Headlight Plastic Lens Replacements

[vtl]

There are a few downsides with applying a polyurethane film onto plastic headlights:

- Hard to do it perfectly. XC70 has quite visible imperfections on one headlight, the first one. Tundra looks ok, for an utility vehicle, which it is
- Light output is reduced. Apparently
- Thick Lamin-X unavoidably gives some shady artifacts once installed. Impossible to make a good picture with my cell phone's camera, and don't know how to describe it better. Maybe like a light beam coming through a crystal vase? It does not bother me too much
- Air bubbles get trapped in cavities, which are abundant on a surface of any old headlight. I don't have any bubbles immediately visible on my Tundra, which had its headlights wrapped when they were new. I didn't know back then that a new headlight is $290, was expecting something on par with Volvo in a $600-1200 range, so decided to wrap them =)
- PU film still yellows over years. I think I've had them for 3 or 4 years on XC70, and maybe I'll polish them lightly with polishing machine this summer
- The film develops some sort of erosion by the edges. I think the glue dries out and lets the air and dirt in

On a positive side, I haven't polished my headlights for these 3 or 4 years (was a kid or two ago? can't remember). Before laminating them, had to annoyingly polish it more often than once a year, and still they were not perfect most of that time. I've used Sylvania kit, which comes with protective lacquer, but it comes off quickly if the car is highway driven.

Another big advantage is a thick PU film turns the headlights into a very damage resistant thing. Once I've had a road accident involving a bear's butt that resulted in a cracked front bumper and broken fog light, but no damage done to the headlight. Though the headlight was taking a big part in punching that insolent butt. Another time my wagon was sprayed with rocks coming under the log truck wheels, I had to DIY PDR fender and the hood (didn't work well) and replace the cracked windshield, however no damage happened to the headlights.

Can't count how many bushes scratched the headlights in my trips to boonies, Lamin-X kept the headlights well insulated from everything.

[MoVolvos]

So...I am polsihing the plastic lens of my 2007 S60.
I have done this polishing jobs in different cars over the years.

My quesrtion for the gurus...
- Once the polishing is done, is there any film protector (such as Lamin-X mentioned above by @vtl) that helps keep the plastic clear for a long time?

These all work!
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We used Avalon King on the glass, front, side and back. Head and tail lights so basically the entire car except rims. Wash about 3 times a year then spray on Tech Choice (thanks Pete) after a quick wipe to remove the large droplets of beading water. The Tech Choice just wick away the remaining water so no hard drying but rather the towel feels slick across the paint. Absolutely no streaks!

The headlights have very deep pitting so we didn't sand it smooth but the ceramic coat gave it clarity and sparkle after polishing with sand paper up to 5000 grit. We should have ceramic coated the inside of the lens when installing the Halo's.

The ice also came off the windshield in one sheet as with the bumpers with light tapping.


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[motormikeyman]

For the amount of work you have to do (and have already done), you may as well just replace them.

https://www.carparts.com/details/Volvo/ ... lsrc=aw.ds

[vtl]

Depo or TYC? They have problem with beam focus.