[Elvis_Presley]

My car has Xenon headlights, and badly oxidized lenses. After putting a lot of effort into polishing the lenses, with little or no positive outcome, i was looking at buying new lenses. But I'f i'm going to invest that money, I was thinking of getting halogen headlights. I'm not a fan of xenon. How easy would this swap be? If i do it, could i sell my xenon headlamps and recoup my investment?
Ben

 

[ALLIKANBE]

Try using Crystal View on the lenses. Cost about $23 at walmart or advanced auto. Do a quick search on this site to see some before/after pics. AMAZING stuff.

 

[deandome]

Just did my lenses, here's my 2 cts....

I first bought the Wolfgang Lens Repair Kit ( http://www.autogeek.net/lenshowto.html ) , as it got very good reviews, it came with a sealant (important), two polishing compounds & a nice 'drill/polisher' pad system.

It worked pretty well, but during the first/'coarse' polish, there were several yellow patches that just wouldn't come out, no matter how long I went at 'em.

I remembered during my 'what's the best lens repair system?' research that 3M's kit used different grits of sandpaper. It was only $23, so I went out & got it & then started over. As I guessed, the sandpaper cut thru EVERYTHING, and after 3 rounds of descending-strength grits, I then switched back to the Wolfgang stuff for final polishing & sealing.

WOW...they look GREAT. In hindsight, I'm still not sure if there's one single approach that would be as well as that combo, but that's an awful lotta $$ for lens repair. The 3M kit can cut thru the bad stuff, but it seemed kinda weak when you get to the final/fine polishing; it only has one polishing compound (and only a TINY amount of it), and no sealant.

I'd say get the 3M kit & then look for some small bottles of fine compound(s) and a SEALANT, which is crucial for helping your hard work last for as long as possible.

 

[fabbrisd1]

OP - just so you know your leanses didn't need polishing.

What you mistook as "oxidized lenses" was actually the UV degradation of the original lacquer coating on the surface of the polycarbonate lense.

You could have saved yourself a whole tale of woe here if you would have asked first, and you could have found out that wiping the lense with microfiber cloth damp with Easy Off Fume Free Over Cleaner (and not on the paint) would have got you "clear" in about 5 minutes.

Now most people make this same mistake, especially those who love their power tools, so don't fret about it.

However, if you are going to give it another go since they are all mashed up already - best to start with a wipe anyway snce that will remove any of the residue of the lacquer coating from the surface.

Your factory Xenons are valuable as a set - it's up to you if you want to score factory halogens, put those in, then sell the MB Xenons as a set for $700-$800 to the right buyer.

By the way, the aftermarket headlamps for the W210 are affordable, but the quality is doggy do-do.

Off to the races again ?

 

[Elvis_Presley]

i tried easy off--3 kinds of it, brake cleaner, sanding etc. I could do it, if i hand all the right equipment and several hours time.
took them to wally world today. they did an ok job (it's acceptable, barley) but they left out the smaller lights (driving lights). so now those look bad in comparison.