Paint Protection Film - opinion from those who’ve had it

[DRice311]

I had PPF and ceramic done for my M3 last week, picked it up yesterday. Ceramic looks amazing, but had question for those who have experience with it. This is the first time I’ve had it done to a vehicle, and just want to make sure my expectations aren’t too high. I assumed invisible meant you wouldn’t be able to tell it is on there even on close inspection, but on many of my panels the film stops about 2-3/16’s of an inch from the edge. I originally asked that the edges be wrapped, but when I picked up, the sales guy I had been communicating with explained that for some of the panels they would have to remove them to wrap them, which would add cost - and I wouldn’t want them to do that anyway, so it made sense. They did wrap they edges they could easily get to like hood and bottom edge of bumper and fender.

For those with experience, is this normal? There are a handful of bubbles, but my understanding is give those a few days and they will go away. There is one small bubble on the hood that appears to have something underneath it, so gonna keep an eye on that one.

There is also a 2/8” gap on each corner of the lower bumper where two pieces of film don’t quite meet. Again - is this normal? It’s off to the side, but this part of the paint is exposed.

You can only really see these things when close up, but my concern is overtime these edges will collect dirt and then be much more obvious.

Should I push back on the installer, or am I being too critical/picky?

 

[DRice311]

Picture of an edge, and the gap on lower corner of bumper

 

[DRice311]

2nd pic, sorry hit post too quick

 

[Tesnewbee]

Oh my god, this sucks..my car will be delivered this Thursday and I am already concerned

 

[akidesir]

The bottom bumper pic that looks quite bad for a professional installer. I installed my PPF full front by myself with a pre-cut Xpel kit and mine looks much better than that. I'm no professional..

 

[TANGO SUKKA]

i have a tiny gap on mine.. way smaller than that picture. maybe 1mm.

 

[Tesnewbee]

I had PPF and ceramic done for my M3 last week, picked it up yesterday. Ceramic looks amazing, but had question for those who have experience with it. This is the first time I’ve had it done to a vehicle, and just want to make sure my expectations aren’t too high. I assumed invisible meant you wouldn’t be able to tell it is on there even on close inspection, but on many of my panels the film stops about 2-3/16’s of an inch from the edge. I originally asked that the edges be wrapped, but when I picked up, the sales guy I had been communicating with explained that for some of the panels they would have to remove them to wrap them, which would add cost - and I wouldn’t want them to do that anyway, so it made sense. They did wrap they edges they could easily get to like hood and bottom edge of bumper and fender.

For those with experience, is this normal? There are a handful of bubbles, but my understanding is give those a few days and they will go away. There is one small bubble on the hood that appears to have something underneath it, so gonna keep an eye on that one.

There is also a 2/8” gap on each corner of the lower bumper where two pieces of film don’t quite meet. Again - is this normal? It’s off to the side, but this part of the paint is exposed.

You can only really see these things when close up, but my concern is overtime these edges will collect dirt and then be much more obvious.

Should I push back on the installer, or am I being too critical/picky?

Just curious, do we need to get paint protection film? Is that mandatory

 

[DRice311]

Ok thanks - this was my thinking to- I’m giving them a call Monday.

They had the car for 5 days, he said it took so long because they actually installed twice because he wasn’t happy with it after the first install. I guess now I’ll have to see how much they stand behind it. Fun.

 

[jerry33]

Have an S not a 3, but to PPF or not to PPF isn't really model dependent. I've had full coverage PPF on for six years and 121K miles and I still get complements on how good the paint looks. My criteria in purchasing aftermarket items is that if it costs more than sales tax, it's probably not worth it. So PPF is an easy decision in an S. The other thing is that the times PPF has saved me happened on the rear corners, not the front (which is mostly for rock chips). When cars rub against you and leave their paint, a bit of bug and tar remover gets rid of the foreign paint.

 

[cgrubbe]

Just curious, do we need to get paint protection film? Is that mandatory

Not mandatory at all.

If you have the disposable income for it I'd think about getting the front bumper done. I have an S that I should have gotten done the same day I picked it up. The rock chips never seem to end. At this rate I'll get it painted next spring and get the ppf installed 91 days later.

 

[reheat]

Seems like they used a precut kit, and the kit is either poorly cut or they did a really bad job of installing it. That much gap showing in those pics are not acceptable.

 

[Tesnewbee]

Not mandatory at all.

If you have the disposable income for it I'd think about getting the front bumper done. I have an S that I should have gotten done the same day I picked it up. The rock chips never seem to end. At this rate I'll get it painted next spring and get the ppf installed 91 days later.

Thank you very much for the response. What is the difference between Ceramic, PPF etc. Which one is cheap and best ? Do I also need to get a UV protection film on the panaromic roof? Is it ok if I get the detailing done later or is it going to be too late to fix?

 

[jerry33]

Thank you very much for the response. What is the difference between Ceramic, PPF etc. Which one is cheap and best ? Do I also need to get a UV protection film on the panaromic roof? Is it ok if I get the detailing done later or is it going to be too late to fix?

Ceramic is good for shine, but not for rock chips. PPF is a film that protects against rock chips and other non-denting issues.
No, you don't need additional UV protection.
You can get detailing done later, but the longer you wait, the more expensive the dealing will be, so best practice is to get PPF ASAP after delivery.

 

[Tesnewbee]

Ceramic is good for shine, but not for rock chips. PPF is a film that protects against rock chips and other non-denting issues.
No, you don't need additional UV protection.
You can get detailing done later, but the longer you wait, the more expensive the dealing will be, so best practice is to get PPF ASAP after delivery.

Thank you very much . I also have a thread running on planning to buy Tesla, I posed some questions. Any help is appreciated. Do you happen to know how much it would cost for a PPF film for hood and bumper?

 

[jerry33]

Thank you very much . I also have a thread running on planning to buy Tesla, I posed some questions. Any help is appreciated. Do you happen to know how much it would cost for a PPF film for hood and bumper?

Mine was done six years and 121K miles ago. You'll need current prices. There are many threads, Link?

 

[Tesnewbee]

Mine was done six years and 121K miles ago. You'll need current prices. There are many threads, Link?

Cool , thanks sir

 

[DRice311]

Seems like they used a precut kit, and the kit is either poorly cut or they did a really bad job of installing it. That much gap showing in those pics are not acceptable.

That’s what I was thinking, good to hear confirmation. Sucks they put ceramic on top of it, meaning if they have to re-do this, they’d have to redo the ceramic in those parts to.

 

[vjason]

As others have said the bumper isnt a bad idea; lots of surface area there facing forward and (at least for my 12/18 model) I think the paint is a little thin. Just remember to address any paint corrections that bother you first of course.

I've had some amount of PPF on my cars dating back to 2012 and it definitely works.

Just curious, do we need to get paint protection film? Is that mandatory

 

[steven415]

That ppf guy sucks. My pff is unnoticeable unless you look for it

 

[Atari2600]

OP, if a professional really did that I would ask them to try again. Is the installer authorized by the film manufacturer? If so you probably have some leverage. if not then lesson learned.

Just curious, do we need to get paint protection film? Is that mandatory

The cars are painted in California which has the toughest environmental laws in the country. That does not lead to the best quality paint.

This happened to me earlier but since I had film I wasn't crying after it happened.