I've had a set refurbished headlights (from one of the Facebook groups) for a year, at first they were ok, but now they're... not. The light output has gone really dim.

The cover is still clear, or appears to be. I had no ancillary devices running last night apart from the lights and could barely see the Audi Infront disappearing into the distance

Apart from hid or led, is there anything I can do? Such as renewing the wiring? Or is it a case of get some supposedly brighter bulbs or go hid?

You need to go HID or LED. I used HIDs for years with mixed results, regardless of how much I spent on them. I eventually binned the set I had and went with LEDs on both main and dipped beam as the HID ballasts would always rust... For the few times I have used the car at night, they were amazing. Almost as good as the lights on the Volvo S90 (which are the best I've ever used).

I also had a the lights refurbished prior to fitting the LEDs through a service on one of the FB groups and, although the service and initial result was amazing, one has already started to fade. So much so that a chap at PowerItalia asked why I didn't get them both done together...

Thanks Trappy, that's what I thought.

On my last car I did have the LEDs from the group buy of a few years back but thought they werent up to much either. Technology moves on and perhaps there's something better now. The Phillips ones for £135 ish look good apart from the price. Very expensive, but if it means I can see, is it really that bad?

I'll be disappointed if the covers have started to haze, will have a better look over the weekend. Might have to get the polisher out and then find a way of sealing the transparency in.

Have you tried Meguiars? TBH I haven't needed to do it on the coop but it worked really well on the Rover lens (Yes I had a Rover, que tittering)
Doesn't fix the original problem that the lights are crap ( though work well in fog at about 25mph). There was a lengthy thread quite recently about aftermarket lights and the new MOT regs, don't know how it's being enforced.

Coupe headlights aren't at all rubbish if the lenses are clear and if the right bulb is used. LEDs have mixed results with beam pattern..if you get the right one then fine..But i still find HIDs better in this case as they generate less heat than LEDs. Get 55w HIDs and they have plenty of brightness.

As for the haziness on the covers, the only permanent way to seal them in is to clearcoat them. Clear coating would also prevent the polycarbonate from scratching too easily.

I had a check last night, the lenses are clear enough but the bulbs were the most basic cheap ones. I'll try a fancier set then look at hid/led if they're no good.

Got some headlight clear coat too so maybe a small job is on the cards

I've got some spare bulbs Mark if you need to test.

I changed to Osram night Breakers

Made a huge different

Changed to 55w HID using a neat kit from HID r us and really happy with the light output. No MOT issues either so recommended

Thanks all, some nice info to ponder on.

Toby, I think I'll be ok for testing, ordered the supposed 'best' for halogen ones, it's difficult to find objective testing on things like this on the internet without the page being a setup for someone to earn Amazon click money. Went with bulbs made by 20twenty, they came out on top of an Autoexpress test, will put some pics up of difference.

If they're rubbish too, Ive got a cheap set of hids to try but may look at spending a touch more on a better set.

LEDs as a last resort, didn't realise they got hotter than hid, thought it was the other way around.

Yes, and the LED boards need to be ventilated. Depending on the design, they usually come with some sort of fan or heatsink on it to dissipate the heat. This means that you will either need to cut a hole on the rubber cap of the housing...or not fit it all together.