3M Headlight restoration sanding process

[Bodedetailing]

Over the past few years i have tried a bunch of different headlight restoration processes. many of which comprised of a basic rubbing compound and a DA polisher, but it wasn't until the other day i came across 3M's headlight sanding kit, and i decided to give it a shot. i had some some old OEM Hella e39 headlights i decided to try the product out on. the kit consisted of:
-p500 sanding disc
-p800 sanding disc
-p3000 sanding disc
-3M Rubbing compound
-Orange foam compounding pad

I have attached a few photos of the process and results. This was a great investment and would recommend this product to anyone who has heavily oxidized headlights. Let me know what you think.
Cheers

[AutowerxDetailing]

Looks like it worked great! :props:

[SuperiorAutoLLC]

Good stuff, I use it all the time!

[ShineMyCar]

Yep,

I had great results too. You don't need to take the lights off the car though. 2 layers of Green tape to protect painted areas around the light.. as suggested per included directions .. and you do the same results with lights on the car.

[Bodedetailing]

Thanks everyone, and yes, I have do know that you can use this process with the lights still on the car. It just so happened that i had an extra set of e39 headlights sitting around that were not in use, and i decided to put them to use and try some products!

The headlights are actually off of an e39 i bought a few years ago posted below. As you have noticed i did not think they were fitting to stay on the car in that condition.

[mhphoto]

Looks good!

While I think all these companies releasing these headlight repair kits are remiss if they don't include a permanent sealant to replace the clear coat, I think the 3M kit is the most effective one in terms of getting the lenses clear again.

[ray6]

3M is great for removing the original coating, but doesn't provide a replacement coating. With no protection, you will be redoing the headlights quite soon.
ray6

[DetailsBR]

I reluctantly tried the same kit, thinking, I had nothing to lose. Figured I would be buying new lenses, boy was I wrong!!!! It saved me a couple hundred bucks, plus they still look good nearly a year later!