[Surly73]

My 2007 E90 has about 60k on it and was used by the PO as a daily driver including an Interstate-class commute, year round in the Toronto area. It's taken a bit of sandblasting in the front and the headlights were unprotected during this time (I don't understand why more people don't spend the <$100 on top notch protective film, but anyways...)

Plastic "polishes" will temporarily improve the appearance with glazes, but I'm looking for something more permanent. I have a PC ROB and yellow, white, grey pads available - probably adding orange and green to the collection too. I have a number of compounds with some new ones on the way. I also have jeweler's rouge and a wide selection of wet/dry sandpapers up to 2000 or 2500 grit.

They are pitted and blasted, but there's no fogging, yellowing or UV damage. I know that wet sanding would probably fix these up perfectly but I'm worried about removing UV protection as well. I plan on putting 3M film on these lights after I "fix" them and I don't want to wetsand off some protection and then have to peel the film and be forced to polish every 3 months because they start to fog or turn yellow. I'm not sure if that's a wive's tale, but I've seen some older Bimmers in my area (like e36s) which look amazingly cared for but have foggy headlights all the time - DIY gone wrong?

What's the recommendation here? Do I need to worry about fogging/yellowing if I wetsand? After I wetsand, what should I finish with? I don't believe the 3M film has any UV protection so that covered and un-covered paint ages equally, is there a "version" which has UV inhibitors available?

I've attached a couple of phone pics showing their condition.

Thanks,