Headlight Yellowing

[built2makeit]

It's about that time i guess... but my head lights are starting to get that film of cloudiness over the plastic. I have a 07 M45, i took it to one custom car shop around my way and they told me that when you go to the places that renew the headlight it only takes the clear coat of the headlight off and within a month it will go back to a worst yellow look. Has this happened to anyone else? and if so any steps or solutions so far?

PS i cant see myself spending money to get a new set of headlights for a cosmetic flaw


Thanks guys

[TXT]

I cleared up my headlights on my 99 TL before I sold it using the 3M kit in autozone. I know you can use wax on your headlights after you clear the haze off. Some waxes have SPF in it to protect from yellowing, but im sure it wont last too long. Once you take that coating off, its never the same.

[wingFeather]

I polished mine out and they looked great for a few months. I didn't know that the factory coated them with a UV resistant coating... which is what was taken off by the polishing. I plan to polish them again & re-coat with a thick layer of UV clearcoat...

[EniGmA1987]

I polished mine with a 3M kit and it looked great. That was maybe a year ago and the cloudiness is starting to come back just recently. So "within a month" may be a bit of an exaggeration. I like Wing's idea though, next time I do mine I will look into a UV resistant clearcoat. I didnt know the factory put that one our lights.

[MOWellsinVA]

Yeah, the UV is what is degrading the polycarbonate that the headlights are made from. I had the headlights on my 2007 M45 done by a local "Dr. Headlight" shop. They apply a UV-resistant clear coat on as a last step. 28 months later, the headlights are still clear.

[Partysan7]

It's about that time i guess... but my head lights are starting to get that film of cloudiness over the plastic. I have a 07 M45, i took it to one custom car shop around my way and they told me that when you go to the places that renew the headlight it only takes the clear coat of the headlight off and within a month it will go back to a worst yellow look. Has this happened to anyone else? and if so any steps or solutions so far?

PS i cant see myself spending money to get a new set of headlights for a cosmetic flaw


Thanks guys

Hey,you need them wetsanded and polished again . As orhers said if you had them done before the UV protectant is gone and it will keep on oxidizing. Putting a UV clear coat will solve this permanently but after clear coat you would have to wetsand/polish again to level out orange peel on the clear coat and get the clarity again. I think its best to put UV protectant clear film .

[built2makeit]

Thanks for the advice, im going to google some shops around the way to see which has the highest quality repair and warranty. Its just funny because that company ONEighty in brooklyn which specializes in Headlight mods told me that, but as usual with every company, any free advice should be taken with a grain of salt.... Now to find that headlight business card lol

[Partysan7]

Thanks for the advice, im going to google some shops around the way to see which has the highest quality repair and warranty. Its just funny because that company ONEighty in brooklyn which specializes in Headlight mods told me that, but as usual with every company, any free advice should be taken with a grain of salt.... Now to find that headlight business card lol

Youre welcome, I mean you can go either way but high quality clear film is a permanent fix for this plus its more durable and rock chip/scratch resistant. You can find someone on cl to polish your headlight and then find some good tint shop to do the clear bra.

[agee]

Youre welcome, I mean you can go either way but high quality clear film is a permanent fix for this plus its more durable and rock chip/scratch resistant. You can find someone on cl to polish your headlight and then find some good tint shop to do the clear bra.

I was thinking of picking up this headlight film. Any thoughts, has anyone ever purchased from this company before?

http://www.invisiblemask.com/cgi-bin/pr ... odel=SPORT

[pedsemdoc]

I was thinking of picking up this headlight film. Any thoughts, has anyone ever purchased from this company before?

I haven't used their product, but I have used the Xpel headlight protector stuff--pretty thick layer and a little tricky to get on just right. However, it stopped a huge chunk of metal that hit my driver's side headlight a couple of weeks ago. I've got two small cracks from the impact, but I know if I hadn't put that protector film on, the headlight would've shattered completely and our headlights (HID/sport) are NOT cheap-even used.

I wet sanded my light before putting a new one on. The driver's side headlight is going strong.

[aneed123]

i got my headlights in my other car done last year... its a 7 step wet and dry sand process and coating... most placed dont do i correctly and the haze and yellow come back... the detail shop did it right with a life time warrantly

[Larz]

I agree. If you go to all the trouble to clean your lenses and don't protect them from sunlight ... you wasted your time.
I had a small area at the top of the lens on both sides of my M. On previous vehicles I used the kits from the parts stores including the ones that require a drill and the ones that don't. I found the lens started tinting again after about a year.
I'm a huge fan of Griot's garage products (have them all) so I tried their kit - no drill needed). I used and it worked much better and easier than the complicated drill kits and now they look brand new - no exageration!

** I went to my dry-cleaner's and asked them for some garment bags to drape the front end and they worked just fine ***

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uomnJW6X ... e=youtu.be