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  #1  
Old 01-30-2008, 10:14 AM
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Unclear Headlight Lenses

I have a 98 E 320. My plastic headlight lenses were so discolored and rough that I was not getting enough light through them. New lenses are not avaiible, that meant new headlight assemblies. Much money!
Phil recommended Brasso. I tried but my lenses were to far gone. So I
said new headlights or try to save them.
Rubbing Compound first got the roughnes and discoloration off.
Polishing compound next got the lenses smooth.
Brasso which is a very fine polishing metal cleaner got them to look almost brand new.
This was all done by hand in a very short time!
The initial try with Brasso was just to much work to get things smoothed out. The lamps now light up the road again.
Just a note to those who are having the same problem.

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  #2  
Old 01-30-2008, 10:40 AM
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I used a kit I bought at Auto Zone for $19.95. It had two extremely fine grits of sand paper and some sort of plastic polish. The final step was a clear plastic finish which hardened on the lenses. That worked great and only took about 15-20 minutes to do. They look like new now.
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  #3  
Old 01-30-2008, 12:38 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dee8go View Post
I used a kit I bought at Auto Zone for $19.95. It had two extremely fine grits of sand paper and some sort of plastic polish. The final step was a clear plastic finish which hardened on the lenses. That worked great and only took about 15-20 minutes to do. They look like new now.
yeah what he said.
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Old 01-30-2008, 05:16 PM
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* ESI out of Florida (888.818.2244) sells replacement lenses for the W210, and at a small fraction of the cost of the head light assemblies.
* You will need to take out the HL assemblies,though, to replace the lenses. The first time took me 90min a side, and I took my time. By far the biggest problem is releasing/latching the plastic tabs, on the HL assembly, which secure the lense in place. The tabs are easy to crack off on the older cars. A new seal comes glued to the new lense.
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  #5  
Old 01-31-2008, 03:55 PM
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I recently had a car painted and my painter convinced me not to buy new lens because he uses rubbing compund and a buffer to achieve "like new" results. I have to say that I can't tell they are not new.
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  #6  
Old 02-01-2008, 09:50 AM
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That's my opinion, too. After I used that lens cleaning kit I mentioned, my whole car looked better. No need to buy new ones!
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Old 02-24-2008, 07:00 AM
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Any idea what the clear plastic finish in the Auto Zone product is? Is this something which comparable to 303 Protectant or is it truly a more viscous protection layer?
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Old 02-24-2008, 02:50 PM
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I posted some images of the results I got with the Micro-Surface kit here:

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w210-e-class/1362667-diy-repolishing-headlight-lenses.html
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  #9  
Old 02-25-2008, 08:51 AM
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Originally Posted by rsmacca58 View Post
Any idea what the clear plastic finish in the Auto Zone product is? Is this something which comparable to 303 Protectant or is it truly a more viscous protection layer?
It smelled and acted like some type of an epoxy product. After I "painted" it on, it hardened. I think it must just seal the abrassions in the plastic that are left from the cleaner.
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1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles
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  #10  
Old 07-03-2008, 12:30 AM
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mlm 2001 ML 320

I have a 2001 ML 320 that the headlight lens are foggy.

How do I remove the headlight lens ?

Help is greatly appreciated.
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  #11  
Old 07-03-2008, 08:45 AM
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If its like most, then the plastic on the outside needs to be cleaned. There's a kit you can get for about $20 that will do the trick. Auto Zone and places like that carry it. Mine looked like new after I used it.
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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

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1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles
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  #12  
Old 09-01-2008, 03:43 PM
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I used 600 grits sand paper then polishing compound, the outside plastic of both lens look very clean and very smooth, the passenger side is almost like new. The inside of driver side lens are cloudy, how do I clean the inside lens without remove the lens from the headlight assemblies ?
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Old 09-01-2008, 09:13 PM
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Is there anything to put on them so they don't get foggy?
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  #14  
Old 09-02-2008, 10:52 PM
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Merkurs [Ford of Germany] have the same "yellowing" headlight condition. Many MCA [Merkur Club of America] owners use a wet sand procedure. It's my understanding the urethane coating "yellows" from the sun's ultra violet rays. Sand either horizontally or vertically progressively using 400, 600 & 1,000 grit [Home Depot, Lowes, etc.]. Some people continue with 1200, 1500 & 2000, others, like me, finish cleaning with rubbing compound. Coat withr Mequires "Plastx" cleaner & polish.

Attached are before and after photos of headlight of a 88 Merkur Scorpio I did.

Bob
Attached Thumbnails
Unclear Headlight Lenses-headlight-lens-r-before.jpg   Unclear Headlight Lenses-headlight-lens-r-after.jpg  
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  #15  
Old 09-03-2008, 12:20 AM
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Heres the result of a $17 plastic polishing kit I got from a local tool store. All it was, was 600 grit paper, a drill powered polishing wheel and a pasty plastic polish. Did this in one hour. Thats my buddies girlfriends car magnet, dont ask.

You can see how cloudy they were in my sig picture. I have Xenons so my lights got all crystalized instead of foggy.



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