Cloudy Headlamp Repair

[trooper]

My Car: 2001 X5 4.4i with 165,000 miles

Issue: Cloudy Headlamps

Remedy: 3M Headlamp Repair Kit

Before Pictures



Make Sure you follow the directions and put down two layers of 3M tape before sanding or you'll end up with idiot marks like I got - because I didn't do it the first time. Oops!


I started using my DeWalt Cordless drill, but switched to my Milwaukee corded drill because it really takes a toll on your batteries. Be warned, however, that most corded drill go above the recommended 1700 RMP's. Mine goes to 2800 so I just pulled back on the power a bit. And, you have to be fairly aggressive with your pressure or you won't get the cloudy film off.

After my first few passes with 500 grit and not being aggressive.


After being a bit more aggressive with 500 grit sanding pad.


When I was done with the sanding, I though the left lamp was a bit more cloudy than the right, so I repeated the sanding of the 500, 800 and 3000 grit sanding pads on the left side.
Here's the pic where the left is a bit cloudier than the right where I was more aggressive on my sanding.


When I finished the second round of sanding on the left, I continued onto the polishing stage. I just followed the directions and used two passes with the polishing compound. This really really really cleared up the lenses.

Heres' a shot of the left and right lamps after they were polished and wiped off with a cloth.



Wow!!!! What a difference!


I'm really just amazed at how well this works and can't figure out why it took me so long to get this done. I'm sure that my nighttime visibility with be greatly improved which is important to me now that I'm hauling around my 3 month old son in this car.

My brake/rear lights are on the fritz as well and I have ordered replacements from ebay. I'll post some before and after photos of that as well when I'm done.

Good Luck if you are doing this DIY as well. It took me about 2 hours to complete the whole thing.