Crazed headlights

[Tuffy]

Hi guys. My last two Mk5 Gti'S have suffered from cloudy headlights which I've successfully polished clear. However my Edition 30 is suffering from 'crazed' headlights... looks likes hundreds of tiny hairline cracks all over the headlights, I attempted to polished in the way I did the others with my rotary and cutting compound and it seems to have made it worse... Anyone else had this problem and managed to rectify??

[suave]

Pics would help but I'd say you need to wet and dry them and then machine polish with Plastix or similar compound.
Good luck

[AJP]

There's a kit for this made by 3M.

[ducman77]

I have the same problem. Crazed headlights,both lenses. They definitely look like hundreds of little tiny cracks. Look to be actual imperfections in the plastic beyond just the surface like you would have with simple hazing. I don't think polishing will take them out?

Would be delighted to be corrected though if anyone has successfully managed to fix this issue?

[Dan_FR]

Same on my Leon.... polishing makes them worse - they will not come out..... Doesn't look too bad in the daylight but at night with the headlights on.......... They had to go

I replaced them with new/aftermarket headlights. So glad I did 

[xjay1337]

Depends how bad they are as to whether they will come out or not.

I did a friends E90 BMW recently.

One side came out. The other side was improved but you could still see the crazing to a point.

[ducman77]

Same on my Leon.... polishing makes them worse - they will not come out..... Doesn't look too bad in the daylight but at night with the headlights on.......... They had to go

I replaced them with new/aftermarket headlights. So glad I did 

I'm in exactly the same boat. They look ok in daylight and pants at night. Might have to bite the bullet and replace them

[Tuffy]

Same on my Leon.... polishing makes them worse - they will not come out..... Doesn't look too bad in the daylight but at night with the headlights on.......... They had to go

I replaced them with new/aftermarket headlights. So glad I did 

Polishing has made mine worse too.... can't make out why??? Possibly the heat generated by the polisher??

[AliGTI]

Hi guys. I had the same thing but noticed while wet sanding when the lense was wet it seemed to stay clear. I took the plunge, masked them up and lacquered them. It's made a good difference but not perfect.

[Tuffy]

I have bought some 1500 grit and 2500 to finish.... going to give it a go!!

[xjay1337]

I have bought some 1500 grit and 2500 to finish.... going to give it a go!!

You'll need a lot more harsh than that.

I go 400-600-800-1000-1500-2000-2500/3000 and then 2 or 3 stages of compounding and polishing.

[Dan_FR]

One thing I didn't try was lacquer, but polishing and wet sanding didn't get rid. Wet sand improved it slightly temporarily but it rapidly degraded and ended up worse than when I started within a few months.