The PROPER Way to Refinish Headlights: E39 M5

In this video I show you how I refinished the headlights on my 2003 E39 M5. Although I attempted this before, the results weren't good enough and I wanted something longer lasting. This was by far the best option besides buying new lights. Honestly if someone told me they were brand new, I would believe them. Thanks for watching and I hope this helped you.
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Video evidence of how NOT to refinish headlights:
First Attempt: • Headlight Restoration ...
Follow Up Proof: • How I ruined my headli...
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www.shifted-perspective.com
IG: @bmb_m3
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[@JosephSal901]

5 years later after your video and here I am facing $1500 for new headlights or this!!!! Hell yeah man! Gonna be doing it this weekend :D

[@johnschmidt7126]

For anyone doing this, just take a couple of seconds and pop out the trim; no need to tape and makes sure you get the bottom of the light where it tends to be the worst; great video though.

[@DWraysGarage]

Kudos to you for sticking with it and closing out the job without trying to buy your way out. I know you went to some depths of despair to get here but you pulled it all together nicely.

[@ShiftedPerspective]

Thanks for noticing. This was much more involved than it needed to be because I screwed up initially, but I don’t like to accept defeat!

[@SentenialOcten]

The headlights came out awesome dude! Once you get the rock chips addressed, that thing will look like a million bucks!

[@Leprovocateur]

Having two E39 a 540ia and a 530ia you just made my life so much easier!!! The other methods I have tried only last about six months or so!!! Thanks!!!

[@RPDBY]

did you just sand the headlights and apply the clear coat, nothing else?

[@mickpov4708]

Looks brand new man great job! Yes exhaust should be in the near future since she is your daily.

[@hnryleal94]

Great job man, awesome work!

[@Sam-gj3xg]

Yay you did what I commented about a month ago. I did same process a couple months ago with my tail lights and it came out great 👍🏽

[@tonystevens4883]

I tried this on my E39 M5 this weekend. It almost worked! 😂 I had small, weird lines, look like cracks, like cling film! I was very disappointed, so I repeated the process again, this time I applied more coats, slightly lighter. Definitely better, but there's some orange peel. Might attempt to use a 2000 grit, then machine polish. Thank you for the advice though mate, gotta love the old M5 though 💪

[@MikeFigueira]

Huge difference buddy. You got it down now, great job!!

[@ShiftedPerspective]

It’s amazing what doing it right can look like!

[@shaniranikauboj]

Thats nice finish. Leave it for a month for solvents to escape. After that you can do light polishing and protect them more with ceramic coating. Just like a paint on a car.

[@bmwefixmonth7652]

it is actually wet sand, with an angle grinder and a polishing adapter plus polishing compound and you will get a perfect finish, I have done the kits, the wetsanding and the clear coat and this method I discovered is the best, the clearcoat will never be as smooth as the plastic was when new, once I was going to polish the whole car and thought about wet sanding and polishing the lights and to my surprise it left them like new without needing clear coat or grease to make them transparent and shiny.

[@alcolaco2042]

Good job mate!

[@andrewachholz7922]

Nice video: today (2023) you can buy new lenses and swap them, but it will take some serious effort to dismantle the old ones if the are permasealed (after 2001) You need to carefully cut the lenses wit a Dremel tool or similar without harming the inside black piece and work your way around the reamains of the lenses with a heat gun and a small screwdriver to completely remove the remaining lens and the old sealant . But If you got lucky they lenses are sealed with butyl (pre 2002) then you can easily remove them wit an oven or a heat gun. Use this method only if the lenses are thoroughly beaten or have cracks, otherwise I would stick to Shifted Perspective.

[@robmendoza6210]

the key tool for even sanding is a sanding block. Looks good none the less.

[@TheBigboySid]

Looks great.

[@chrissorial2957]

You can swap the lenses if they are sealed with the epoxy. I did it on mine. I ended up having to cut them off with a dremel and clean out the channel. Then I put a bead of butyl sealant and installed the new lenses. There’s a thread on the bimmer forums. Tons of work and very frustrating but I love the result. Either way, looks way better than before. Good job, man.

[@chrissorial2957]

Just finished the video. Turned out amazing and easier than changing the lenses. That spraymax 2k clear is good stuff. I’ve repainted the door handles on my E39 with it.

[@grahamepigney8565]

Does this work with the post-facelift Hella Angel Eye sealed units? Can you provide a link to a video or forum post that explains how to pull the lenses off the sealed Hella units. Thanks in advance.

[@wjohnsonism]

Unreal! And think how much sandpaper is saved.

[@sambryant9168]

Nice work! Question: can you get to the headlight sprayers when the headlights are removed? One of mine is cracked….

[@ilqariqlar3148]

Good job pal . thanks. i will try too ))

[@mrlong6267]

Make sure you properly adjust your headlights for optimum performance on your beams

[@johnbecich9540]

Use the right canister, for respirator: "Organic vapor." "Dust" filters are more commonplace.

[@computiNATEor]

Looks great! I don't think you need to used distilled water for wet sanding ;) Just a heads up; you definitely need a respirator. 2K clear coat is just that; automotive paint-grade clear coat, and you really don't want to be breathing that stuff. Also, cover the area you're spraying the 2K clear with old newspapers or something. Your trash cans likely have a nice layer of clear on them, haha.

[@ShiftedPerspective]

Thanks! And the trash cans aren't mine 😂😂

[@Jukitsuu]

I think you can separate the lens from the light body.. because i see same clamps as i have in my '99 e39 and i just replaced those foggy lenses.

[@mikes8491]

Hey great video! Very informative and helpful. I know it’s been 4 years and you sold that car but how did this refinish end up holding up? Thanks for making these videos, I reference them all the time!

[@ShiftedPerspective]

it held up extremely well. No issues at all

[@dezzymeriei]

So satisfied 🤤

[@nolanwebb4229]

Literally did everything exactly how you did and the first coat of clear i put on was white and runny

[@ShiftedPerspective]

Be careful not to spray the first coat too thick and dont be too close to the light.

[@nolanwebb4229]

Shifted Perspective might have freaked out too soon... its drying..... fingers crossed

[@van10nistelrooy]

Why did you only use 600 grit? I'm about to do mine and they are so hazy you cant even see thru em

[@shaksahim]

I tried this and turned out good for the most part, but now i have orange peel the healights. Was there anything in paticular that would have caused this? And is there an easu way to correct it withou haveling to wet sand and spray all over again

[@sergeypankratov2981]

shakil sahim if you have orange peel, you most likely didnt put enough of a layer when spraying. I did 3 fatty layers on my lights and they legit look like glass/plastic. Absolutely no hint of orange peel

[@Josh-pm1mh]

Same experience here. I followed this method and have severe orange peel.

[@Michael-pz6oj]

so its like self polishing?

[@wherecar54]

Great vid. Also, great value as opposed to buying new ones for what 600 bucks. What’s that cost about 30 bucks?

[@ShiftedPerspective]

yup!

[@Salty_Legionnaire]

You can easily take off the trim that you taped 2 times.

[@TheAceY2k]

How can you take the trim off?? Plan on doing this....

[@Vicman245]

Steven 2gen just take off the tabs on the underside

[@lazarosalazar3366]

How have they held up?

[@johnkaing98]

Why are the 2003 models unable to change the lenses? Can't you bake them in the oven and replace the lens?

[@CityOfEvil95]

John Kaing they are stuck together with permanent glue not the type that gets melted on the previous headlights. I believe they have to be made before 2002 to be able to bake them open.

[@johnkaing98]

@@CityOfEvil95 Interesting. I wasn't aware that they changed the glue of the headlights after 2002. I'm going to try this on my '01 M5.

[@thegenius46m]

Looks great but why so much orange peel? I would think thinner coats would prevent that

[@ShiftedPerspective]

There is little to no orange peel once it dries

[@mousaabdulateef9205]

جميل ...عمل رائع

[@BOLA333]

Hello. You definetly did great job but can you send me or show me somehow how they look at night with angels on. Thanks

[@ShiftedPerspective]

Send me a DM on instagram and I will try to capture it

[@BOLA333]

@@ShiftedPerspective what is your insta

[@travis4161]

Would you use this with the headlights still on the car?

[@ShiftedPerspective]

yes, you would just have to mask off areas from overspray

[@bobsmithinson2050]

Or you can just skip the clear coat...after all, it is the clear coat that fades. Ever notice on older cars from the 80’s/90’s, the separate corner lamp remains perfectly clear after years and years? Yeah, that’s cause they don’t clear coat them. The clear coat is what manufacturers apply, so that the light will fade. No clear coat, no fade. I too have an e39, and I polished my lights back in 2013. They are still perfectly clear. All you need to do is wax them once a month. On a side note. Good video. Well shot and narrated 👍

[@raomar0]

Why not do both clear and a sealer / wax to protect and prevent the oxidation.

[@paganiluv9552]

So no need to polish?

[@danlyons9919]

How are they holding up almost a year later?

[@ShiftedPerspective]

Still perfect!

[@The_Coyote_130]

Great job, it looked like it had a little bit of an orange peel finish. Was that camera light??

[@ShiftedPerspective]

There’s little to no orange peel. I suppose you could lightly wet sand to smooth it over but it’s pretty much unnoticeable.

[@74vette.]

Those rock chips look terrible but the headlights came out perfect

[@ShiftedPerspective]

I'll be dealing with the rock chips soon.

[@matthewveraguas2529]

Interested in seeing what you do about them. Mines even worse, I figured respray..

[@OneOffChannel]

Straight pipe.

[@mcarnet]

Why can't the Lenses be replaced on the '03?

[@beamish1066]

Marc Carnet the adhesive that holds the lenses on went from a bitumen based one to pu based around 03

[@jedfehrenbach9470]

does 800 grit also work?

[@ShiftedPerspective]

I would stick to 600 so the clear adheres properly

[@thomasbacker8162]

39:30?🤩

[@TheAceY2k]

How long will this last??

[@ShiftedPerspective]

Should last a long time! Maybe a decade if the car is treated well

[@thehitmanisup]

Lenses can be swap on these. Just takes time and patience.

[@ItsJoshN]

get some spacers and extended lugs

[@raitshots]

Grinding hand headlight not easy work. Grinding flex machine water sand paper 1000 - 1500 - 2000-3000 . Final small Effortless paste for plastic. Lack not long. Again problem headlight defect.

[@bsfunk44]

Wet sand, polish, ceramic coat.

[@ShiftedPerspective]

nope.

[@GDavis49]

You should have the shiniest trash cans around.

[@ShiftedPerspective]

They aren’t mine 😂

[@GDavis49]

I hope at least you flipped them around for even coverage.

[@matthewveraguas2529]

So just 600 and no other steps??

[@ShiftedPerspective]

Correct! I was surprised by this initially, but they key is to keep them “rough” before spraying the clear.

[@bogdananghel9480]

clearcoat is the worst way to refinish headlights (it's the easy way) you can clearly see the orange peel not making them "brand new" and the worst thing is that you can scratch that clearcoat even with your fingers, that paint is NOT even close to resist against scratches. and yes i have done multiple headlights restoration myself. the best way to do it is sanding/polishing/ceramic coating.

[@kesando84]

Bogdan Anghel what if you apply the ceramic coating or sealant after this process? What about paint protection film?

[@vitalymaksimovich9967]

Yes this is what I recommend using special clear headlight film after wet sand / polishing. I will be doing this on my m5 soon.

[@SWAGURA]

Use 2k clearcoat, regular 1k clearcoat is bad for headlights.

[@cowboy10731]

Second

[@willswheelsdetailingandval7671]

First

[@captainfallsalotatppic2508]

Why go through all that bullshit? The easiest way to go and for the very best results, go purchase a pair of headlight replacement lenses!

[@sergeypankratov2981]

Hmmmmmm spend $110+ on new lenses and then spend about 45 mins per headlight replacing aftermarket lenses, or spend $25 and 25 mins per light and refinish an oem lens. I did the latter and am very happy with the results.

[@ShiftedPerspective]

Captain Falls a Lot ATP, PIC you can’t replace the lenses on 2003 cars

[@TakesTalent]

Looks the same