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Subject: Your yellowed taillights can look new again for $8 and some elbow grease. Author: DavidC (moderator) : member since December, 2003 : 12901 posts Posted on: 2009-07-09 21:17:44

The upper inside areas of the "crystal clear 2001" taillights in my '97 740iL were starting to yellow, making the car look old before it's time. I installed these taillights about five years ago. So, after 10 minutes with a random orbit polisher and a bottle of PlastX, this e38 is looking younger again...


Tools of the trade. A random orbit polisher (in this case, a 6" one from Griot's Garage, but they have another 3" polisher that would be better suited for the tight curves of the taillights ), a foam buffing pad and a bottle of Mequiar's PlastX Clear Plastic Cleaner and Polish ($7.80 on Amazon).

If you don't have a polisher, just use a good cotton cloth and rub in a circular motion. It will take about 10-15 minutes of hand rubbing to do what the machine does in less than five minutes, but it's certainly do-able.


The left side has been polished. The right side has not been polished. A close look at the right side reveals that the "crystal clear" area of the upper part of the taillight is severely yellowed. Yes, green really is my favorite color


The right side before polishing. The yellowing of the plastic was more evident in person than in this photo.


Another view of the left after polishing but with the right side not yet polished.


A closeup of the left side after polishing.


Here's a better view of the yellowed right side before polishing.


And, the right side after after polishing.


The full effect, with both taillights polished. It looks even better in person.

David Cecil
Lexington, KY
Titanium silver '01 750iL, 92k miles
Oxford green '97 740iL, 184k miles
Alpine white '92 750iL, 95k miles (for sale)
Charcoal gray '86 735i, 101k miles (for sale)

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E38 mods: Factory nav retrofit, widescreen display, XM satellite receiver in place of CD changer, custom Valentine1 stealth interface to instrument cluster, BimmerNav bluetooth, factory xenon headlights retrofit, heated seats x4 retrofit, StrongStrut tower brace, crystal clear taillights and corners, M aluminum pedals, stainless steel brake lines, billet aluminum throttle bushings, staggered 18'' M-parallel wheels with Kumho Ecsta LX rubber, quad brake lights conversion

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