My 05 S Type has developed that hazy film on the headlights. I had a detail shop do the headlight polishing but it only really helped a little bit.

Does anyone know if the outer lens is replaceable?

 

Holy Cow!! Ok...I was just going to say...and start the same thread about my 2006 s type 3.0 sport!!! My pass side is more foggy then the drivers...
I was wondering if I wet sanded it with 2000 grit paper....by hand...if this may help? Also....following that use a good wax on them....I tried just yesterday some of that Blue Magic stuff....couldnt really tell if it did anything.....
I heard that you have to replace the whole assembly...and its about a 1000 a side....I do not have HID in my car.....

LETS FIX THIS ISSUE WITH THE FOGGY LENSES!!!!!!

 

here you fella's go, vance is a well respect member here and will save you the ching:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/d...dlights-53914/

Or you can go to wally-world or such and purchase the 3M headlamp restore kit for about $20.00 just add electric drill.

 

I used the 3M kit with an electric drill on a different car, a catera in pic #2...I followed the directions to a T, read forum advice and watched YouTube videos. Ultimately I didn't quite have the 1st timer skills...I made a huge improvement, I wasn't satisfied since they didn't look brand new. I looked up headlight restore on craigslist for the Jag's headlights, spoke to someone for a while and he assured me he if couldn't make the Jag's headlamps look brand new, nobody could. He charged $75, guaranteed his work and not to scratch the paint. The guy took total 3 hours. Considering I didn't have any buffers or materials, I couldn't get away with the cheaper a la cart option, and had to buy the entire kit for $20. So if you take the difference between the $75 pro job and the $20 kit, $55 was remaining. To me, spending $55 to NOT sit in the 100f+ heat for 3 hours ($55 / 3 = $18.33 per hour) was worth it, especially since I had already of failed at headlight restoring in the past...

A couple of points are, you might want to look into craigslist ads, reason being you might talk to the person who will actually perform the restore service. There are many shops where the "tech" performing the restore has little to zero training which will yield only slightly better results than if you went DIY. If you go DIY, understand it's possible you might not like the results and need a plan B.

First pic is of the jag post pro-headlight restore and second pic is my "fail" DIY restore on a Catera

 

Bacardi,

I agree with you on the DIY. First timers should expect about 3 hours. I too, was not SUPER impressed with the 3M kit It should have a few more finer grade papers. But with a wee bit of persistence, I am glad to say that Joyces Jag "headlights" (wink wink) came out near perrrfuct!

 

I've had excellent results in the past by using a bathroom cleaner product called SoftScrub. Be sure to get the formula that contains bleach along with mild grit. It's cheap, maybe three bucks, and less if you find a coupon in your Sunday newspaper. My wife had a 2000 Lexus RX300 on which the headlights would cloud up every six months or so. A bottle of SoftScrub, a bucket of water, and a couple of old cotton washcloths would do the trick for me....

Be aware that you have to turn the Elbow Grease Meter all the way up to 10 and really lay into it if you want to achieve that crystal-clear sparkling look again. So if you don't have strong arms and shoulders and can't keep up maximum scrubbing pressure for at least 20 minutes per side, this probably isn't the best headlight-clearing technique for you....

 

I wetsanded one headlight for testing purposes, see my post at detailingworld.co.uk for details.

 

Nice job tot!

 

I tried the 3M kit and it worked great-but only on the wife's BMW, for some reason it didn't work worth a pinch of coon s--- on the Jag.
Sooo, wet sanded w/2000 grit, then used a mild cut rubbing compound, then used the 3M headlight kit stuff, then liquid claybar, then a good car wax.
They look brand new.

 

The 3m kit will work great for a little bit but eventually youll have the smae problem, the rubbing compound wears off and allows the tiny scratches to come back and they look foggy again.

What your looking for is called Crystal View. Yes you have to sand by hand, but afterwords theres a sealent you put on that fills in and protects. Sometimes you can find their kits in your auto stores, heres a link that has a vid Headlight Restoration | Headlight Cleaner

Ive had way better luck with this then the 3m stuff.. the one 3m makes in my opinion is just plain crap

 

Good day everyone!
I took my car in today to have this problem taken care of....
The guy spent over an hour just on the 2 passenger headlights that are fogged up...the drivers side still look new....
He sanded them...polished...buffed....everything...
There was a bit of an improvement....but not much...they are smooth..but still foggy...
He did for warn me before he did it that it looks like its coming from the inside....but I said go ahead with it anyway.
Can this be possible? I was so excited to have this problem taken care of...
Any advice?
Thanks

 

Sure its possible, but I haven't read anywhere here in over 2 years that anyone had the problem on the inside of the lenses.

The 3M kit states "if fog still persists, re-sand with the 800 working to the 1500 and then the 3000 with special compound".

Maybe he didn't sand enough off yet(?).

 

Polishing is an art that you have to have the knack for. I used to polish alot of aluminum when I worked on motorcycle customization and if you didnt do it right or put enough elbow greese into it, the polish looked hazy. If he didnt sand to a very high grit and then use a polish or the right polish for the material while buffing the polish in, then itll look like crap. Ive even found the rags you use can make a difference.

I'm not a big fan of the 3M kit, but like rick says, start over and resand, and then re-polish. I highly doubt the oxidation occured on the inside of the lense....

In reality all your doing is removing the top layer of finish off the plastic, then your sanding it down to scratches so fine you cant see them by using higher and higher grits, then the polish buffs out the tiny scratches, and bam it will be clear.

Since its already messed up, id do some research and redo it yourself, or Id find someone else that knows how to polish properly.

 

I just use my buffer and the same compound I use on paint. Took all of 5 minutes and they look OK to me.

 

Guys,

The Jag headlights have a uv coating over the plastic lens. THAT is what fogs up / hazes. BMW and others dont use it on the exterior of the lens, that's why those headlights are easy to polish.

Now, The ONLY way to get them 100% clear and keep them that way is sand through the UV coating, then polish them to clear, and THEN apply a new UV protective clearcoat.

Ironically just the clearcoat itself does 95% of the work - just basic polishing needed.

Have a look for yourselves boys...

‪HEADLIGHTS RESTORATION‬‏ - YouTube

Take care,

George

 

Good day everyone! I went to see my Jag specialist...the same side actually was having an issue with the clip in the main beam bulb....which was making it really dim....it melted the black wire!! Had the same issue with the other drivers side about a month ago....
He fixxed it....and re adjusted the breather for the lense...he feels its condensation on the inside. The drivers side look brand new....other side foggy! He said it will clear up...and also to maybe try blowing a hair dryer in there to see if that will help.
Anyone here get condesation on the inside of their lenses?

 

I finally got my hands on another black housing, so I will be doing a write up on fixing the headlight hazing once and for all.

with some 400 grit, and some urathane automotive clear.

 

Open the hood, take the back cover off the light. Take the main beam bulb out (or high beam one) depending on the side that has condensation.

Let the car sit in the sun all day like that (if that's possible in Canada). The key is to let the water evaporate whilst giving the resultant water vapor an escape path.

Take care,

George