Headlight Refurb done

[Julian24110]

A week off work and I got round to doing the headlights which were a little dull. I used the autoglym kit and the sealer that amazon said everyone else bought at the same time.

Never having done this before I watched several YouTube videos and read the instructions. The first light took me over an hour, the second about 20 mins.

Here’s what I learnt

If your drill doesn’t tell you the speed then 1200-1600rpm is slower than you think. Too fast and you smear bits of molten plastic over the surface of the lens.

You need to mask more than you think or you scratch the bumper while trying to get into the awkward bottom inside corner.

You really don’t have to press very hard, if you do you scratch the lens

You have to keep the drill moving in long movements, too Little lateral movement and you get scratches and molten plastic

Whatever you do during the first few stages can be rectified with the polishing compound

Here’s some before and after pictures, the difference doesn’t really show that well in the photos. It was worth doing though.

Before:




After:

 

[kis]

What sealer did you use? I've got pads and compound... but haven't got sealer.

Your lights look like mine, except mine are 1000x worse (even compared to your before)! Need to do this on mine before the MOT!

 

[BKsBMW]

Great job. I wish mine looked like your before, never mind the after.

 

[Julian24110]

This is the one I bought:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A3S1RGU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_VPSdFbYKMSV08

Time will tell whether it’s any good!

 

[LichMike]

Had a go with the autoglym restoration kit today.

Impressed with the results for under £30. The instructions included are pretty good and comprehensive enough to get the results.

As Julian241110 says, be sure to mask the bumper and wing pretty well - a good few layers of masking tape. Gentle pressure is enough to clear lighter marks and haze - I had a few scratches that took abit more work - and could still tolerate another go.

It's pretty scary when you first start and see the state the lens gets in to - but if you follow the process in the instruction guide the lenses will clear.

A before and after below - the before doesn't show the condition to be quite as bad as it seemed in the flesh.

I can't say as it's done anything for the brightness of the lights, I still need to find some good upgrade bulbs, but from an appearance perspective it's taken a few years off the car - she's much brighter eyed now!

Before:

After: