Has anyone ever encountered what appears to be a layer sort of flaking off the headlight lens? I just noticed the condition while doing a through cleaning today on my 12 vert. It only appears at the edges of the lens but feels rough and crazed along the upper edge. I can't tell if this is the result of some kind of coating applied by the PO or if the plastic itself is failing.



The good news is this is only present along the edge and not readily noticable.

 

These lenses have a clear coat from the factory. That's what gives them UV protection. Looks like it's time to remove it and refinish.

 

Thanks Ranch. I wondered if that also might be what I'm seeing. I'll begin research now on making that happen but probably wait for cold weaher so nice weather touring is not affected.

 

Those don't yet look nearly as bad as mine did (do zoom in), and they were restored very well (for 150 €/pair).

 

Those did look pretty bad. It does take a close look to see where mine are flaking off but they are rough when you run your hand over the area. I talked with a shop that said they can restore them but do not see the need to recoat with a UV layer. I think I'm going to skip that shop in favor of one who also feels they need to have the UV reapplied. It is not a killer issue to me right now so I'll probably just wait a while before having them refinished.

 

What did you do to fix this? I have a Jaguar XKR 2013 with flaking lens!

 

I wound up sanding it down then going through umpteen finer grits of wet/dry sand paper then polishing compound. Sanding by hand and polishing with a power tool. Hope that helps.

 

I highly recommend a 2k clear coat refinish.

It comes in a 2 part spray can of clear coat and hardener which is very close to professional automotive paint.
You must wear a respirator when applying it.

 

Catalyzed paints are always better, but is this particular vehicle worth the extra costs and time?

 

Looks like someone perhaps wiped your hood/bonnet with a solvent soaked cloth that touched your polycarbonate lens.
Acetone, mek, lacquer thinners etc.will destroy polycarbonate plastic very quickly.
You were very lucky that the marks were not too deep to sand out.
PC definitely needs a UV coating of some kind.
Bob

 

This is a fairly common problem. I’ve been told it’s the UV protection clearcoat that cracks and doesn’t affect the underlying plastic lens.

Options include replacement headlamps which are expensive and difficult to source, sanding off the clearcoat and refinishing with new clearcoat or covering with PPF and dealing with the unsightly look of it but preventing further cracking of the existing clearcoat. (What I did)

I’ll probably have my lens refinished if/when I grow tired of seeing those lens.

Here are mine for reference.

 

It is true that the clear UV coating fails over time.
But the polycarbonate lens underneath can crack badly as well.
If you don't want to refinish correctly now, then I suggest you treat them with a UV protectant so they don't get worse and require complete replacement.

 

Mine has a slight beginning of this crazing. I already covered the headlights and tail lights with a heavy UV 10% headlight specific tint. It matches the paint great and barely diminishes the lumen output that was already great to begin with.
Can't see the crazing any more and the UV tint will protect what's left.

 

Where did you find your tint?

 

eBay, although I don't know which brand it was.
Sort of like this, and there are a TON more colors than there was available when I did mine five years ago...
Headlight Tint ideas on eBay

 

I want to replace my tint too, but recondition the lens first.

I'm not sure if they all claim to have the UV protection but that would be important after sanding/polishing.

 

According to the Porsche forums, they have this same issue on the Macans. Films/tints on the lenses protect them pretty well but will lift the clear coat upon removal.