Boy would I love to meet the guy that designed the screw locations on the bracket that holds the PS headlight into the car. 4 of the 5 are real easy to remove, but you need a long torx screwdriver. The 5th however, you can't even see, and certainly cannot get a straight shot at. I guess if you had a flexible thin extension, it would be easier, but I had to remove the grill, and assemble a torx bit in a tiny ratchet, and after much swearing and bloodletting, it finally came out. the guys fitting these in the factory must have been contortionists !
Anyway my bright shiny new one (to quote Ed China) is now in place, instead of the badly yellowed one, trouble is it's now showing up the DS, which looked mint before ..............Doh !
Saying as I apparently got the last PS headlight in the country, I hope the search for a DS one is not as difficult !
Sorry for the rant, just had to vent, to make my bloodstained forearms feel better.

Can't wait to replace the SRS panel on the dash !!!!

 

You can buy a kit to polish the headlight. The yellowing is from the UV coating and once you sand it off and polish it you will be back in business. You want to make sure the kit you get has a new coating otherwise it will yellow and fade right away and you may not be able to sand it clean again.

3M, BG and other make the kits. Car dealers do this all the time. There are guys who offer this as a service. In this area they charge anywhere from $75-150.

 

I tried restoring the PS one, but the yellowing is right through the plastic, and although it improved somewhat, it was still very yellow compared to the DS. I may try to restore the DS, to see if i can get it closer to the new one, before I shell out another $500 for a new DS headlight.

 

Mine where yellow too. I could not bring them back. I even tried using some type of marine hull cleaner. No luck. I ended up closely watching eBay for months and got 2 new ones for a little over 500.00. I also got lens covers/protectors to filter some sun out

 

I also believe 3M makes a product that you put on the lenses that protects them from yellowing and stone damage and sand blasting. I have seen car dealers installing this on new vehicles.

 

I know this is an old thread but just wanted to share my experience with you. Indeed 4 out of the total 5 of T30 screws are easy. It is the innerside top one that is a nightmare as you simply cannot access it with normal tool. I used a wrench screwdriver that I made longer with a flexible extension. Whilst I was able to get this to work on RH side, it seems there is less of a gap between the bodywork and the lamp-unit on the LH side. Will be looking at that one tomorrow after a good night's sleep :-)

 

Thanks for reviving this old thread...us newbies have lots to learn.

 

I can officially inform you that it works to have a 12" T30 screwdriver that has a handle that you can put a spanner on. That does the job.

 

where did you get your replacement headlights from?

polishing helps but wont last as long replacement. and depending on how far degraded the plastic is you may never be able to get them to look like new.

id like to get some replacement lights for my xjs.