Prefacelift headlights or lenses for less than $800?

[CarterH]

Hi all,

I recently got my E39 and the headlights were a little hazy and oxidized so I bought a lens restoration kit which I'd used in the past with great outcome. This time though, it turned out terribly and looks even worse than before. I don't know how much more restoration they could take so I thought I'd replace just the lenses. I've been having a hard time finding any that aren't dirt cheap Chinese lenses for less than $50 or lenses that cost well over $200. Even Hella replacements are almost $800 EACH which seems extreme, even for a BMW.

What are some good brands and places to get some lenses from? I do most things through eBay since it's been the most secure and takes care of the import charges and tax for me. I've also seen a lot of parts floating around from Latvia and Lithuania and I'm not sure how trustworthy parts would be from there.

I'd really love any help possible here. I'm sure there's been a million threads about it but the search function never seems to work for me.

[RosieE39]

Depo are Taiwanese and the quality is very good.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F282816142455

Bought stuff off EBay from Eastern Europe without any problems - you have buyer protection anyway.

[StephenVA]

+1^^

[effduration]

I bought these off Amazon. These lenses, along with clear/white side lights and tail lights (all purchased on Amzn for $300 or so) really made my '99 528i "pop" in appearance. Took all the yellow off the car.
https://www.amazon.com/CORNER-REPLAC...adlight+lenses

[zak78]

I have a full set of pre-facelift, factory Xenons that were refurbished, and I'll probably never use them because I love my silly halo lights. Will PM you now...

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

The nice thing about the old pre face lift lights, was the ease it took to open them up, how the glass lenses pop off, you can really clean everything real well, mild dish soap and warm water especially on the reflectors, some cleaners will lift the chrome right off the plastic before you realized you screwed up. The big o-ring gasket is only 10 bucks, and BMW actually makes the adjusters. For those silly angle eyes, you can add the rings behind the glass lenses and they end up looking real good too. Actually wouldn’t mind having a set to play with.

[Mike WW]

Hi all,

I recently got my E39 and the headlights were a little hazy and oxidized so I bought a lens restoration kit which I'd used in the past with great outcome. This time though, it turned out terribly and looks even worse than before.

There is a coating or film they use on the surface. You have to get thru that to the base plastic before you can buff them out. That film is very tough also, I think I ended up with 220 grit to get it all off before using a couple of finer stages of paper. I could then buff them out although they reoxidized fairly quickly.

I ended up sanding them again, with probably 500 and using a Preval sprayer with automotive clearcoat. I thought I had pics but I can't find them, but they came out looking great and the light was significantly better, night and day might be an overstatement, but at least late dusk and day difference. The Preval units are only about $10 and you can buy small quantities of clearcoat on ebay pretty cheap.

[CarterH]

Depo are Taiwanese and the quality is very good.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F282816142455

Bought stuff off EBay from Eastern Europe without any problems - you have buyer protection anyway.

Depo are Taiwanese and the quality is very good.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F282816142455

Bought stuff off EBay from Eastern Europe without any problems - you have buyer protection anyway.

I've seen a few posters here have Depos and some post about cracking after a few months. Has your experience been good? how long have you had them?

What about TYC? I've also seen some pretty positive things about those and the prices are pretty good. I won't rule out Depo though, I really liked the smoked sides on those.

The nice thing about the old pre face lift lights, was the ease it took to open them up, how the glass lenses pop off, you can really clean everything real well, mild dish soap and warm water especially on the reflectors, some cleaners will lift the chrome right off the plastic before you realized you screwed up. The big o-ring gasket is only 10 bucks, and BMW actually makes the adjusters. For those silly angle eyes, you can add the rings behind the glass lenses and they end up looking real good too. Actually wouldn’t mind having a set to play with.

Exactly why I like the prefacelifts. I know the facelift lights can be puled apart but with much more difficulty. I really just want a new lens but I can only find lenses from China, which I'm absolutely certain will be of really poor quality if the prices are that low.

[RosieE39]

Depo make everything from horrible looking, cheap aftermarket assemblies to OE quality replacement units.
I have used their OE replacements in a number of Euro cars - they are like for like.
I’d say you’ve seen negative reviews for the cheap assemblies.

http://www.depoautolamp.com/asp/pdf/54.pdf

[Sewciu]

I've had DEPO lenses on my prefacelift headlights for 2.5 years (3rd winter) and they're holding up well and still very clear. I bought them from ECS tuning.
Unfortunatley, they came imprinted with an encyclopedic amount of regulatory info right on the lens which from far away is not noticeable but from up close it's clearly not Hella.
In hindsight, I would have gotten used prefacelift Hellas (clear corners of course!) and wet sanded them to make them look newish.

[CarterH]

I've had DEPO lenses on my prefacelift headlights for 2.5 years (3rd winter) and they're holding up well and still very clear. I bought them from ECS tuning.
Unfortunatley, they came imprinted with an encyclopedic amount of regulatory info right on the lens which from far away is not noticeable but from up close it's clearly not Hella.
In hindsight, I would have gotten used prefacelift Hellas (clear corners of course!) and wet sanded them to make them look newish.

All that writing has made me wonder about getting Depo or not, they look really good but I instantly noticed the paragraphs of writing on the lens. I know they need to have certain information on them but it's like printing an instruction manual on a product.

Even used Hellas are really expensive. At this point I'm likely going with TYC or Depo, both look good and both hold up well apparently. Thanks for posting your Depo experience though, it's not often that people post a follow up of years later so it really helps to see how versatile they are.

[amancuso]

Why haven't you just rebuilt and restored your stock units. I've done it to many BMWs. Only downside is you have to either clear with an automotive UV clearcoat protectant or just treat them with a product like Diamondite once a month.

[Ed CT]

Why haven't you just rebuilt and restored your stock units. I've done it to many BMWs. Only downside is you have to either clear with an automotive UV clearcoat protectant or just treat them with a product like Diamondite once a month.

This^^^. Save your money for maintaining the BMW-performance staples, like suspension and engine maintenance.

The lens polishing is a simple progressive wet-sanding process, going from 220 grit up thru 600-800, 1000 and 2000 grit.
Next step is a compound buffing.
Then a thorough cleaning.
Then, the all-important last step is spraying a 2-part clear-coat (most good auto paint stores carry this). Without this clear-coat step, the lenses will need refinishing after about 90 days. Mine still look good after 3 years.

[philly98540]

^Yes, true. But... A replacement lens solution is still needed for those with urethane sealed 7/02 and later when upgrading projectors, etc. In those cases, the old lenses get destroyed. An decent quality solution is needed when doing those jobs. Depo is likely the compromise best avail choice if you can deal with the lettering. Maybe some of the other lens brands are just as good without the letting? I'm not sure.

I have ebay lights with upgraded projectors and the lenses that are just OK. Not great, but good enough for now. So, i bet a lot of the other available (non Depo) lenses are likely similar.

[CarterH]

Why haven't you just rebuilt and restored your stock units. I've done it to many BMWs. Only downside is you have to either clear with an automotive UV clearcoat protectant or just treat them with a product like Diamondite once a month.

My restoration.. didn't go well. That said, before committing to replacing them, I've called a mechanic friend and his shop does headlight restorations so I will be trying that first. I can't remember the specifics from the phone call but he said something like "resetting the plastic" and there being acrylic. I'm not entirely sure what he means by resetting the plastic though, I've not heard that before.

[95naSTA]

Depending on how bad the headlights are it can take quite a while to restore and seal OE headlights properly. I've done it a couple times but when pre-facelift DEPO lenses cost just over $100 shipped, my time can be spent better elsewhere.