bagwell

This guy has an excellent channel

LeX2K

Great channel. Mostly the results did not surprise me but the winner did.

pman6

i don't like to sand headlights. If you can avoid it, don't sand.

I've been maintaining the headlights on my 07 gs, parked outside 24/7, with just meguiars ultimate polish on a orbital polisher.
then coating with basic Nufinish sealant in the orange bottle.
it lasts a few months before there's noticeable yellow again, and isn't laborious at all.

the megs ultimate polish on microfiber towel just wipes off the yellow oxidation.

I've been waxing the headlights since the car was new, but eventually it still yellows.

jwong77

I put clear bra on my 2007 328i when it was new, I've never had to do any maintenance to it.

ABC

Love his channel, but i wish he would have tested acetone. This is what i use and it takes no more than 5 minutes with a rag to do. Lasts 6-12 months.

pman6

acetone doesn't damage the plastic?

interesting. I have a gallon of acetone I don't know what to do with.


wait, Google actually shows acetone weakens polycarbonate

ABC

Yes, it definitely can. But you're not pouring it on or leaving it on there longer than a minute. It's a few quick wipes and you're done.

This is the process i use - works great with minimal effort and practically no cost.

bagwell

still have to sand it and seal it.

UDel

Sand them to about 600-800 grit and spray them with a 2K clear and you shouldn't have to mess with them for years.

pman6

gonna try this on my 2003 beater

RX469

iTrader: (1)

I keep reading that this is the best solution, sealing with 2K clear, but I don't seem to come across folks in CL that actually do it with a very good write up?

UDel

I did it on my GS430, I was sanding and polishing them and even adding sealants or ceramic sealers and they were still yellowing after just a couple months.

I decided the next time I was going to do some touchup spraying I was going to use the rest of the Spraymax 2K clear to spray the headlights. I read you should spray a clear adhesion promoter coating first so I ordered that, sanded the headlights to about 800 grit ,thoroughly cleaned them and sprayed the adhesion promoter which turned out to be a disaster, it crackled on the headlights, did not adhere properly, totally useless, I had to then go back and wet sand them again to get that junk off. Once I was mostly confident I got the spray off and I stopped at about 800grit, some recommend 600 but I did 800, I cleaned them with soapy water and then alcohol before spraying the 2 K clear. The lights will look opaque from the sanding scratches when dry. Of course you have to tape off around the lights and put blankets/sheets on the rest of the car to protect the finish from overspray. I kept the hood up and just put a sheet across the engine and everything and had sheets hanging down the side of the raised roof so it was like a mini paint booth to capture most of the overspray. I went pretty slow and put about 3 decent wet coats on the headlights, they immediately clear up once you spray them with clear and it fills the sanding scratches. They looked great, they had a very slight bluish tinge I am not sure why but still looked really good, there were a few minor drips from spraying a little too thick but I decided to let it cure for a few months until I decided if I wanted to sand/polish them out. They never dulled after a few months but unfortunately my GS was totaled before I could see what they looked like after a few years.

With some headlight shapes/designs and depending how long they are in the sun, you can go a while after sanding/polishing and putting on a sealant before they yellow again but then others like the GS430 just go back to milky/yellow pretty quickly if they are exposed to any kind of UV for a decent amount of time no matter what wax or sealant you put on them.

ABC

This would probably make them look even better, but on my IS, quick acetone wipes do the trick and last long enough for me not to want to put any more effort into them.

bagwell

aren't you supposed to polish after sanding THEN shoot the clear??

UDel

No, it needs a roughed surface to adhere properly too. It will fill in the sanding scratches and they will disappear, I was very apprehensive about it too but that is what happened.