Plasti-dip / dipping a Model X

[VerityZooms]

So, has anybody already Plasti-Dipped their X?

I'm excited, but I have some concerns:

• How do aftermarket paints / wraps / dips affect the X's complicated sensor-suite? Has anybody on here had any sort of aftermarket modifications to the surfacing, and if so, have you had any experience with the sensors screwing up / demonstrating reduced range or effectiveness?
• Have y'all any past experience with dipping vehicles? I see a lot of conflicting information out there about the longevity / appearance thereof. (The only consistent point of agreement seems to be that it's Extremely Effective at protecting the factory paint-job: if it does peel / pit / even just take prints and show dirt real bad, I can just peel the damn stuff off in a year or two, and have a brand-spanking-new looking car. That's pretty much what sold me on the process.)
• I'm talking to my dipper, tentatively, about adding gofast-striping to the final product, by masking out part of the pink layer against the underlaying matte-white ‘primer’-layer (pink car, white gofasts.) This seems like a long-shot, but has anybody experience with masked-out Plasti-Dip? Specifically, I'm concerned that it will peel easily along the edges of the masking.

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I'm planning to have these guys, Chicago Dipped, dip my X immediately after I take delivery … assuming I have a chance to test some of the sensors, and ensure it doesn't affect their sensitivity. (or that somebody has already done so for me? Hint, hint, other dippers? ) I'm planning on a matte-pink (yeah. fo'real.) finish; a bit like this previous work by the same guys (this one of the founders' personal car, actually), but probably a bit lighter / ‘bubblegum-ier’ in hue:

 

[goneskiian]

Wow. Well that's not something you see everyday!

Nope. No reports of anyone dipping their X yet but lots of full film wraps and nanocoatings. There are quite a few threads on this already both in the X and S forums. Search is your friend. No issues with sensors.

 

[ohmman]

probably a bit lighter / ‘bubblegum-ier’

I understand.. I also like to blend in and not raise eyebrows.

Seriously, though, it'll be interesting to hear how the sensors hold up through all of this. There are some early proximity sensor oversensitivity complaints (my car is one of them). The tiniest bit of dirt starts throwing alerts like mad. You could theoretically expose them with the original color, but I'm guessing that'd ruin the look you're trying to achieve.

 

[VerityZooms]

Wow. Well that's not something you see everyday!

Nope. No reports of anyone dipping their X yet but lots of full film wraps and nanocoatings. There are quite a few threads on this already both in the X and S forums. Search is your friend. No issues with sensors.

I did some searching, but could only find *clear*, protective wraps. I'm concerned about thicker / different-material vinyl-wraps or plasti-dip coatings; I couldn't find *anybody* who'd wrapped or dipped an X yet. Got a link for me? All I could find was Model S's, and all of those were wrapped a while back, to boot, before Autopilot-compatible Model S's came out.

I understand.. I also like to blend in and not raise eyebrows.

Seriously, though, it'll be interesting to hear how the sensors hold up through all of this. There are some early proximity sensor oversensitivity complaints (my car is one of them). The tiniest bit of dirt starts throwing alerts like mad. You could theoretically expose them with the original color, but I'm guessing that'd ruin the look you're trying to achieve.

I'm probably going to have my dipper intentionally cover some of the sensors with small, cheap applications (mask-out most of the car, and just spray a 1-ft-circle, many-layer application *on top of* some crucial sensor.) Then compare how it reacts / senses.

Going to be difficult, to say the least. /=

 

[benjiejr]

I did some searching, but could only find *clear*, protective wraps. I'm concerned about thicker / different-material vinyl-wraps or plasti-dip coatings; I couldn't find *anybody* who'd wrapped or dipped an X yet. Got a link for me? All I could find was Model S's, and all of those were wrapped a while back, to boot, before Autopilot-compatible Model S's came out.

I have a vinyl wrapped Model S with covered autopilot sensors. I had similar concerns so I initially just covered the sensors to test it and it worked fine so I proceeded to wrap the whole car. I've had the wrap since July 2015 without any issues. Good luck!

 

[VerityZooms]

I have a vinyl wrapped Model S with covered autopilot sensors. I had similar concerns so I initially just covered the sensors to test it and it worked fine so I proceeded to wrap the whole car. I've had the wrap since July 2015 without any issues. Good luck!

Had you driven w/ Autopilot *before* it, much? Like, you feel you know it well enough to be sure that it didn't really affect it?

Meanwhile, I've still gotta exhaustively test the FWDs on the Tesla X … because I've seen too many terrifying videos / photos of the FWDs ****ing up *already*, I want to be exhaustively sure that the coating doesn't make it even worse.

This situation is exacerbated by the fact that I can't really drive the vehicle before figuring this out: if I can't pretty-wrap it, then I need to clear-wrap it (as has been discussed elsewhere here), before really driving it any distance at all … and if I can pretty-wrap it, then I can't clear-wrap it. Make sense?

Thus I have to experiment with this, basically, while sitting still. I'm really heartened by your experience; for a hot second there, I was convinced I wouldn't be able to dip / wrap … so I already changed my colour in the configurator to one I like more, but which has lower resale value, out of fear that that's what I'd be stuck with, short of a full, expensive, and fragile *re-paint*. From your experience, I'm back to hoping I can still dip/wrap my vehicle at my leisure … but I definitely want to test it in-depth, before I get to some parking garage, have the falcon-wing doors crunch themselves into oblivion, and then get told by Tesla support that they're not covered under warranty because the sensors were covered. O_O

Out of curiosity: What wrap did you choose for your Model S? Got any pretty pictures? :3

 

[benjiejr]

Had you driven w/ Autopilot *before* it, much? Like, you feel you know it well enough to be sure that it didn't really affect it?

Meanwhile, I've still gotta exhaustively test the FWDs on the Tesla X … because I've seen too many terrifying videos / photos of the FWDs ****ing up *already*, I want to be exhaustively sure that the coating doesn't make it even worse.

This situation is exacerbated by the fact that I can't really drive the vehicle before figuring this out: if I can't pretty-wrap it, then I need to clear-wrap it (as has been discussed elsewhere here), before really driving it any distance at all … and if I can pretty-wrap it, then I can't clear-wrap it. Make sense?

Thus I have to experiment with this, basically, while sitting still. I'm really heartened by your experience; for a hot second there, I was convinced I wouldn't be able to dip / wrap … so I already changed my colour in the configurator to one I like more, but which has lower resale value, out of fear that that's what I'd be stuck with, short of a full, expensive, and fragile *re-paint*. From your experience, I'm back to hoping I can still dip/wrap my vehicle at my leisure … but I definitely want to test it in-depth, before I get to some parking garage, have the falcon-wing doors crunch themselves into oblivion, and then get told by Tesla support that they're not covered under warranty because the sensors were covered. O_O

Out of curiosity: What wrap did you choose for your Model S? Got any pretty pictures? :3

I can't remember exactly when autopilot came out but I've made long road trips (ie. San Antonio, TX to Key West, FL and back, etc.) with autopilot after the wrap and it's been great. I see no issues at all with wrapping over the sensors. If there is any air between the sensor and the wrap there might be issues but if the wrap is done correctly that shouldn't be the case.

And honestly, the clear wraps I've seen are actually thicker than most vinyl wrap and those have also been fine so I think you are good either way.

My wrap is blue satin chrome. You can check out my YouTube channel and Instagram (links in sig) for some videos and pictures.

 

[CuriousG]

Here's a Model S that's been Plastidipped:

Dipped my car: Autoflex Matte + ZTA Hypershift + Blueberry Juice

And a Model X

Meet Verity, the bubblegum-pink Tesla Model X • /r/teslamotors

Personally I like the bubblegum better than the hot pink but then again neither would be a first choice.
Then again OP would already know about that since he/she posted on reddit about it.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Here's a Model S that's been Plastidipped:

Dipped my car: Autoflex Matte + ZTA Hypershift + Blueberry Juice

That's my car..and it's not Plastidip, it's Autoflex which is a more expensive and more durable peelable spray on coating much like Plastidip but a lot better. Ask your dipper about it. It's totally worth the extra cost. I'm extremely happy with the results.

Also at TMC Connect this year TSportline had a vinyl wrapped Model X...(see images). I know vinyl is many times thicker than Plastidip or Autoflex, so maybe ask them about sensor issues.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Meet Verity, the bubblegum-pink Tesla Model X • /r/teslamotors

Then again OP would already know about that since he/she posted on reddit about it.

Ok, that's funny.. I didn't realize this thread was a few months old.. and the OP also got their car dipped with Autoflex.