Mrheisenburg Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 Hello all…… The xenon headlights on my A4 are in dire need of smartening up a bit…. I have just replaced the bulbs with a pair of Osram Nightbreakers which are a vast improvement but when you look close at the lights they are covered in loads of tiny little chips which don’t look great. I have watched a few videos of people sanding them down and polishing the chips out…. Anyone done this..?… How did it turn out..?… a new pair of lights are out of my price range at the moment..!.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevey Y Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 Hi, you can sand the majority of it out but you will require a kit to re coat the lenses when you have finished, as I say it won't all go but will be a vast improvement, the only other route is to buy some replacement lenses and fit them, this will involve removing the bumper to get the lights out plenty of vids on youtube but this method requires a lot of time and patience to obtain the required results. Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupe4 Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 hi phil,i dont know if this helps but i bought a few headlight resto kits for my 2002 tt and none were much good but i then tried meguairs compound on them and they really came up well,you need to work it in and let it dry and repeat it again,its worth a shot.greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrheisenburg Posted September 19, 2021 Author Share Posted September 19, 2021 2 minutes ago, Stevey Y said: Hi, you can sand the majority of it out but you will require a kit to re coat the lenses when you have finished, as I say it won't all go but will be a vast improvement, the only other route is to buy some replacement lenses and fit them, this will involve removing the bumper to get the lights out plenty of vids on youtube but this method requires a lot of time and patience to obtain the required results. Steve. Cheers Steve , yeah I read that I would need a UV clear coat to stop the sun from messing them up. I was gonna start sanding with 600 wet and dry and work up to 3000. I have seen some 3M UV clear coat on Amazon for around 11 quid. No need to remove the bumper though to remove the lights, I took both lights out to put the new bulbs in. You only need to undo 4 torx bolts and the headlights slide right out.. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrheisenburg Posted September 19, 2021 Author Share Posted September 19, 2021 7 minutes ago, coupe4 said: hi phil,i dont know if this helps but i bought a few headlight resto kits for my 2002 tt and none were much good but i then tried meguairs compound on them and they really came up well,you need to work it in and let it dry and repeat it again,its worth a shot.greg Thanks Greg…. I think from looking at them they need more work than just a polishing compound…I may try that once I have sanded them down to polish them up…. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevey Y Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 3 minutes ago, Mrheisenburg said: Cheers Steve , yeah I read that I would need a UV clear coat to stop the sun from messing them up. I was gonna start sanding with 600 wet and dry and work up to 3000. I have seen some 3M UV clear coat on Amazon for around 11 quid. No need to remove the bumper though to remove the lights, I took both lights out to put the new bulbs in. You only need to undo 4 torx bolts and the headlights slide right out.. Cheers Hi was not sure about the headlight removal on your model but if you can remove them without disturbing anything else, HAPPY DAYS, they are much easier to work on when out, personally I would start with 800 grit and plenty of soap as that way you won't spend hours trying to get the 600 marks out, I agree with the finish at 3000 but you can get a better finish by going to 1200 and then if you can get your hands on a small random orbital polisher 4inch you can finish wth a light cutting compound alcohol degrease and then coat them, just don't go mad with the pressure or you will burn the plastic keep the paper moving, the orbital mp might seem extravagant but mine has saved me fortunes in paint repairs when I have just polished scratches out. Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrheisenburg Posted September 19, 2021 Author Share Posted September 19, 2021 Cheers Steve…..I think I will in invest in a small orbital…. A good tool to add to my toolbox….. I just want to do the job right as they are to expensive to replace if I !Removed! it up..!….….thanks for the advice..👍🏻 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audia4b5kev Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 I USE G3 AND MACHIEN POLISHER THEN FIN WITH G6 THEN POLISH SEAL THEM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrheisenburg Posted September 20, 2021 Author Share Posted September 20, 2021 Cheers Kev , I did try a bit of G3 when I first got the car but it didn’t take out the heavily pitted parts of the light…. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audia4b5kev Posted September 20, 2021 Share Posted September 20, 2021 this what i use when g3 not best > jewelers rouge that is mint plus use on my windscreen kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrheisenburg Posted October 16, 2021 Author Share Posted October 16, 2021 Well I took the plunge today…… pulled out my headlights and attacked them with various grades of sand paper….. took me around 3 hours to do both lights…. I started with 600 wet and dry and worked up to 5000….. polished them up with turtle wax polish and scratch remover and finished them off with some 3M uv protection. I am very happy with how they came out….. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrheisenburg Posted October 16, 2021 Author Share Posted October 16, 2021 The new bulbs and the polished lights have made an amazing difference…. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audia4b5kev Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 30 minutes ago, Mrheisenburg said: Well I took the plunge today…… pulled out my headlights and attacked them with various grades of sand paper….. took me around 3 hours to do both lights…. I started with 600 wet and dry and worked up to 5000….. polished them up with turtle wax polish and scratch remover and finished them off with some 3M uv protection. I am very happy with how they came out….. nice job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wazza Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 On 10/16/2021 at 6:53 PM, Mrheisenburg said: The new bulbs and the polished lights have made an amazing difference…. That looks like an awesome job. Well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrheisenburg Posted October 18, 2021 Author Share Posted October 18, 2021 Thanks for the comments….👍🏻 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdragon Posted November 30, 2021 Share Posted November 30, 2021 Nice work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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