| DIY 2010-2012 Headlight Lens / front cover Replacement | |
Firstly … welcome to hell 😂
Not sure how many others are brave or stupid enough to do this!
One of my lights around a year ago was heavily chipped and discolouring. I got one of the refurb kits it looked great for about 9 months then looked bad again - did it again and already it’s starting to go.
Fast forward to last week I found a unit on eBay one snapped mount point, missing one of the rear bulb covers aside from that it was good with a nice clean lens (in the picture!)
Anyway it turned up and there are two snapped lugs inside, but the biggest issue… where the rear cover must have been off loads of junk had got inside and stuck to the lens. I read loads of things compressed air, got a bit out, rice got a bit more out , 50/50 rubbing alcohol water got a lost out…. But it discoloured the rubber around the reflector it looked like permanent condensation… guessing it dried it right out, meanwhile it was still pretty dirty inside whilst a little better. Also there were water marks on the chrome!
Anyway before I started this i messaged the seller saying it wasn’t as advertised and he said I could keep it for £100 if I could do anything with it … so I accepted and this possibly stupid project began.
What you need
Disassembly
Multi tool and a couple of blades
Good screwdriver set
Epoxy and or superglue if you are going to repair any lugs.
Micro fibre cloth
Assembly
Compressed air
Micro fibre cloth
New lens (from Ali express or eBay)
Butyl glue (so you never have to go through this horror again should you need to disassemble!
Right, small caveat I’ve only done part one of this the disassembly as I wanted to check I could do this before wasting money on the lenses.
So nothing on YouTube or any forum on this but there were some for bmw light which were similar so I’ve sort of used them for a template
Step one
Cut with the multi tool down the groove between the lens and the back part of the light. Carefully here as you only just want to go through the plastic but not too far. The snap tabs will snap so I’d cut down and around them (I did) be very careful cutting near the reflector as there are two mounting clips there
Once cut gently start prising
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Step 2
Once the clear lens is off, unscrew the screws holding the black shroud to the back of the light where you can access - yoh may need to pull it about a little
DO NOT TOUCH ANY CHROME THE COATING IS VERY VERY THIN
 | | Click image to enlarge |
Once the screws are removed the shroud should lift up about 45degrees from the opposite end of the indicator . You then should be able to unscrew the corner light or blanking plate.
Once that’s off you should be able to access the two shroud screws by the side reflector.
Once they are off the shroud should come out and then you can unplug the indicator angel eyes etc. you can separate the eyes from the aground by unscrewing the screws.
Then you can unscrew the projector/bulb unit and remove from the back box.
It is now gutted so the final things are to glue any broken lugs and then finally using the help of the multi tool and a flat screwdriver cut and prise out the plastic and silicone in the groove.
Once clear we are ready for the lens… when it comes… Current stable:
2006 BMW M6
2007 4.2 V8 S/C FF
Gone:
2002 4.4 V8 FF
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