[znewts]

Hi all — hoping to get some guidance here from the community.

This is a brand new 2025 X5 M60 that was shipped directly from the dealer to the PPF installer. The plan has been to do full XPEL Stealth PPF. Earlier today, the installer called to flag some scratches on the gloss black trim at the front of the car — specifically the lower piece around the bumper area — which they discovered during disassembly. You can see it clearly in the video when the light hits it just right:

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

At first glance, the trim doesn’t look terrible, but he confirmed over the phone that the entire piece is covered in fine scratches — they just aren’t visible unless the light hits it directly. He also told me that the window trim (piano black finish) and the rear diffuser are in a similar condition — all scratched up. I haven’t received video of those areas yet.

I’m still not totally sure how this happened. My gut tells me it’s likely from a poor detail or prep job when the car first arrived at the dealership — since that’s typically the only time a new car gets wiped down before going to a customer. That said, I have no way of knowing if this was a factory issue, dealer mistake, or something that happened during transport.

As for options, the installer gave me two:

1.Polish only (no film) – This is what they usually do in full stealth conversions. They’d polish the trim to remove the swirl marks and leave it unwrapped to preserve contrast.

2.Polish + clear gloss PPF – This would prevent future damage, but it adds cost since the original job only included matte film and didn’t plan to wrap those areas. He quoted ~$300 for the front trim piece if we go this route.

I’m leaning toward just doing the front trim (if anything), but not wrapping the window trim or diffuser — that feels like overkill to me. But I’m open to feedback. Curious what others would do in this situation, and whether the extra cost for the gloss PPF sounds reasonable.

Thanks in advance — really appreciate any input!

[DrFerry]

My monies on factory defect(s). Return the car to the Dealer. I doubt this is the PPF installers first rodeo. The scratch damage(s) was discovered after parts removal disassembly. So the damage most likely happened during vehicle manufacture and wasn't seen by the plant quality control (QCM) inspection prior to Dealer delivery.

[clutchdj]

I only see scratches on the black plastic trim. If that’s what the OP is talking about then that should be buffed out and can be buffed out with a one step or two step method. Any decent PPF installer should be able to do it. not unusual on black plastic trim.

[znewts]

Originally Posted by clutchdj

I only see scratches on the black plastic trim. If that’s what the OP is talking about then that should be buffed out and can be buffed out with a one step or two step method. Any decent PPF installer should be able to do it. not unusual on black plastic trim.

So that’s all I could see as well, but I just got off the phone with the installer. In the video, you can see the scratches where the light hits the trim, but the rest of the piece looks fine. Unfortunately, he confirmed that the entire piece is just as bad — it’s only noticeable when the light hits it directly, which is why it doesn’t show up clearly in the video.

Although I haven’t gotten a video of it yet, he also mentioned that all of the window trim — the piano black-looking pieces — are scratched up pretty badly too, along with the rear diffuser. I’m still not totally sure how this happened, but it sounds like it was likely just a poor prep job by the dealer when the car was first received from the factory — since it typically only gets detailed once during that initial intake.

He gave me two options for moving forward. Normally, when they do a full matte stealth PPF conversion, they leave the gloss black trim exposed to create a little contrast. In that case (Option 1), they’d just polish the trim to clean up the swirl marks and leave it unwrapped. Option 2 would be to polish it and then apply a layer of clear gloss PPF over the trim to prevent future scratching.

There’d be an additional charge for Option 2 — about $300 — since the original scope only included the matte film and didn’t account for wrapping those gloss pieces.

My gut says we should just do the front trim and skip the window trim and rear diffuser — wrapping all of it feels like overkill. But I’m open to other opinions here. Curious what others would do in this situation.

[clutchdj]

Option 2. This comes from running through an automatic cash wash. Using the wrong towels, contaminated towels; etc. Cars should be spot polished anyway before they’re ppf’d unless it’s frozen paint. Imo.

[chefwong]

Most likely dealer prep......I've seen the towels they used to dry the car ....it was a bath towel and a hand mounted wringer.

It can be buffed out...it's not like it's going to need a full on wetsand, compound, polish, etc.

IMO, PPF those pieces if your budget allows.
It's worth it.
The black piano stuff micro-mars easily so it really pays for itself especially on eye level areas like the door sails, B pillars, the rear upper hatch etc

[ipilcher]

Buff and PPF.

Nothing is perfect, no matter how much you pay for it.

[nunzo]

I was with my buddy taking delivery of his 718 RS. Brought it directly to the PPF shop and the car was covered in swirls/light scratches. Pretty much everything needs a paint correction from new these days.

[RCKYMTN M34OI]

This all totally normal for that extremely sensitive piano black/gloss black trim material. No matter how careful you are with it, it will scratch with basic maintenance washes. Don't bother buffing it-the scratches will just come back. PPF (gloss or matte to your preference) and be done with it. It's the only way to keep it looking good. I always PPF my black B pillars on any car for this reason. It works well.

FWIW I run a detail business and deal with these issues frequently.

[2025G0540i]

My bet is the dealer when detailing it swirled it up. That black paint seems pretty soft and prone to scratch and shows defects really easy. That can be corrected easily. I'd def ppf that entire front bumper including the black areas. That area will take all the rock chip hits. You probably don't need to worry about polishing those defects out as the ppf should hide them. You'll need to polish it anyway when/if the ppf is removed. If not too late your ppf installer can take a small piece of film and install it over the most obvious defect and see if it hides it. I'd bet it does. I wouldn't sweat it. What I'm sweating is why are they removing all those parts? They should be using a plotter with pre cut film. That's very invasive so I assume they are doing a "bulk" install? That would scare me because they will be using a razor blade next to your paint.

[RCKYMTN M34OI]

Originally Posted by 2025G0540i

My bet is the dealer when detailing it swirled it up. That black paint seems pretty soft and prone to scratch and shows defects really easy. That can be corrected easily. I'd def ppf that entire front bumper including the black areas. That area will take all the rock chip hits. You probably don't need to worry about polishing those defects out as the ppf should hide them. You'll need to polish it anyway when/if the ppf is removed. If not too late your ppf installer can take a small piece of film and install it over the most obvious defect and see if it hides it. I'd bet it does. I wouldn't sweat it. What I'm sweating is why are they removing all those parts? They should be using a plotter with pre cut film. That's very invasive so I assume they are doing a "bulk" install? That would scare me because they will be using a razor blade next to your paint.

That's no reason to be scared. There's no right or wrong way to install PPF. I've been present while hundreds of cars have had had "bulk" installations by a skilled installer and there's never an issue. Razor never touches paint when done right. Not to mention there's not always plotting diagrams for small trim pieces etc. so sometimes bulk installation is the only option.

[M3Sleeper]

One of the main reasons I took delivery of my G80 untouched no prep. They still put their dirty hands on it but no dirty towels or brushes.

BMW should prep with a professional using new towels for each delivery. Paint correction is usually necessary in this case your piano can be polished out.

I hope you can work this out I doubt it's a major issue after polish.

[2025G0540i]

Znewts any update on the ppf?

[Rez]

Those are the worst quality plastic BMW uses. You look at it and it scratches. My brand new M3 CS had the same issue on all those black trims. I had it all PPF covered, it covers the scratches and protects for future or they look nasty in no time. Buff and PPF.

[tcphoto]

I doubt the dealer uses a detailer that cares much about their work, it's about volume and just get the car on the lot or delivered. I'd do a two step process then wrap it and pressure the dealer to pay for it or hand you a little swag from the BMW merchandise department.