Just have to share this...

The lens on my '05 looked like hell after nine years of road salt and other exposure. A couple of weeks ago I was at a Harbor Freight retail store that just opened up near me. I saw they had some lens polishing kits for sale - a cheapo $10 one and a more elaborate one for $18 or so. The cheap one had two small round sanding discs, one round polishing disc and one little bottle of polishing gel. I figured it would work well enough and I waited to use it. Well...yesterday we had a tropical day in Maine (sunny and 45 degrees F- yahoo!) and I felt like doing something other than ice fishing so I cleaned the car. After the brutal winter we are having a 45 degree day felt like mid-summer.
Anyway that polishing gel was frozen solid from being in my garage so I had to thaw it first but it still worked. The total time to do this project was 1 hour and 15 minutes. (not including thawing the bottle and charging the drill battery)
I'd recommend this cheapo kit to anyone.....it worked just fine.
Here are some tips to do the project:

1) Fully charge both batteries to your cordless drill FIRST.
2) Mask the areas around the lights.
3) Put a blanket or tarp over the engine bay cause the gel gets whipped all over from the drill and speckles everything then you need to wipe it all up. I didn't do this and wish I did.
4) Get a lawn chair or other comfortable chair at the right height to sit in front of your car - kneeling or squatting just won't work.
5) Take your time with each lens - follow the directions on the kit. Three minutes minimum sanding or polishing for each step on each lens.
6) Use a spray bottle with water in it to keep the lens wet while using the drill.
7) The small discs in the kit were perfect for our little round lenses on the X-Type.

I didn't take 'before' pictures - sorry! But imagine the lenses looked like crap - sort of like a fortune teller's crystal ball when it is full of smoke and about to tell you that danger is near.

Anyway...here are the end results. Not bad for $10 and some time in the sun !!!

Tom

 

Wow those do look nice. I've had good luck with the Meguiars kit, but it runs around $20. I also tried Turtle Wax but it didn't do much.

 

They look great! Thank you for sharing. This is what is Forum is all about!

 

I just got the Turtle one after watching a before/after YouTube video, but did not use it yet. Can you elaborate on your evaluation?

 

I did mine with a 3M kit back in 2010 when I got the car. That kit worked very well too but was about 3X the price so it's good to know how other options work as i need to do it again soon.

I had some before during and after photos that are posted here somewhere. The "during" phase after initial sanding is scaryfor anyone who has never done the job before - theinitial sanding step makes the lens lookas though it is ruined and I was very relieved to complete the subsequent fine sand and polish steps and find the whole process really did work!!!

 

......and meant to add, yours look real good Pinecone!! Nice job. What was the brand of your cheapo $10 kit?

 

Hi Danny,

The bag says CCP 'Custom Chemical Packaging' Made in USA.

They have the kits hanging in ziplock bags from a peghook at Harbor Freight for $9.99.
I just checked the HF website and it isn't listed there. You might be able to contact them to see if they distribute locally to you.

Tom

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Hi Tom,
I have bookmarked this page because my offside/drivers/right hand headlights (UK)are ****** naff to be polite.
When I have the spare cash, a google for this stuff in the UK will be first on my mind!!!
Thank you for a GREAT POST!!!
A beer is due when I am near, hopefully soon! Thank you and keep up the good vibes!!! Stu