stdong
Passed Driver's Ed
- Location
- Newport Beach, Ca
My Helix's are peeling and look horrible. Is wetsanding the best/only way to fix them?
7
Helix Headlights Peeling
- Thread starter Kynetic64
- Start date
Andrewbens
Go Kart Champion
- Location
- Modesto
- Car(s)
- 2019 GTi S 6 Speed
Wow now I don’t want aftermarket headlights 
stdong
Passed Driver's Ed
- Location
- Newport Beach, Ca
I would get them but put an extra protective covering on. My shitty helix's still look 10x better than the stock halogens
I have ED's headlights. The clearcoat had the same peeling and pitting issues as the helix after 3 years of use. Granted I lived in NYC for 2 of those years. I wet-sanded w/ 1000/1500/2000 and 3 stage polished them then wrapped them in 3m when complete. They look brand new again. A lot of aftermarket lights have these issues with the UV protectant spray that is applied. Its just normal wear and tear. I'd suggest the wetsand method. It makes a huge difference.
KevinC
Autocross Champion
- Car(s)
- '19 Golf R, '21 M2c
If the various Chinese knockoff headlights were so great, VW would be buying them because they could save a metric buttload of cash over what they pay for Hella & Valeo units. Simple reason that they don't - they're all garbage. As long as you go in realizing this, you won't be (too) disappointed. Just don't expect anything remotely approaching OEM quality.
Ceramic coat "may" protect from UV., but not from the physical abuse of road debris. A decent paint protection film like 3M stochguard will protect from both.
KevinC
Autocross Champion
- Car(s)
- '19 Golf R, '21 M2c
Butthead once famously said "You can't polish a turd, Beavis". As usual, he was right.