Well, I ordered a pair of headlight lens's for my car from aliexpress for about $250 shipped since my old ones were quite yellowed from the Florida sun, and had heat cracks in them, so sanding and clear coating just wouldn't have looked perfect. I was rushing to get done before the rain hit, so did not take pics every step of the way as I should have, but I have a few to share. I did this this past weekend so this is all from memory.

I can confirm the front bumper must be removed to pull the headlights. It is not very hard to pull it however. There are 3 bolts holding the headlights in. 2 on the interior towards the grill, and one towards the outside by the fender. Once these 3 are out, and the 2 wiring harness connectors disconnected, and the hose for the headlight washer (just squeeze the 2 knurled parts of the round connector and it easily pulls apart), you must pull the headlights forward towards the front to unseat a push in pin type connector at the top edge to the fender. Once the bolts are out of the car, it will take quite a bit of force, and you will hear and feel an audible "pop" when it pops free. I recommend buying 2 new sockets for this connector from Lexus as it likely will break when the headlight is pulled out. It is fairly cheap. Part number is 81119-50280. Remember you need 2 of them.

Once the headlights are out, there are a TON of screws on the back edge of the headlight that need removed, and you will want to remove the headlight washer assembly first. . A couple of the brackets need removed as well since they hide screws. You can look at the new lens and see the screw holes on the perimeter to verify where they are. The ones more inbound on the lens hold the reflector in place, and will not be accessible until the lens is separated from the housing.

Once all of the screws are removed, if your oven is large enough, put some baking paper on a large cookie sheet and put the headlight on it and put it in a preheated oven at 200deg for 10-15min to loosen the glue/sealant that holds them together. Once you remove it from the oven you will need to be wearing gloves and start pulling the lens off as straight as possible to prevent breaking the housing. My oven was too small and they would not fit, so I had to go the heat gun route, working around the edge, and using a razor knife to cut the sealant as best I could to loosen its grip. Eventually i got enough cut where I could start slowly separating the lens from the housing. It took me ~2hrs per headlight to remove the lens from the housing using the heat gun method. Huge PITA!!!

Once the lens is off, you will need to prep the housing. I used the heat gun to soften the sealant in the grove the lens fits in a few inches at a time and then used a flat head screwdriver to run through it to scrap the goo out. I used a wet red shop rag to wipe the sealant on since paper towels were sticking to the screw driver and causing a huge mess. The red rag got tossed in the garbage once done, so do not use a rag you intend to keep. Be sure to clean the groove around the headlight washer port as well!

Once all of the goo was cleaned off the housing, I then removed the screws holding the reflectors to the old lens. There are 3 pieces. A small chrome piece by the headlight washer port, then a clear piece that covers the same area to the edges, and then the large chrome piece that houses the amber reflector and goes around the entire edge. I removed the 2 smaller pieces, then I CAREFULLY removed the large one. It will seem like it will not be possible to get it out, but it will come out. You must be very careful so that you do not break t he reflector. it cannot be purchased separately!!!

Once the reflector is out of the old lens, install it into the new lens in the reverse order.

To assemble the headlight with the new lens, I used a tube of Ultra Black silicone. I put a smallish bead down in the groove all the way around, and in the groove around the headlight washer port. I recommend 2 tubes as I barely had enough in 1 tube to do this, so the 2nd one was a huge pain trying to squeeze it all out as every last drop was needed to finish the 2nd headlight. Once it is in the groove, I placed the lens carefully on and pressed it in place. You will hear and feel the tabs on the bottom snap/lock into place. I then immediately began putting the screws back in along the perimeter to pull it in tight. Again, it is a LOT of screws! I probably did not use as much sealant as I removed, but I did not want it to squish out and look horrible on the lens on the inside. I know i have enough so that it is sealed, and being it is also screwed on, I am not worried about it not being secure.

The last thing i did before reinstalling them was install new Headlight washers and covers. One of my old covers got stolen or flew off, and I read that once the plastic gets old, the new covers wont stay, so I bought a new pair. They were $30ish shipped for the pair on ebay. The chrome covers do NOT fit these new lens's properly. They will not sit flush. I used a small pair of flush cutting dikes and trimmed the little tabs on the back of them that were interfering so that they sit flush when the washer retracts. Only took a couple min to do this, but I want to be sure anyone doing this is aware it will need done.

Once they were back together, I reinstalled them into the car and man, they make all the difference. A newer neighbor stopped to ask me a question and when he saw me reinstalling them, he asked what I was doing and said "Why do you need new lenses on a brand new car?' He was amazed when I informed him it is a 2007. I am sure the 20in BBS wheels help. lol

The lens's I bought are fully clear, and did not have the edges painted like the stock ones.


Old lens on the driver side.


Housing with the lens removed



Reflector



Reassembled



Installed





Now its only the rock chips hurting the looks as its my daily. Hopefully this helps others out. It was a huge PITA, and not recommended for the beginner, but well worth it when completed.

 

So, how much were the lights?

 

I edited my post. They are on ebay for ~$500, but I found them on aliexpress for about $250 shipped for the pair with VAT. Took several weeks to arrive though, but I was fine with that and expected that when I ordered. So with the lens's, sealant, and headlight washers I replaced, It cost me about $300, and a full day, though part of that time was the next day due to rain. If you have to use a heat gun like I did, I would pan on it being a 6-8hr job easily. If i had an oven to heat the headlights in to ease the lens removal, it would have been MUCH faster, but it is still very tedious work.

 

Good and brave job - solid contribution!

 

Well my covers should be here next week and I was going to make a tutorial... but =). Those look great I hope mine turn out just as good.

http://www.headlight-headlamp.com/Le...placement.html