PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

My sister's 1999 Taurus has the same issue that many 00+ bonnevilles have, hazy headlights. Well, at least it used to.

Here's what the passenger side looked like before:


Small chips, bugs implanted, and mostly, sun damage and haze from 11 years in service.

My local NAPA had the 3M Headlight Restoration System on sale for $16.99 yesterday, so I grabbed it and decided to give it a shot.

The kit includes:
500 Grit Sanding discs
800 Grit Sanding discs
3000 Grit pad
Buffing Pad
Rubbing Compound
Drill chuck with hook and loop pad
Excellent Instructions (Ironically using the same headlights, either from a Sable or Taurus, lol)



What you will need to supply:
Hand Drill (1200 - 1600 RPM)
Painter's Tape (Household worked fine for me, 3M recommends their Automotive Painter's tape)
Spray Bottle with clean water



After acquiring the said items, a chair and a beverage (Non alcoholic of course) I began. After taping around the headlight to prevent the paint and trim getting scratched, I started with the 500 grit disc on the pad, sanded the headlight (dry), checking progress and cleaning the pad and the headlight off frequently. Once the headlight was evenly scratched with the 500 grit, I moved on to the 800. One recommendation of my own is to move completely across the headlight with each pass, don't go half and go back, it takes longer to hide those scratches. Go from the left to the right, then go up halfway and go back, once to the top, go down, 5-6 times.

Here's how the headlight looked after the 800 grit:


You can see the stains and unevenness are gone, just evenly hazed. These next steps will correct that.

After hooking the 3000 grit disc to the pad and wetting both the pad and the headlight, I began with that, removing the 800 grit scratches.

Here's how it looks now:


You can see the clarity coming back already.

Now moving to the buffing pad, I put a dime sized amount of rubbing compound on the pad and started buffing.

Here are the final results:


After removing the tape:


Quite a difference, isn't it? Just think of how much safer this will be, not only for my sister, but for oncoming traffic. Last time I drove that car at night I remember how poor the output was, even with the brights on.

On a scale of 1-5, I rate this product a 4.5 based on cost, ease of use, and effectiveness. Can you achieve the same results with some sandpaper and rubbing compound by hand? Sure, but it takes a lot longer than the half hour it took me to do both headlights, plus I still have enough materials to do another car. It's not the cheapest method, but unless you have everything else at home for free, you'll have to buy the materials separately anyways. This kit is definitely all that it's cracked up to be, and since it is 3M, it is Made in America, and that's not a small feat anymore.

If you do buy this kit, follow the directions, and don't just go by what I said on here, as they are very detailed, with pictures for each step, and exactly what to look for.

Thanks for reading!

Works on all the other lights also. Did all the fronts on my daughters Camry, I will do the back when I get around to picking up another kit.

Definitely will work on any plastic lights. I'm gonna take the rubbing compound to my tinted tails and make them a little cleaner. Plenty in there for how little you use on the headlights.

I have yet to hear anything bad about the 3M kit, even on the detailing forums. Seems to be a very good kit for anyone that wants to do the work themselves.

The lights look great now, good job

did it include a sealer? if not, go to wally's and get some future floor polish. it's acrylic sealant, and will protect the headlights.

This 3M kit work for your Bonni heads??

DIGX1BONNE02 wrote:This 3M kit work for your Bonni heads??

Yes, on the 2000-2005 Bonneville headlights with plastic lenses.

I've been using the cheaper Turtle Wax headlight restoration kit ($8 @ Wal Mart), but I'm not so impressed with doing the sanding with their little 3" square pads of sandpaper, which don't last very long and it takes FOREVER to get all the old clear off (otherwise you see the lines where there is old clear still there.
Also, the clearcoat is not the best as they just soak a 'wet one' with clear coat gel and it takes days to clear (cross your fingers it doesn't rain and there is nothing in the air (bugs, debris, etc) that sticks to it).

This 3M kit doesn't use clear, you gotta do that yourself. It just removes the layer of haze and debris to get to the clear plastic.

I used this kit on my roomie's friends car. Worked out pretty good.