I have an 03' with the OEM HIDs. I bought the 3M refinishing kit, and was going to get started today, but I may have an additional problem. Is it common for the inside of the lens to have damage, perhaps heat damage from the HID? The outside is definitely dull & yellowed, but there appears to be some pitting/micro cracks on the inside of the lens itself. It is definitely not moisture. My eyes could be playing tricks on me, and it may actually be the outside of the lens. Just wondered if it was something that was common with the HID housings. A similar condition was quite common on Pontiac Bonnevilles, which I used to own.
HID Headlight Housing Inside
- Thread starter RJGill84
- Start date
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
I can't answer the question, other than to say that mine are doing fine on the inside. I do want to point out that the HIDs are 35 watts, and the halogens are 50 watts. More of the output from the halogens is heat than the output from the HIDs. From this, I would say that if it is a heat problem, it should be seen much much more on the halogens.
Maybe it is damage from the UV content of the HIDs' light?
jmtiseo
The Peanut Gallery
Agree with you Joe. Mine appeared to have a haze develop on the inside after swapping the high beam to HID and swapped my low beam to 6000k bulbs. This may have been brought on by polishing the inside of the lens as well, removing the coating, anti-fog or hardening, from the lens.
Got any pics?
Got any pics?
I took a few before but you can't really tell. I wasn't able to get the camera to capture the micro pitting. It does appear that most, if not all of it, was actually on the outside of the lens, though it really Iooked as if it were inside. Needless to say, the headlights came out great with the 3M kit. I did have to use a much lower grit to get started. I started with 320 grit, and then used the 3M kit. The 500 that the kit starts with was not nearly abrasive enough to remove the coating effectively.
You can see the pitting and yellowing in the pic of the passenger headlight with the HIDs on. The pic of the drivers headlight is after refinishing with the HIDs on. Big difference. My headlights weren't terrible to begin with, but the light output, and particularly color, are drastically different.
You can see the pitting and yellowing in the pic of the passenger headlight with the HIDs on. The pic of the drivers headlight is after refinishing with the HIDs on. Big difference. My headlights weren't terrible to begin with, but the light output, and particularly color, are drastically different.
jmtiseo
The Peanut Gallery
Definitely on the inside of the lens. I thought it was possible to remove but failed and paid the price. When I sold it there was a slight burning on the inside of the lens. As you can see, it shows in the area only where the light is projected onto the lens. Then again, who knows if it is visible in other areas of the lens if they're illuminated.