This has been discussed before, and I do recall reading about a product that can be used to re-polish the headlight covers without removing them and without side effects.
Now, can someone direct me to that post, I am not able to find it.
The car is E320 / 97.
Can these covers be replaced with a new one? has anyone done this and how much work is it.

Vahe
240D 77 350K
E320 97 78K

It's pretty easy to remove and replace the lenses, but you can't buy them. You can polish them, and the procedure is the same as polishing any plastic. Note that the lenses are lacquered, and you might want to do this again after polishing.

I waited until I found someone selling a nice set of take-offs.

Actually the lenses can be replaced as a separate part but are not cheap. I believe the PNs are 2108200566 and 2108200666 but confirm these prior to ordering. I'd also reccomend replacing the sealing gaskets if you opened them since they do leak and will eventually ruin the reflectors. Those generally run about $20 each.

You can see a listing for the lenses on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercedes-Headlight-Lens-Set-E320-E420-W210_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33710QQihZ019QQitemZ290144441070QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

I haven't had much luck polishing mine and the laquer is disintegrating on them but so far it is more a cosmetic issue than functional...I'm sure some light is lost and out of focus as a result but not enough to justify the expense of replacing them in my opinion.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

You might want to try Meguiars PlastX. Costs about $6.50 and does a pretty good job. If you don't like the results, you can always opt for new ones. Good luck....