Headlights Restoration

[LovingLexus]

Hi 

Got 2014 Is300H

Headlights are feeling very less power recently, asked the main dealers they told me to get lights polished. 

Can any one suggest where to in Birmingham / Solihull … also was looking at DIY options on amazon and looks like

3M 39073 Headlight Lens Restoration Kit to Restore Dull/Faded/Discoloured Headlights

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0078IHJ1K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_KJ4HWEKTF56WC9TXZVN9?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 

any good ? 

Also not sure it will be ok…

Are there any options to increase builds intensity like after market hid etc.

Thanks 

 

[Linas.P]

I would do it myself, but if you don't want to spend much time then I would go and ask detailer to polish them.

Many places that do hand washing as well do little bit of detailing, so I would ask them first, as they may ask less money than good detailers.

The kit you copied would do the job if you have electric drill, but it is not ideal. In principle any polishing compound which is meant for car paint can polish headlights as well, wet sanding is only needed only in cases where headlights are badly oxidised and yellowed.  Other note - if you do it on the car, then be very careful around bumper and tight spots - it takes no time to burn hole in plastic with power tools (ask me how I know).

This is just example of quick hand polish using cheap Farecla G3 "scratch remover" on a sponge by hand (far from actually good products) and results were very good:

In principle, if you know what you doing then it is not difficult to polish headlights.

[LovingLexus]

13 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

I would do it myself, but if you don't want to spend much time then I would go and ask detailer to polish them.

Many places that do hand washing as well do little bit of detailing, so I would ask them first, as they may ask less money than good detailers.

The kit you copied would do the job if you have electric drill, but it is not ideal. In principle any polishing compound which is meant for car paint can polish headlights as well, wet sanding is only needed only in cases where headlights are badly oxidised and yellowed.  Other note - if you do it on the car, then be very careful around bumper and tight spots - it takes no time to burn hole in plastic with power tools (ask me how I know).

This is just example of quick hand polish using cheap Farecla G3 "scratch remover" on a sponge by hand (far from actually good products) and results were very good:

In principle, if you know what you doing then it is not difficult to polish headlights

 

Thanks for great reply.

Is there a way to change bulbs and put more brighter ones 

[Linas.P]

Depends on what lights you have, assuming that 2014 IS300h comes with Xenon, then kind of yes and no. You can get more "white" good quality Xenons which are not brighter, but illuminates road better - like Osram XENARC NIGHT BREAKER. Maybe simply replacing what you have could improve things? Xenons becomes "pink" before dying and the light output drops drastically, so first thing would be to check that you get bright white light from lights, because if they purplish or pinkish then they are on the way out. And time scale kind of makes sense - in most cars I had Xenons started dying around 8-10 years mark.

[PCM]

I had the local change independent change my bulbs.

They weren't brighter as such, but newer, which... made them brighter.

And I use this stuff for headlights. Cheap, needs to be repeated every so often, but works well...

 

[Malc]

WOW  .  that Turtle Wax product looks brilliant ...  even if it needs repeating periodically too 

There's a few posts on this Forum about yellowing headlights and cleaning / restoring ......  never ever seen this product mentioned though

I'll go get some for sure  ( for my Honda Legend ...... my Ls400 has, thankfully glass headlights ) 

I had bought some appropriate wet ad dry paper to start the job ......  ages ago 

Malc

[agent_dess]

Get some Maguire's PlastX.. little elbow grease and then come out shiny.

[LovingLexus]

19 hours ago, PCM said:

I had the local change independent change my bulbs.

They weren't brighter as such, but newer, which... made them brighter.

And I use this stuff for headlights. Cheap, needs to be repeated every so often, but works well...

 

How much it costed, and is it just bulbs changed?

[Tulpen]

I used the Turtle Wax HEADLIGHT LENS RESTORER on my 460 with excellent results. Just read the instructions, carefully, and don't try to rush it.

[PCM]

6 hours ago, LovingLexus said:

How much it costed, and is it just bulbs changed?

The bulbs were £70 for two  - probably about £50 to fit both. Depends on your car though...

Just the bulbs to swap out and swap in the new ones.

[gji25]

On 4/15/2022 at 3:55 PM, agent_dess said:

Get some Maguire's PlastX.. little elbow grease and then come out shiny.

plastx works well as mentioned. will last about 6months before needing to be done again. takes about 10-15 mins.

job done

[Plamen]

On 4/15/2022 at 1:39 AM, Linas.P said:

Depends on what lights you have, assuming that 2014 IS300h comes with Xenon, then kind of yes and no. You can get more "white" good quality Xenons which are not brighter, but illuminates road better - like Osram XENARC NIGHT BREAKER. Maybe simply replacing what you have could improve things? Xenons becomes "pink" before dying and the light output drops drastically, so first thing would be to check that you get bright white light from lights, because if they purplish or pinkish then they are on the way out. And time scale kind of makes sense - in most cars I had Xenons started dying around 8-10 years mark.

The Osram XENARC NIGHT BREAKER, are definitely a very good choice I replaced the original Xenon lights on my BMW e92 and it was a very big difference. 

 

[Herbie]

You have to understand the process of what's happening in order to do a proper job.

Modern headlamp lenses are made from Polycarbonate and over time, exposure to UV light from the sun can cause the polycarbonate to oxidise. How deeply the oxidation penetrates into the lens will dictate how you clean them up.

If it's superficial surface oxidation, even using something like toothpaste can get rid of it, but if it's deeper then it usually needs a proper job using a cordless drill and various grades of sandpaper and cutting/polishing paste.

The most important thing is that once the oxidation layer(s) have been cleaned off, you need a good quality UV-resistant clear coat to seal the polycarbonate from UV light or they'll be as bad again within a month or two. A good UV-resistant topcoat should last at least a couple of years.