Review: Headlight Restoration Kits - Meguires vs. 3M

[spongerich]

My headlights were badly in need of restoration. I picked up a Meguires kit from the local auto parts store. I've used their waxes and cleaners in the past and been pretty happy.

After 45 minutes of hand wet sanding with their little pads and then with the buffer and their compound, my light still looked terrible.

I took it back to the store and told them that it was a POS. The counter guy told me that he'd used the 3M kit before with excellent results.

The Meguires kit has 2 tiny sanding pads, some plastic polish and a wooly pad (that sheds like mad for the first 10 minutes). Anything but the lightest hazing requires lots of wet sanding by hand. The drill disk is only for the polishing compound which is IMO too fine to do much of anything.

The 3M kit has a velcro drill disk. Comes with 500 grit and 800 grit sanding disks and what looks a bit like a very fine ScotchBrite pad. There's also a foam disk and some polishing compound. I spent about an hour with the 3M kit doing both lights. The drivers side needs just a little more work to be perfect, but that'll wait until spring.

Conclusion: The clear winner is the 3M kit. It's half as much work and the result is vastly superior.

And no, I didn't remember to take pictures before starting. Just imagine some lights that have been sandblasted by road grit for 10 years.

Meguires Kit: http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/m...storation+kits

3M Kit: http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/3...storation+kits

[tomsawyer]

I've never used the Meguirer's kit, even though I pretty much all their other products, but I did use the 3M kit for the headlights. I have seen headlights come out really sharp, but mine really didn't. There was a definite improvement but I wouldn't say it was night and day. Just my $.02

[SMOKEY53]

Yeah - agreed. The 3m kit took out the rock pitting on my lights, but I just could not get them polished to a high enough standard. I couldn't get the micro scratch swirl marks out. As a result, the light looks slightly foggy or cloudy as it's not perfectly clear and the light catches those swirls. I did the same light three times, every step, and ended up with the same result every time.

I have bought another kit called GlassyLite which I have had success with in the last. Will do the other headlight and compare.


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[StirFriedPanda]

I have used the 3M kit on a few vehicles with great results. Just be sure to apply a UV protectant/sealer after any type of sanding/polishing you do on a plastic headlight assembly. This will keep it from turning yellow as fast. For a quick fix, you can use gum cleaner/carb cleaner. Just spray some on a rag and wipe.

[powers1]

All you need is 800,1200 and 2000 wet sand paper,polishing compound ,car polish and wax for finishing.Works eveytime.
A whole lot easier if you have an sander for the mirror finish polishing ,but by hand you should get a good finish too.
To protect it ,just polish headlights periodically or when ever you wash the car.
Check out my 9 year old thread
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-related-...eadlights.html

[David.X5]

I've been very happy with the 3m kit. I also use lots of water from a spray bottle while sanding and haven't had swirl problems.

Be extra thorough masking off adjacent painted surfaces - those sanding discs on a drill will cut into paint in a heartbeat.

[thrillcat]

I got great results with a Mother's kit.

Before


After

[4.8isX5]

I always use my own combination on cars i detail depending on the condition of lights... Big thing is a real rotorary or DA polisher and proper pads. Some that i thought would need a light sand came out with just a good rubbing compound, polish and then wax or sealant.

[Riggodeaux]

I have used the 3m kit [not the 'hand' version, the one with pads, etc. for a power drill] on multiple vehicles. It takes time and attention, but works. I had used another vendors [forget which], worthless. On my X5, I covered the lenses with the custom urethane plastic sold by weathertech. The seem to be holding up well.

[bcredliner]

I've also used the 3M kit for power drill successfully. Have tried Meguires and one other one from Autozone that didn't do much. Key with 3M kit is to work on a small space at a time and spend as little time as possible with courser pads. Also mentioned is to be sure to re-wet the pad before it gets dry. A sealer will help make even the re-worked lens look quite a lot better.