My DYI e39 Headlight restoration weekend project!

Test vehicle
1998 BMW 528i 114,000m

front headlight condition? very poor



Results =

Product = EZ1 cotton ball technique

What extra items grab to get setup

clean dry microfiber cloth
scotch-brite heavy duty scour pads (you can get these at any grocery store)

small pack of cotton balls
tight fitting glove for firm grip to pad

Now that you got those items let's move on to what comes in a standard kit.


1 plastic glove
1 small scour pad
1 cotton ball
1 bottle of diamond dust
1 bottle of clear coat
1 plastic glove



Getting started to the nitty gritty!


1. throw glove on
2. open up your bottle of diamond dust
3. in a <---- -----> motion with heavy pressure depending on the condition of your lights scrub away! Areas that aren't as bad you may spend less time on. For me the top area was my bad spot so I did that the most.

Here's what it looked like when I first started




After hitting the entire light for about ten minutes I wanted to check on my progress. Get out the microfiber and clean off the diamond dust to reveal how your doing.


After inspection I decided to go at the top again!






check on your scour pad! if your lights were as bad as mine you've probably getting close to some holes in the pad or tears. Cut off a new small sheet off the ones you got at the store, add some dust and continue!


By this time your getting tired. Too bad keep going!



make sure you keep the paste on there wet, keep at it you can do it!. The more time you spend taking off the pitted, areas the better the results. Don't be afraid to lay down some pressure. You can always work out other areas to make them look good.


Here's how I ended up after I ran out scour pads.




Unfortunately I didn't take my own advise and I only had the pad from the kit and it was toast.







We're not done yet folks, time to install the clear coat!


This part is important, read careful or you'll end up doing the light twice.

buff your light with the microfiber towel until all residue is off!!
grab out the cotton balls. (you should use 1 per light)
Place cotton ball against bottle, turn it up side down quickly in two spots in the middle of the ball.
In a FAST smooth accurate one direction stroke go all the way across the light from corner to corner. Overlapping until you get to the bottom. DO NOT USE TO MUCH!!! Less is more, literately! 2 dabs!! (trust me I made the mistake, that's why I have only a picture of the right side finish! haha!)
Admire your hard work.





Now, time to go inside and relax for at least 2 hours while the coating is drying. Do not attempt to fix it or add more coating later. If you messed up no big deal come back in 2 hours with the diamond dust and do it over.




I'd also like to note, there is a very good DYI on a wet sanding method. I have a hunch if you were to fallow the wet sanding DYI than go over it with this process I suspect your lights would come out looking factory fresh!



Don't give your hopes up, wet sanding is hard, scary, and your worried you might mess something up don't, because this is the DYI for you! No risk, no worries, just a less old looking lights!



I bought my kit at p & s auto detailing store, you can find them online at http://www.productioncarcare.net/sto...-10799873.aspx


I'd like to hear if any of the supporting vendors stock this product!! thanks enjoy!

Great looking results! And excellent pix.

This is a nice DIY that will help others (including me) gather the courage (and materials) to polish our headlights.

So that it isn't lost in the searchmess, I will cross link it to the Bimmerfest canonical thread on headlight polishing.

In addition, the bestlinks lists the following, for reference:
- BMW E39 headlight plastic polishing & refinishing DIYs (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) & replacing just the headlight lens (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

That looks like a nice product. Looks easier than the hours I spent sanding.

Brett

Hi

Not to lessen to quality of any product or work done to further our bimmer efforts, just adding my results.

A couple of days ago I used Pastx (step 1/light duty) to remove haze of lights. It worked great!!! and with very very little effort. Maybe 5 minutes per light. Being slightly perfectionist, I wasn't satisfied and ordered the turtlewax restoration kit (after much researching of reviews online). It is hand wet sanding with included pads. I didn't want effort of power sanding wiht hard to reach corners, etc. little sanding blocks were perfect size! It took about 20 minutes each light. AMAZING results. My lights looked like fuzzynations first pic. I think I got great results with very little effort (and low cost). And very little mess--very little.

The only thing that was a negative about the turtlewax kit (if it even is one) was that it includes enough liquid to do lights a dozen times, but only one sealing pad (single use). I ordered some alternate sealant for the next time I do them.

Here are the links of products I used:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o05_s00_i00 (good for basic but good cleaning. Does not remove scuffs/scratces--just the haze). Probably should use a sealant after though

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o01_s00_i00

You'll want something like this for when single use package is done (I can't speak to this products results yet, but reviews are good: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o00_s00_i00

few more pics

I also took on this project this past weekend with similar results to the OP. I used a different kit with 2500 and 1000 grit sandpapers and a sealant that is said to come with a lifetime warranty but I didn't catch on to the fact that less is more until too late. This was possibly due to the fact I was working later in the day and the sealant was applied under difficult lighting. I still have one more batch of sealant so I suppose I could go at it again if I feel it's necessary.

In any case, I'm quite satisfied with the results given the fact that my headlights were worse than the OP's(147m) if I simply go by the before pics. I was almost certain I'd have to remove and open the lights to clean the inside as it appeared 1/2 the stains were internal. But this was not the case. With a bit of patience and thorough sanding I was able to remove all traces of yellowness, scratches and/or dirt 'n grime. At this point any further improvement in sealing and final polish are a detail I'm looking forward to handling.

If you think that's poor, this was how my lenses looked when I got mine.

Bent Valve, What product did you use to clean your headlights? Mine are in similar condition.

I usdd the 3M Kit. Ive tried the meguiar Kit but thats more for light hazing.