Mazdaspeed 6 Headlights

[prdracing]

So as many of us are aware, the headlight assemblies on the Mazda6/MS6 are crap and get a nice foggy haze on them very quickly. Has anyone found a good retailer to buy replacement ones? I did some searching and found a ton of results, so I was wondering if anyone had personal experience with sellers or their headlights.

On a slightly different note, has anyone successfully baked them apart, polished the lense from inside and out, and sealed back up without leakage issues? I've used the professional lense restoration kits on other lights and had medial results that don't really last before re-hazing (hence why I'm willing to shell out the cash for a new set that MUST hold up better than terrible Mazda units). Thanks for any input!

 

[BigRed06]

bring to a body shop and have them recleared thats what im doing since i work at one and we do it all the time and its way cheaper than buying new lights

 

[Kiseliok]

speed6 headlights are STUPID expensive. I learned the hard way.
Plenty of people baked them apart and put them together to put different projectors in and were successful at it.

I put clear film on my headlights. This way I can just take it off and put new one on and the clarity will be the same.

 

[thewheelman]

The common solution to the problem is to wetsand and buff the lenses. I've done this to my wife's old Jetta, and the lights looked brand new afterward.

I tried on this car, but started with 1200 grit, and it didn't knock a dent in the haze on the headlights. I just recently purchased some 800 grit, so I'm going to try it again. I'll work my way through 2200 or even 3000 grit, and then buff the lenses to bring back the shine.

I've heard of some people just wiping their lenses with acetone, but that will wreak havoc on your paint if you get soppy with it. I'd highly recommend removing the lights if you decide to go in a similar direction.

 

[prdracing]

I've tried the wet sanding and had so-so results. I've never tried acetone, I wonder how well it works...

 

[Gilboyto]

Im new to the forums, (waiting on my MS6 to be delivered) but my wife had a mazda6 i whose headlights were HORRIBLE...you couldnt even tell the lights were on.

I had to do a complete wet sand of the lights starting at 400 grit all the way to 2000 and then using the polish from those restoration kits and it worked fantastic. Nice smooth housing and crystal clear after I was done.

Since I did it all by hand it took around 2 hours to do both of them, but well worth it.

 

[prdracing]

Yeah I'm going to have to take them off the car and try on a work bench with a drastic step down in grit like you guys did. The brand new pairs on eBay are going for about $500 shipped. Not as expensive as I expected them to be, but still A LOT of money!

 

[OJ Bartley]

The headlights on this car are definitely not one of its strengths. The soft plastic lenses can haze, and the projectors aren't great. I've seen some people replace the projectors with TSX ones and have very nice results, and some go a step further and replace the ballasts and bulbs as well. I actually bought a headlight restoration kit because I thought mine were getting a little cloudy, but after a good wash and wax they weren't bad so I haven't tried it yet.

 

[xxxmonoxidechil]

the MS^ projectors are a bit nicer then the standard mazda6 ones. i swapped my projectors over to the speed6 ones when another member upgraded his MS6. good improvement for a cheap investment on my part.

and i didnt even bake my lights this time. ive done it in the past. and never really like baking something as expensive as my headlights. i read online, and found a guy that used a 5 inch putty knife to do it. and gave it a try. i had both my headlights apart and on the floor before you would have even had the oven pre-heated. ill never use the oven again. there's just no reason to take the risk.

 

[_Chris]

Have you not see the infomercials? It just wipes right off!
I can't see this working long term. Like others have said other than replacing the light. Wet sanding them then clear coating them or putting a clear vinyl over them is about your best option.