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      07-14-2017, 04:11 PM   #1
Nezil
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Paint Protection

After researching a few weeks back I now have a W37 allocation, with what seems to be the popular LBB, Executive Package, 6MT, Apple Car Play configuration.

I've now got the agonising wait until mid-November when it arrives, but that does give me time to think about some of the options that I might want, and also to think about paint protection.

I've always done my own paint maintenance before, and in the past used Adam's Polishes products, but more recently used CQuartz to coat my Jaguar and my wife's Honda Pilot.

I have a Porter Cable DA Polisher, and a Flex 3401 Forced Orbital Polisher, and I somewhat enjoy making sure my paintwork is flawless before applying coatings and keeping it that way.

With that being said, for the M2, I'm considering PPF. I don't like the thought of lines across the hood, so I'm thinking front bumper and full hood coating, along with maybe the front fenders?!? I've applied PPF to the trunk load area of my wife's Pilot, but I wouldn't want to do a large panel like a full hood myself, and will therefore want to get it done professionally.

There are two things that sort of throw a spanner in the works for me though... I'm based in Northern California, but will be picking my car up in Southern California. I could potentially have the PPF done down there before driving up, but if I have any issues, it will be tough to resolve from afar. If I wait until I get up near home, then I'll risk stone chips on the way up here!

I do also question if all of this is worthwhile. If the cost of PPF is in the thousands of dollars, couldn't you have the front end re-painted for the same costs anyway?

Does PPF reduce the shine potential of the paintwork?

Can you / Do you still apply coatings and / or wax over the PPF?
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      07-14-2017, 04:19 PM   #2
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Like you, I never really considered PPF because I wanted to be able to detail / polish the paintwork.

I have changed my mind of late though, the new PPFs are quite good. If I get a new car I am considering getting the entire thing covered with Suntek or XPEL. Most new PPFs add some orange peel but the clarity seems to be good. The Suntek seems to look a little better and have less orange peel, but isn't quite as thick as the XPEL if I recall correctly.

You can coat the PPF itself to make it easy to wash.
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      07-14-2017, 04:45 PM   #3
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I had my front bumper, rock panels, and headlights covered with xpel in socal as they are the high impact areas that have appeared sandblasted after a few years of driving. I can handle a few rock chips on the hood and fenders here and there.

It doesn't reduce the shine of the paint and I had Opti-coat applied over top the xpel. It is critical to go with a solid installer so that you can barely see the PPF unless you are within a few feet and know to look for it.

You could always repaint the front end of the car and rocker panels and get new headlights but I promise that will be more expensive than PPF.
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      07-14-2017, 04:53 PM   #4
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@DetailersDomain - have you seen the work of anyone from SoCal that you can recommend? LA/OC/SD? Wish you were here.
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      07-14-2017, 05:04 PM   #5
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Well, there's always the question of your car's value when repainting. Every time I've tried to sell a car, even with a clean history, the appraisers have used a paint measurement tool to check for any repairs. Repainting your bumper would likely trigger one of these.

As far as shine - you can see a very, very slight difference in the way light reflects off PPF panels, but you really have to look closely and from particular angles. The films are really great these days.

I'd suggest getting some kind of coating along with your PPF. Coatings are supposed to eliminate the need to wax. My installer used Modesta BC04 and also coated the PPF with it. My car's 2 months old and lives underground, so it's hard to gauge how well all this stuff works together. So far, though, it's been great.
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      07-14-2017, 06:35 PM   #6
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Worth every penny
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      07-14-2017, 08:09 PM   #7
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Xzylon.
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      07-15-2017, 12:44 AM   #8
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I'd use a norcal shop - last thing you want is issues 400 miles away. If you're worried about chips on the way home, throw some track wrap on the frontal areas for the trip, or maybe ask the dealer to leave the shipping wrap on the hood, etc.
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      07-15-2017, 08:29 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crqflier View Post
I'd use a norcal shop - last thing you want is issues 400 miles away. If you're worried about chips on the way home, throw some track wrap on the frontal areas for the trip, or maybe ask the dealer to leave the shipping wrap on the hood, etc.
That's a good idea... I've not heard of 'Track Wrap' before, but it seems ideal. I assume you're talking about the XPEL temporary wrap, which is actually called Tracwrap.

Have you, or anyone installed that before? It looks like it wouldn't be too hard to do, but the front bumper of the M2 isn't exactly flat, so it might take some time to get the curves dealt with.
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      07-15-2017, 08:47 AM   #10
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'TrakkTape' also looks good. It comes in three sizes and is available from Amazon.

Has anyone on here done this before for driving home, and might be able to suggest how much I might need?

My journey is about 350 miles, and it will be California, in November. Probably no rain, but you never know.
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      07-15-2017, 10:45 AM   #11
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That's the stuff. I've used it on the track. it works very well. You don't need to be OCD on application. only advice is keep edges out of "facing" the wind. It will, over time and speed, start to peel up. The peel is no big deal except the exposed sticky side collects sand, etc. I use blue masking tap on some edges.
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      07-15-2017, 11:07 AM   #12
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there are a few great installers in ca, if you like please pm me.
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      07-16-2017, 09:50 AM   #13
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I had my hood, front fender, bumper, a pillar ,1/4 roof and rockers done om my M2. I paid extra to have edged rolled and it was worth it. The hood there are no lines, only a small skive at the 4 corners. The fenders are 100% rolled. Rockers are tucked under the door sill and rolled on bottom. Front fender does have edged in some areas way back in vents where u can't see them. My guy is in Michigan but is known to be one of the best around.

Anywhere there was not xpel I did cquartz. I topped xpel with reload. You really can't tell difference in wrapped areas.
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      07-16-2017, 06:02 PM   #14
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Currently going thru this dilemma myself. Mine had less than 20 miles on it before I did my standard clean up on it after studying the paint under lights in the garage

1. Wash
2. Clay Bar
3. 3600 polish to get out any slight imperfections
4. 3800 jewelers polish for depth
5. Glaze
6. 2 coats of Jetseal
7. Top coat of carnauba

Very happy with the results and I like the ability to go and rework the surface any time I like. Something about spending a day going panel by panel on the car is almost a bonding experience for me. No doubt there are some amazing professional detailers out there who do incredible work but, much like most projects, I feel when you do them yourself its a more rewarding experience and you make sure to get the job done right.

Thought about doing Xpel as I have seen some great results but was put off by the cost. Talking to a few installers and it was running around $750 for the bumper, mirrors, and rear guards up to $5K to cover the whole car. Also have been looking into ceramic coating as a self application and might give that a try in the future when I learn more about it.

As much as I strive to keep all my cars as "perfect" as possible I guess old age has made me more realistic to the fact that, when driven, small chips especially on the front facia are inevitable. To that point, just today I found my first small chip on the lower front clip but shrugged it off as a hazard of enjoying driving. Still am considering having one of the professionals replace the rear guards as the Xpel is much less noticeable than the factory supplied ones and the cost would be around $125.

To each their own but in the end I buy my cars to drive them, not put them on display
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      07-16-2017, 07:47 PM   #15
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3 installers that do great work in CA

Extreme AutowerksŪ
16319 Piuma Ave
Cerritos, CA. 90703
(562) 551-8070
info@ExtremeAutowerks.net
Business Hours:
Mon-Sat 9am - 6pm
Bing Lee

Adonis Detail
Address: 2332 La Mirada Drive, Suite 400, Vista CA 92081
Phone: 760-815-5933
Tim Adonis

Premier
sales@premiermobilegroup.com
Tel:510-623-1308
LOCATION: 42630 Christy Street, Fremont, CA 94538
Hours of Operation HOURS OF OPERATION : Monday - Friday; 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. / Saturday; 10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
(All installations By Appointments Only)
David or Wilson
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      07-16-2017, 11:09 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Transcon View Post
Currently going thru this dilemma myself. Mine had less than 20 miles on it before I did my standard clean up on it after studying the paint under lights in the garage

1. Wash
2. Clay Bar
3. 3600 polish to get out any slight imperfections
4. 3800 jewelers polish for depth
5. Glaze
6. 2 coats of Jetseal
7. Top coat of carnauba

Very happy with the results and I like the ability to go and rework the surface any time I like. Something about spending a day going panel by panel on the car is almost a bonding experience for me. No doubt there are some amazing professional detailers out there who do incredible work but, much like most projects, I feel when you do them yourself its a more rewarding experience and you make sure to get the job done right.

Thought about doing Xpel as I have seen some great results but was put off by the cost. Talking to a few installers and it was running around $750 for the bumper, mirrors, and rear guards up to $5K to cover the whole car. Also have been looking into ceramic coating as a self application and might give that a try in the future when I learn more about it.
I'm somewhat torn about the whole thing to be honest. I get some amount of enjoyment out of paint correction, but I also find myself frustrated with not having enough time to keep my cars as clean as I'd like them. I have two young kids, and looking after them really eats up my free time!

Last year I tried CQuartz coating, and after working out the correct application technique, I found it to be quite easy to use, and offer a really really good shine. I also think it made the paint slightly less susceptible to swirl marks, but certainly not immune. My car is garaged at home, but out in the sun during the working week days, and I would say that the coating isn't nearly as slick as when it was first installed. Adding Reload helps, but that works pretty well on its own, so I'm not sure if the coating is still doing its thing or not.

A PPF does seem expensive. I think for people who spend money to have their cars professionally detailed, the price is not off-putting, but for me, who normally does the work myself, it does seem like a lot.
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      07-16-2017, 11:10 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DetailersDomain View Post
Premier
sales@premiermobilegroup.com
Tel:510-623-1308
LOCATION: 42630 Christy Street, Fremont, CA 94538
Hours of Operation HOURS OF OPERATION : Monday - Friday; 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. / Saturday; 10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
(All installations By Appointments Only)
David or Wilson
I'm in NorCal, so Premier is the only applicable company. I'll put in a call to them tomorrow and arrange to go and visit. I'd like to talk through the options, after-care, and how to protect the car for the drive up from SoCal as well.

Thanks for the recommendation!
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      07-17-2017, 12:56 AM   #18
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The other two to look at are Elite Auto Films in San Jose and Omegawerks in Pleasanton; only thing is to make sure it is applied in reasonable weather conditions (most of the ceramic coating are supposed to be applied in 60-85 degree temp range).
I had the ceramic pro installed at Omegawerks along with a front bumper PPF...of course a few weeks later I got a rock chip on the front of my hood where I decided NOT to put on a PPF/suntek layer....
The gold ceramic pro has a lifetime warranty, with annual check ups...guess I will find out just what involves.
So far it is clear that keeping my black car clean will be a whole lot easier!!!!
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      07-17-2017, 10:30 AM   #19
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My Suntek film has already paid for itself. I did the front bumper, hood, rockers, roof and front panels. After some spirited backroads driving I had a rock put a 50 cent sized dent in my left front forward panel. The impact tore the film but the paint was untouched. They just popped out the dent and I had the panel re-filmed. Highly recommended.
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      07-17-2017, 10:33 AM   #20
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Xpel, yes you can still wax over it no it doesn't look dull. I have it on my LBB, 6MT, Exec, Apple Car Play so pretty much the exact car you ordered. You can't even really tell the whole front end is covered unless you look very closely.
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      07-17-2017, 03:09 PM   #21
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I'm also in norcal and am currently getting suntek ultra on the high risk areas and coated with cquartz finest reserve at DetailManiac in Sacramento. Owner is a really nice guy with great customer service...cant wait for it to be done and see the final product!
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      07-17-2017, 09:46 PM   #22
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So what are the pros/cons of Suntek vs. Xpel?
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