Clearing up Dulled/yellowed headlights
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- 3.0 24v
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Clearing up Dulled/yellowed headlights
This is not 406 based but i have just bought a pair of spare headlights for my E39 Bmw,the clear lenses are dull and yellowed,before i waste all my hard elbow grease with toothpaste etc what do people use for the best results?
2003 "53" 110 hdi Executive Estate in Diablo Red,chesnut leather
2001 "51" BMW 530i sport auto in Black,sandstone leather
2012 "62" Yamaha XT1200 Super Tenere
1974 "M" Honda CB500/4
1994 "M" Kawasaki Zephyr 1100
2002 "02"Triumph Tiger 955i
1998 "S" Honda XRV 750 Africa Twin
2001 "51" BMW 530i sport auto in Black,sandstone leather
2012 "62" Yamaha XT1200 Super Tenere
1974 "M" Honda CB500/4
1994 "M" Kawasaki Zephyr 1100
2002 "02"Triumph Tiger 955i
1998 "S" Honda XRV 750 Africa Twin
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Re: Clearing up Dulled/yellowed headlights
10 monkeys?

I think Welly found some stuff he rated for this a while back, ah bollocks, it's here viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4577&p=44083&hilit=milky#p44083 but he's deleted the pictures

I should add that a mate of mine here (who's in the motor trade) had no luck polishing the lights on his bummer (don't ask me which, it was red) so I bought him some new ones via ebay. He then flogged it and upgraded to a Berlingo

Talking bollocks sin©e 2007
2004 D9 2.0 HDi 110 Estate lhd VF38ERHZF81657352 - sold but being very well looked after.
1991 Yamaha TDM850 - fuel leaks galore!
2008 Toyota Recall4 2.0 VVTI ATM LHD JTMBH31V90D007261 - flimsy piece of crap.
1953 Matchless G3LS - Can somebody stand by with an extinguisher?
2004 D9 2.0 HDi 110 Estate lhd VF38ERHZF81657352 - sold but being very well looked after.
1991 Yamaha TDM850 - fuel leaks galore!
2008 Toyota Recall4 2.0 VVTI ATM LHD JTMBH31V90D007261 - flimsy piece of crap.
1953 Matchless G3LS - Can somebody stand by with an extinguisher?
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- 3.0 24v
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Re: Clearing up Dulled/yellowed headlights
Just tried some Solvol Autosol but the lens seems to have some sort of coating on it. 

2003 "53" 110 hdi Executive Estate in Diablo Red,chesnut leather
2001 "51" BMW 530i sport auto in Black,sandstone leather
2012 "62" Yamaha XT1200 Super Tenere
1974 "M" Honda CB500/4
1994 "M" Kawasaki Zephyr 1100
2002 "02"Triumph Tiger 955i
1998 "S" Honda XRV 750 Africa Twin
2001 "51" BMW 530i sport auto in Black,sandstone leather
2012 "62" Yamaha XT1200 Super Tenere
1974 "M" Honda CB500/4
1994 "M" Kawasaki Zephyr 1100
2002 "02"Triumph Tiger 955i
1998 "S" Honda XRV 750 Africa Twin
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- 3.0 24v
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Re: Clearing up Dulled/yellowed headlights
Have a search for yellow faded headlights
1500 grit wet & dry paper well soaked, for at least 1/2 hour before use. Soapy water whilst rubbing
& finish off with G3 compound followed by a UV protective polish.

1500 grit wet & dry paper well soaked, for at least 1/2 hour before use. Soapy water whilst rubbing
& finish off with G3 compound followed by a UV protective polish.
2002 110 HDi estate, Rapier in monaco blue! ( found quite a bit more power
)
1999 3.0 V6 SE coupe in Diablo Red ( my baby )
2006 206 1.4 16v sport in Aegean blue ( wife's shopping trolley
)
pp2000 owner / user, can offer Diagnostic's / fault code, reading / clearing for beer tokens in Leicestershire.

1999 3.0 V6 SE coupe in Diablo Red ( my baby )
2006 206 1.4 16v sport in Aegean blue ( wife's shopping trolley

pp2000 owner / user, can offer Diagnostic's / fault code, reading / clearing for beer tokens in Leicestershire.
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Re: Clearing up Dulled/yellowed headlights
I watched a youtube vid and an American guy had the same headlights but in a worse condition,he started off wirh 400 grit,800,1200,and finished off with 2000 then a polishing sompound,he got good results but he didn't seal the end product.
2003 "53" 110 hdi Executive Estate in Diablo Red,chesnut leather
2001 "51" BMW 530i sport auto in Black,sandstone leather
2012 "62" Yamaha XT1200 Super Tenere
1974 "M" Honda CB500/4
1994 "M" Kawasaki Zephyr 1100
2002 "02"Triumph Tiger 955i
1998 "S" Honda XRV 750 Africa Twin
2001 "51" BMW 530i sport auto in Black,sandstone leather
2012 "62" Yamaha XT1200 Super Tenere
1974 "M" Honda CB500/4
1994 "M" Kawasaki Zephyr 1100
2002 "02"Triumph Tiger 955i
1998 "S" Honda XRV 750 Africa Twin
- Welly
- The moderator formally known as Welton
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- Location: East Midlandfordshire
Re: Clearing up Dulled/yellowed headlights
Toothpaste and all that sh*t is bollox, you need to remove the top layer of shyte baked onto the plastic.
I've got a 3M kit now with whizzy-roundy sanding discs of many grits, although it was 'ok' the results left a lot to be desired on the Volvo.
Proper method from my own research is using a DA polisher, lots of grades of wet-n-dry Coarse>>>>Fine, then some polishing cream shiz and finally a coating of UV protectant liquid to stop it happening again soon after.
You might be able to tell I got bored researching this so went for the 3M 'all in one' kit....which didn't really work well, I think maybe my drill speed was lacking in rotational energy, or I was lacking, or a combination of both.
Hope this helps*
I've got a 3M kit now with whizzy-roundy sanding discs of many grits, although it was 'ok' the results left a lot to be desired on the Volvo.
Proper method from my own research is using a DA polisher, lots of grades of wet-n-dry Coarse>>>>Fine, then some polishing cream shiz and finally a coating of UV protectant liquid to stop it happening again soon after.
You might be able to tell I got bored researching this so went for the 3M 'all in one' kit....which didn't really work well, I think maybe my drill speed was lacking in rotational energy, or I was lacking, or a combination of both.
Hope this helps*
Volvo Forum Member wrote:Oh do shut up.
Re: Clearing up Dulled/yellowed headlights
Oh some headlights (acrylic blends) the chemicals or even just meths wiped over them will take the bulk of the oxidation off, a lot of modern cars however (inc. the 406) are a copolymer with polycarbonate, which it won't work on - in which case it's elbow grease time, I just did mine for the 406, started off with 120 grit to remove the lacquer someone had used to give them a quick tart up at some point, then did the bulk of the sanding with scotchbrite, then up to 1000 grit wet and dry and finished them off with autosol and then some fine polish + a good coat of sealant:

Too a few hours each, I washed the internals out with meths as well.

Too a few hours each, I washed the internals out with meths as well.