I decided to give the headlights on my Audi A3 a restoration, and clean up some UV damage that was on them
I’m writing this article with no cover ups, so I can show the end result from each one. I did make a mistake when using each kit I didn’t apply the protection whilst in the shade, so the lights receive a bit of damage again. Either way the end result was far superior to what I previously had on the headlight and overall the UV damage has been removed on my headlights and they’ve been restored. They now look way better than they first did
Why restore the headlights on my Audi A3?
The main reason I decided to do this headlight restoration (other than UV damage looks crap), is when it comes to MOT checks on the car. A headlight that has UV damage can affect the light output, which is part of the MOT test, and if it’s severe enough, then it can be reason for an MOT failure. It was highlighted by my garage who carried out my last MOT, so was on the list of jobs to do. Removing the UV damage on the headlight will also improve the visibility when it comes to night time driving on the car. So, by restoring the headlight and removing the UV damage it’s a win win.
How long does it take to do? What do I need?
Carrying out this work, only took around 30 minutes of my time. I did it on a lunch break at work. The kits themselves are usually a two part process. One part removes the contaminants from the headlights, and the 2nd part protects them. I used a couple of kits for this work on my car, and decided to show the results from each one.
The kits I used are below, with the results.
Products used in this article, if you wish to use them yourself
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Just as a quick note regarding this is basically what you do. To save you translating German
- Park the car in the shade
- Open the cleaning wipe (orange packet)
- Wipe the headlight roating the tissue until it’s clear
- Dry the headlight
- Apply the clear coat protection in the purple packet. One packet covers two lights
- Leave the car for 3 hours for protection to be applied fully
Headlight UV cleaning pictures
The following pictures are displayed in the order I did the work, my car as it stands now is in the last picture
OK. This is the UV damage to my Audi A3 headlight up close that required restoration. This is what it looked like prior to any restoration being carried out. You can see it’s quite badly affected, this was the before result. It’s in quite a poor state
This was the passenger side which had the UV coating damage after using the 1st wipe in the Armorall kit. It burns the damage off the top, so the headlight looks rubbish to start with. It then clears up when you apply the 2nd wipe.
You can see the UV damage came off with the wipe. Ideally keep using the cloth putting a new clean area until the cloth comes away clean. I did this for both headlights, regardless if the drivers side showed UV damage. I did them both.
Headlight after cleaning with armorall. This was the first stage end result which I was impressed with after using the Armorall wipes. I believe if I did this work in the shade, the lights would have stayed crystal clear like this. Overall I was very impressed with the wipes.
After I finished applying the clear coat protection to the headlight, this was the end result on the wipe. It’s possibly there was still some UV coating looking at the headlight wipe. I’d expect this to be clear and have no yellow stains. Perhaps not cleaned enough.
This was the headlight after the 2nd clear coat wipe was used on the headlight
After I cleaned the headlight over with the Armorall wipe, I left it (in the sun unfortunately whilst at work). It was in a good condition after I carried out the restoration, this was the headlight about 4 hours later. You can see whilst the UV damage is no longer there, there’s a bit of glaze in the headlight. I wasn’t happy with this, so wanted another bash to clear it up and restore it further.
I applied the paste to the passenger headlight, and buffed it up a lot. It has a foggy coating at first and disappears slightly when most of the compound is wiped away. The end result shows with the final buffing wipe on a micro fibre cloth
This is the paste on the drivers side, same process applied
This was the end result after using the K2 headlamp polish with the headlight restoration. I basically added the rubbing compound with a microfibre cloth to the headlight. Rubbed it in quite a bit and when the light was “clearish”, I just buffed it with a fine microfibre.
This was the result on the passenger side doing the same procedure. Buffing out the lamp with headlight polish, and then cleaning it up with a fine microfibre cloth afterwards
This is the final result how my car currently looks now. I’ll look into finding some clear coat protection as I’m not sure if the kit has it, the picture quality doesn’t show it well, but you can see the headlights are more uniform, and now no longer have UV damage to them. I checked it today writing this article, and the headlights themselves haven’t changed any further than the above pics.
Which kit is better?
I don’t really have a preference to which kit was better. The first kit I used was the Armorall kit, I made a mistake when I was using it however, I was on my lunch break at work and it was a sunny day. You are meant to do this work in the shade to give time for the UV coating to apply. I believe this affected the end result.
The benefit of using the Armorall headlight restoration kit is that you can see the results on the wipes. The first wipe makes the headlight misty after it removes the UV damage (I suspect it’s a mixture of chemicals which work like acid etching to burn off the coating). The 2nd wipe then applies a new clear coat onto the headlight and once dried should restore it.
I suspect if I used the Armorall kit properly, the lights would have been crystal clear like the first time I used them.
The K2 headlight polish seemed to be good for buffing out the headlights in general. I don’t believe it’s made the headlights as clear as the armorall kit, however the end polish was good because you’re essentially just cutting into the plastic to clear it away. When doing this headlight restoration however, I will need to use something to protect the clear coat afer use. I’m not sure if the kit contains something to do this, it’s recommended to leave it for 7 days to cure.
Both kits are meant to be applied in the SHADE.
Given the choice, I’d probably use the Armorall kit the next time, because I feel the overall quality resulted in clear lights. I simply wanted to post pictures to show my results, so people could make up their own minds
Need to restore your own lights?
Here are links to the eBay products I purchased. Each kit is sufficiently enough to do both headlights for UV restoration.
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Have you had any success with either of these kits, let me know which do you prefer?
