Why Won't These Headlights Clear Up??

[mbs431]

BEFORE:





Untitled by sspanzer60, on Flickr



I used 1500 grit sandpaper first followed by 2000. I then used m105 followed by 205 and they still look like this:





Untitled by sspanzer60, on Flickr



Did I sand too much or not enough?

 

[David Fermani]

Not enough. How did you buff the scratches out??

 

[mnewxcv]

im wondering if the haziness is on the inside.... i would think that would be more than enough to get rid of oxidation on the outside.

 

[mbs431]

I'm thinking it might be on the inside too. But then again, I really have no idea. I used an orange pad with m105 followed by a white pad with the m205.

 

[LeMarque]

im wondering if the haziness is on the inside.... i would think that would be more than enough to get rid of oxidation on the outside.

This won't help the OP much, but, I never had the success with BMW's, particularly the 5 series, as I have say with Volvo's. I can get Volvo lens's to shine like diamonds, But BMW's do seem to degrade the lens deep thru the surface and retain a 'haze'. Also some 5 series sedans have a black surround on the inside that makes things worse.



Anyway, the lights we see are in much worse shape and many times we have to start with 500 grit and work our way up. I have found after each sanding step the entire lens has to be evenly (don't know a better term) sanded before you move on to the next finer grade of sandpaper. There a gazillions of youtube videos on the subject.

 

[dfoxengr]

I found the same problem lemarque on bmw lenses. I believe the heat from the headlamps damages the inside and deeper into the plastic so they dont come out perfect. I also start with 500 when required.



Note though that some lamps will not ever be crystal clear because they werent made that way in the first place. Cant tell from these pics if that applies here.