[riso1988]

Hey, so I'm in the process of doing an LCI conversion to my '06 330xi. I found a great deal locally on adaptive xenons. The issue is the lenses need work. Mainly the eyelids - they look yellowed and discolored. I'm not sure if the usual wet sand and polish would get them back to normal shape or there's some defect with the eyelids that wouldn't be resolved with a sand polish.

Anyone have a similar experience? I attached a picture to show what I'm talking about.

Thanks!

[siphor1989]

No amount of sanding the lens will get rid of that because it's the actual eyelid plastic on the inside that's discoloured. Only fix is to disassemble the headlight and replace the eyelid or just paint it.

[Rocko123]

Originally Posted by riso1988

Hey, so I'm in the process of doing an LCI conversion to my '06 330xi. I found a great deal locally on adaptive xenons. The issue is the lenses need work. Mainly the eyelids - they look yellowed and discolored. I'm not sure if the usual wet sand and polish would get them back to normal shape or there's some defect with the eyelids that wouldn't be resolved with a sand polish.

Anyone have a similar experience? I attached a picture to show what I'm talking about.

Thanks!

Its not hard to open them up to take care of that.. just open them and wetsand it with 800 grit then clearcoat them and you will be alright
Follow this video cause you cant bake those open like you could with the e92's..

And to seal them back up use this..

[uber]

Originally Posted by Rocko123

Its not hard to open them up to take care of that.. just open them and wetsand it with 800 grit then clearcoat them and you will be alright
Follow this video cause you cant bake those open like you could with the e92's..



And to seal them back up use this..

While this works well and you keep the original lens uncut, there's a better way to do it without cutting. If you don't want an unsightly finish when you put your headlights back together.

Check out this video. It's how BavGruppe opens their headlights.

[Rocko123]

Originally Posted by uber

While this works well and you keep the original lens uncut, there's a better way to do it without cutting. If you don't want an unsightly finish when you put your headlights back together.

Check out this video. It's how BavGruppe opens their headlights.

This would work on the newer models because they are sealed with butyl glue which is what I recommended him to seal them back up with just incase he wanted to open them again he can pop them in the oven and he's good to go, but not even bavgruppe opens up the sedan headlights because they're sealed with a more permanent adhesive.. even with heat the adhesive wont get soft, the headlight housing will get soft and you'll just end up having a really messed up border around your lights going at it with a flat head, cutting it and sealing will avoid all that and give you a cleaner finish..

[uber]

Originally Posted by Rocko123

This would work on the newer models because they are sealed with butyl glue which is what I recommended him to seal them back up with just incase he wanted to open them again he can pop them in the oven and he's good to go, but not even bavgruppe opens up the sedan headlights because they're sealed with a more permanent adhesive.. even with heat the adhesive wont get soft, the headlight housing will get soft and you'll just end up having a really messed up border around your lights going at it with a flat head, cutting it and sealing will avoid all that and give you a cleaner finish..

The F30s are not sealed with butyl glue; they're permaseal. He sent me that video himself when we were talking about ways to open the sedan headlights. If it was butyl glue, then putting in the hook shaped tool would have pulled out a tacky adhesive. Bavgruppe reached out to me saying they always need more sedan installers in CA.

One heat cycle will not get the sealant for the sedan headlights soft enough to remove, but it does soften them for you to fit the tools in.

Trust me, I've opened headlights by cutting the upper lip before and I loved how quick and easy it was, but it's worth it to do it the clean way with the hook tool. That way you don't have dirt sticking to exposed butyl.

Also, using the hook tool is not going to mess up the lip like prying it with a flathead does. It completely avoids that and it for sure looks better than a cut lip and exposed butyl.

Good luck OP! Take your time if you do open up those headlights.

[Rocko123]

Originally Posted by uber

Also, using the hook tool is not going to mess up the lip like prying it with a flathead does. It completely avoids that and I can say it looks better than cutting it.

Good luck OP! Take your time if you do open up those headlights.

Ah ok yeah after watching the video I thought to myself thats not butyl lol the hook tool would work but man thats a royal pain what I did to avoid dirt getting on the butyl was just cut the excess off so the only butyl you have showing was under the lens, but you're right man, spending the extra couple hours and having that little lip will look untampered with lol

[uber]

Originally Posted by Rocko123

Ah ok yeah after watching the video I thought to myself thats not butyl lol the hook tool would work but man thats a royal pain what I did to avoid dirt getting on the butyl was just cut the excess off so the only butyl you have showing was under the lens, but you're right man, spending the extra couple hours and having that little lip will look untampered with lol

Yeah man, I think the reason BavGruppe doesn't do it for sedans is because those clients aren't willing to pay as much and they'll get sticker shock when they see how much it costs to pry open headlights lol. But those dudes with the new f32 m's are willing to shell out, so it's worth it for him haha.

That's smart by cutting out all the excess butyl. I was afraid the lights were gonna condense so I just left on a bunch of excess and wrapped vinyl around it to keep everything in place.

[Rocko123]

Originally Posted by uber

Yeah man, I think the reason BavGruppe doesn't do it for sedans is because those clients aren't willing to pay as much and they'll get sticker shock when they see how much it costs to pry open headlights lol. But those dudes with the new f32 m's are willing to shell out, so it's worth it for him haha.

That's smart by cutting out all the excess butyl. I was afraid the lights were gonna condense so I just left on a bunch of excess and wrapped vinyl around it to keep everything in place.

Yeah def, its just too tedious, way too many hours to do it for cheap.. makes total sense lol

Ps. And hypothetically speaking lets just say you do want to shell out.. you're better off just buying a another headlight if you're going to spend that much lol

[riso1988]

Originally Posted by Rocko123

Yeah def, its just too tedious, way too many hours to do it for cheap.. makes total sense lol

Ps. And hypothetically speaking lets just say you do want to shell out.. you're better off just buying a another headlight if you're going to spend that much lol

Thanks everyone for all of the information and links! Really do appreciate it.

I think I'm going to pass on these headlights. The price isn't good enough to justify the work. I figured if it was a outer surface issue it'd be a simple fix.

[LuxAngelEyes]

Originally Posted by riso1988

Thanks everyone for all of the information and links! Really do appreciate it.

I think I'm going to pass on these headlights. The price isn't good enough to justify the work. I figured if it was a outer surface issue it'd be a simple fix.

i've opened a lot of them in the past and they are a huge pain in the pass, takes hours to do it right.

The other option is you can put a vinyl decal on the outside of the lens to "cover" the eyelid. that would be a very inexpensive option.

[riso1988]

Originally Posted by LuxAngelEyes

i've opened a lot of them in the past and they are a huge pain in the pass, takes hours to do it right.

The other option is you can put a vinyl decal on the outside of the lens to "cover" the eyelid. that would be a very inexpensive option.

Thanks for the tip. Is there a reason some of them get that way? Is it inevitable for all lci headlights or are some just defective? Has me considering keeping my pre lci xenons

[Rogue-OP]

Yellowing plastic usually means it has poor anti-uv protection (when injection molding they didn't add any/enough additives to the resin to make it last in sunlight). So if you want to go the LCI headlight route you'd need to use "sunblock," either a film or a coating (Meguiar's headlight restoration, etc).

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Old bump to hopefully get info. I wanted to restore my E92s they have that same brow. I'm wondering if the brow is the same material as the lens. Anyone confirmed using headlight restoration kits on it and coming out nice? Or a new eyebrow piece is needed.

If the restoration work, what did you use to keep it's from yellowing again? Protectants in headlight kits only last up to 1 year.

[uber]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

Old bump to hopefully get info. I wanted to restore my E92s they have that same brow. I'm wondering if the brow is the same material as the lens. Anyone confirmed using headlight restoration kits on it and coming out nice? Or a new eyebrow piece is needed.

If the restoration work, what did you use to keep it's from yellowing again? Protectants in headlight kits only last up to 1 year.

If your lenses are yellowed, you might want to paint them. If you want the same OEM material, I recommend you go find a junked set and grab it from there. And before installing it, spray a new layer of clearcoat that's a UV protectant as well or something.

[mang.vang]

Just opened mines up, will be painting them.