you need any help or have any questions give me a shout.
 
I've brought back a different tool from the US that i'm going to try out on my headlights (similiar issues with hazing/scratches). It's also meant to work really well on metals etc.

I'll let you know how I get on, and maybe you can pop round to do yours? Otherwise I can loan it to you if you are miles away?

Cheers.


Peter :)
 
Just to let you know that I have now polished all the misting out of my headlamps with the 3m kit
It just needed a bit of perseverance, I should have listened to all you guys in the first instance
Thanks again for all the tips

Captain Ken
 
Il need to get myself this. Iv got condensation in one light & it's misted really badly too. Still trying to find a replacement headlight for it though as the misted headlight is in silver & the other is black which I personally think looks alot better on the black car.
 
Captainken said:
Just to let you know that I have now polished all the misting out of my headlamps with the 3m kit
It just needed a bit of perseverance, I should have listened to all you guys in the first instance
Thanks again for all the tips

Captain Ken
Click to expand...

Good stuff mate, glad to hear you got them sorted out :thumbsup:
 
PhilK49 said:
Il need to get myself this. Iv got condensation in one light & it's misted really badly too. Still trying to find a replacement headlight for it though as the misted headlight is in silver & the other is black which I personally think looks alot better on the black car.
Click to expand...

Agree entirely. :thumbsup:

First mod I did was swap out the silver Xenon's for a set of black ones (my car is black as well).

Does look better in my opinion. :)
 
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