[rcweingart]

Funny you should ask . . . one of the considerations of the original headlight cover design with the rubber trim was to seal out dirt and such and the factory went even beyond that in their Coupe instructions. Most, if not all the other customers had their cars assembled for them and were not given the instructions but they also called for a silicon bead to be applied betwen the cover and the body to assist the rubber trim in sealing out the dirt and such. The problem was that no matter what you did, rubber trim with or without the silicon, water, dust and dirt always got in and you still had to clean out the bucket. If your car has or had the added silicon sealing, it was that much harder to remover the cover to access and clean the bucket so early on the assemblers stopped applying the silicon - assuming they ever bothered to apply it in the first place. So - the ultimate answer to your question is irrespective of a car with or without the rubber seal, with or without the added silicon sealing under the rubber trim, or the new rubberless covers, yes, they have to be periodically removed to clean any dust or dirt and/or water spots that might get inside the headlight buckets. Obviously the better the headlight cover fit, the less frequently you have to do and so the less dusty or rainy your driving conditions and the less you wash your car or at least allow running water to get down inside the buckets, the less often you have to remove the covers and clean inside.