crdiscoverer
Newly Enlightened
The BMW E36 also had plastic lenses in the US and glass for EU.
I definitely consider glass better, but there comes a point where glass is unsalvageable, especially if you do a lot of highway driving and the pitting damages it significantly. There's simply no amount of polishing that can restore them.
Whereas plastic, you can sand it down and polish it back to new. It is more flexible when taking rock chips.
My E39 has plastic headlight lenses and glass fog lights. I can get the headlights to look brand new again with a polish (and I have done so) but the fog lights can't be restored, at least not with common household tools at my disposal.
I definitely consider glass better, but there comes a point where glass is unsalvageable, especially if you do a lot of highway driving and the pitting damages it significantly. There's simply no amount of polishing that can restore them.
Whereas plastic, you can sand it down and polish it back to new. It is more flexible when taking rock chips.
My E39 has plastic headlight lenses and glass fog lights. I can get the headlights to look brand new again with a polish (and I have done so) but the fog lights can't be restored, at least not with common household tools at my disposal.