Interior/Exterior Interior and exterior modifications for Cooper (R50), Cabrio (R52), and Cooper S (R53) MINIs.

Interior/Exterior Cloudy taillight fix? no aftermarket for me

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Old Aug 13, 2007 | 09:55 AM
  #1  
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Cloudy taillight fix? no aftermarket for me

It seems my cars tailights have cloudy lenses, I've polished the outside but it seems to be cloudy inside or in the clear plastic itself. Has anyone had any luck fixing them, or taking them apart and polishing the inside? I've read this thread. They're about $75 each, new.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ight=tailights
 
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Old Aug 13, 2007 | 10:22 AM
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tint them and you wont know the difference....
I have light and dark smoke....
 
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Old Aug 14, 2007 | 09:59 AM
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clear, please no smokey tint

Thanks for the tip but I would like them clear and bright and not clouded . I might have to buy new ones.


Originally Posted by COR BLMY
tint them and you wont know the difference....
I have light and dark smoke....
 
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Old Aug 14, 2007 | 10:28 AM
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I know other people have opened them... Usually a Dremel and some patience is required, but you should be able to do it. You can reseal them with fish-tank sealent ($5 at Lowes for a huge tube) and you shouldn't even be able to tell they were ever opened. It's weird that they're cloudy though - they should not be doing that. Do you have moisture leaking into the boot or are the lenses stressed/cracked or something?
 
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Old Aug 14, 2007 | 10:29 AM
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FWIW, they come up on ebay fairly regularly - you can pick up a set for far less than new. And then sell your old ones to somebody who wants to tint them.
 
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Old Aug 14, 2007 | 10:59 AM
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I didn't think our tails were too bad until this weekend when I compared them to the 2003 Red Mini ,at the show ,that had half the miles as ours. Their's were more clear. The big question is,Is it the inside surface that could be cleaned and polished or is it the plastic itself, which would be impossible to fix?
 
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Old Aug 14, 2007 | 11:56 AM
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Originally Posted by JPMM
I didn't think our tails were too bad until this weekend when I compared them to the 2003 Red Mini ,at the show ,that had half the miles as ours. Their's were more clear. The big question is,Is it the inside surface that could be cleaned and polished or is it the plastic itself, which would be impossible to fix?
well you could open us the housing of the lens its simple....just do it on a warm day and stick try to pry it open gently thats what i did on my joey modded headlights and then just polish the inside if you want or if the lens itself is cracked you could try to repair it but you will likely notice whatever sort of sealent you use on the lens so i would just buy new ...but it if the outside is just cloudy all you have to do is wet sand with about a 400 grit until you smooth out the light and then with a power buffer of some sort get the light polishing compound and buff away eventaully they will be crystal clear....if you dont have the compound and or a power drill or buffer you mayyyyy want to just buy new or slightly used tails.
 
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Old Aug 14, 2007 | 11:58 AM
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You might want to try getting a rag and using a little gasoline....works on chevys...

Jack
 
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Old Aug 14, 2007 | 03:26 PM
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I've seen this product mentioned on another forum: http://www.mdwholesale.com/
No personal experience. It is advertised for headlights but maybe it could help for tail lights as well.
 
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Old Aug 14, 2007 | 10:11 PM
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I've polished the outside but it seems to be inside

I've polished the outside but it seems to be on the inside or in the plastic.





Originally Posted by rkw
I've seen this product mentioned on another forum: http://www.mdwholesale.com/
No personal experience. It is advertised for headlights but maybe it could help for tail lights as well.
 
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Old Oct 18, 2007 | 07:29 AM
  #11  
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Bougth some tails OEM from nammers ,thanks

Switched out the cloudy tails for the ones i bought here, thanks Nammers What a diff The photos don't show the difference as well in person.
 

Last edited by JPMM; May 20, 2012 at 03:12 PM.
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Old Oct 18, 2007 | 07:32 AM
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I've got a bad one too, but am concerned that an ebay purchase might just end up being another foggy light.

I'll probably just get a new one.
 
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Old Oct 18, 2007 | 05:53 PM
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Originally Posted by JPMM
Switched out the cloudy tails for the ones i bought here, thanks Nammers What a diff The photos don't show the difference as well in person.
I have the same thing going on with mine ('03, built at the end of '02). According to some of the paperwork that came with my car (bought it used), one of the tail lights had already been replaced under warranty because of this fogging issue. I'm going to be replacing mine some time soon as well.

-Chase
 
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