Headlight housing repair

mattylondon · #1 30th August 2015, 08:28 AM

The headlight has lost its mirror finish at the top and is now dull due to the rising heat from years of use. Is it possible to renovate it somehow? There's no concise answer on the web and I thought maybe a forum member has done a restoration in the past.

The headlight is the dip beam projector from an A4.

ainarssems · #2 30th August 2015, 09:18 AM

I have been looking at this as well for PF D2 headlights with plastic reflectors. And I am thinking of giving it a go with silver coating and then clear 2k lacquer on top to protect silver. Something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TDtUHo5cSE There are a lot of similar videos on youtube and you can buy chemical kits on e-bay etc but it will work out cheaper to get them individually especially in larger quantities and just use 2 regular spray bottles.

snapdragon · #3 30th August 2015, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ainarssems

I have been looking at this as well for PF D2 headlights with plastic reflectors. And I am thinking of giving it a go with silver coating and then clear 2k lacquer on top to protect silver.

Someone on another forum (not Audi) did some parts and when they clear-coated it, it lost its chrome effect and went dark grey. There are apparently some coatings/protectants that you can put on top and they are used on some videos..

paulrstaylor · #4 30th August 2015, 10:34 PM

When I bought my S4 cabriolet the headlights were like candles, I looked for a long time for a method of refurbishing the reflective surface but in the end I replaced the projectors with bi-xenon units from a Lexus RX350 within the original headlight body. Cost less than 25 % of the cost of new headlights form a dealer and a much better light output, whilst maintaining a legal beam pattern and all of the OEM self levelling features.

tonupkid · #5 30th August 2015, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulrstaylor

When I bought my S4 cabriolet the headlights were like candles, I looked for a long time for a method of refurbishing the reflective surface but in the end I replaced the projectors with bi-xenon units from a Lexus RX350 within the original headlight body. Cost less than 25 % of the cost of new headlights form a dealer and a much better light output, whilst maintaining a legal beam pattern and all of the OEM self levelling features.

Novel approach, great solution. like it