Reconditioning head lights

Hi

My E53 headlights have faded in the sun and the plastic lens is now discoloured. Is it possible to recondition the plastic lens as the new head light units cost a fortune? what equipment do I need and what is the best way to do this? regards. Tony.

Good question. Mine are faded too. Any answers would be appreciated on this very good e53 question.

I used 3M kit on my E39 with great result. Search for same topic threads on E39 forum.

mine are also terrible but i have cleaned a lot of other headlights by using the motherball head light restorer thing and also wet sanding and buffing/polishing. all the ones ive donw came out great!

Great guys. I'm so relieved that there is a solution, as my heads are in bad need of cleaning up.

We've had a lot of luck with the CCP Headlight restore kit (LINK). Below is a video we did a while back showing how the product works.

Come on TMV, Why you take a picture of two different cars?

Honestly make sure to take care of them after the polish as they can fade faster the next time around. Im going through that now. Ill just get some aftermarket lights especially since the ingitor is moving around in there on one of the lights.

I prefer getting a replaced headlight or aftermarket one. Quick and new. For ~$400 bucks ?

i thought about using the the ugly of the old ones as an excuse to buy new nicer headlights, but its a lot of money to dish out compared to a 10-50 dollar easy fix

Agree, but it will easily faded again after a few months isn't it? For this car I just had some planned to spend a couple thousands to get it a new look. So one of a kind E53 on the street.

The reason I'm a Bimmerfest member is that I can receive valuable, time-saving information such as those provided above. Thanks Beema champs for all the valuable help on this topic

Originally Posted by reytran

I prefer getting a replaced headlight or aftermarket one. Quick and new. For ~$400 bucks ?

When you have the old ones replaced, I'll send you the shipping cost for them

Originally Posted by boramkiv

Come on TMV, Why you take a picture of two different cars?

Did my wife's E53 about two years ago with a polishing kit. They looked great for about a year. Bought new Hella housings for about $225ea. They pop up on eBay every so often.

took the plunge at the weekend and decided to do the lights. removed them from the car and they looked like this



started with the 400 grit wet and dry and after about half an hour they looked like this



then went on to 800, 1200, 1500, 2000 and 2500. sprayed lots of water on them during the sanding process. finally I used a rubbing compound and polished them up. they now look as good as new. a lot of hard work but well worth it in the end.

They look great. Check back in a year and tell us how they're holding up. Mine looked great but clouded quickly.

white_lancer, put on lamin-X to keep them fresh.

thanks will do.

really pleased with how good they look.