Technical dipped lighting lens restoration

[njesper]

Hi there,



I have the common problem with the lenses for the dipped lighting, getting worse. Mine has H1 bulbs for this, so I upgraded to the Osram Nightbreakers. This improved things, but I'm not super impressed. Checked grounds and that seems good, so the only thing lingering in the back of my head is - What's up with this talk about the lenses getting faded/worse/less tranparent or whatever?
So my question is this: has anybody actually tried opening up a headlight unit, to figure out, if that damn lens is just dusty on one side? or is it actually plastic, that is yellowing, or is it glass? I would like to know more about the actual lens, because I don't like the fact that you have to replace the whole headlight-unit, if you could actually clean that lens...



Looking forward to hearing from you guys, if anybody has actually managed to disassemble the unit. And photos are welcome too
Best, Jesper
Denmark

 

[bugsymike]

If it just the UV sun light damaging the plastic lens, then it can be "buffed" out using rubbing compound, some companies supply sealing compounds for after buffing, most people just buff them for when the MOT test is due using a mechanical car polisher. Try buffing just a small area to see if it improves it.

 

[njesper]

I'm not talking about the outside plastic lens, but the lens inside (looks like a glass ball). The outer lens I've already buffed, so it looks like brand new. But I want to know if anybody has had a look at the actual drl lens.

Best, Jesper