[MattBianco]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

Duplicate thread for the General section. Original under F15.

It looks like I will be buying a '13 LX 570, with 15k miles. Great winter/ski/camping car with more elbow room and less sensitive than the X5. The car is, ahem, burgundy. So, I was looking to wrap it, and was doing wrapping search when I found a great test on clear film / clear bra.

The test intends to stress the film for being hit by a high-speed, small projectile. They fire a pellet gun at the film at different distances and see if there is damaged to the paint, damage to the film at a 3m distance, and damage to the film at a 5m distance.

Test Results:



Tested with IZH-53M using 4.5mm gauge led pellets



Surface: 1.2mm sheet metal, vs. cars at 0.8-0.8mm

Actual Films: See the test results and photos of the films after impact here: http://www.tintdude.com/forum/index....f-orafol-xpel/

Test Examples:

[Dackelone]

Leave it to the Russians to test it with a "gun". lol Nice find on the chart.


I have the 3M film on my 135i now for almost six years. It really has held up well. When you hit bug at high autobahn speeds... its like a small caliber gun. I'm really glad I went with BMW's clear bra film(kit) on my car.


DIY Clear Bra install...
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=361895

[Bluesummer]

what about xpel?

[skiparock]

Originally Posted by Bluesummer

what about xpel?

Xpel is on their review, what is your question?

[georgere]

This does not make sense. A month ago I did a high level research and picked xpel. Now this test shows 3m is the best.
I think the truth is that none is the best and none really works against the real chips. Protection you get is minor.

[BwoodBMW]

Originally Posted by georgere

This does not make sense. A month ago I did a high level research and picked xpel. Now this test shows 3m is the best.
I think the truth is that none is the best and none really works against the real chips. Protection you get is minor.

looks to me like xpel ultimate scored green across the board (aka it won the test)

[georgere]

Originally Posted by BwoodBMW

looks to me like xpel ultimate is the only one that scored green across the board (aka it won the test)

It did? I saw it in six place - couldn't open the table image big enough to see

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by georgere

This does not make sense. A month ago I did a high level research and picked xpel. Now this test shows 3m is the best.
I think the truth is that none is the best and none really works against the real chips. Protection you get is minor.

"Best" for many people will involve more than just level of protection. I just did a bunch of research myself since the last time I got clear bra it was with the now-obsolete VentureShield, and the consensus I found was that XPEL and Suntek are the front runners at the moment; 3M Pro or whatever it's called didn't come up very often. But between XPEL and Suntek, people who have both either on different cars or who switched from one to the other, and installers who have worked with both, consistently said that Suntek is clearer and lets more of the paint's shine and depth through, and the installers consistently find it easier to work with than XPEL, which was a big factor for me since I would argue that the quality of the installation is more important to the end result than the material being used, so if you find a skilled installer who prefers one over the other, that's worth a lot. XPEL on the other hand is thicker (though some are saying the additional thickness is in the adhesive layer rather than the protective polyurethane layer) and has a 10-year warranty for Ultimate compared to a 5-year warranty for Suntek, but considering that XPEL hasn't even been around for 10 years yet and I've never heard of a single person availing themselves of a clear bra warranty, I consider that nothing more than marketing and possibly evidence of XPEL having more cash reserves as a company until proven otherwise.

[Brian_R]

Originally Posted by Bluesummer

what about xpel?

Its at the bottom. Ultimate good, Xtreme not so much.

[IndotagSwizz]

Awesome!...and also I will never put that crap in my car lol

[kenwelch]

Would the test results be different if the film was tested on a modern urathane plastic bumper instead of steel?

[sh55]

Xpel Ultimate FTW!

[classyfast]

I think you should all note that this gun fires at 360 feet per second approximately (in link info)I

I own and shoot competition firearms and high powered pellet guns and can tell you that 360fps for a pellet gun is slow as hell. However I highly doubt road debris will ever reach that velocity. You also have to consider the deforming nature of pellets or whatever nature of ammo they are using. I don't think this test is realistic, definitely over exaggerated from why you would expect to see on roads.

[ZilberGrau ZHP]

I have Xpel Ultimate on my 435GC my brothers 435 Coupe one of my companies RAM trucks, my wifes M235 and my 2004 daily driver 330 ZHP Coupe. Love it and will continue to use the product. Its NOT perfect (or cheap) but performs as advertised. My 435GC and my brothers 435 Coupe are 1 year old and have had no issues- and here in Texas with the entire state seemingly under construction- we have a LOT of rock trucks rolling on the freeways and interstates almost 24 hours a day.

[David70]

Originally Posted by classyfast

I think you should all note that this gun fires at 360 feet per second approximately (in link info)I

I own and shoot competition firearms and high powered pellet guns and can tell you that 360fps for a pellet gun is slow as hell. However I highly doubt road debris will ever reach that velocity. You also have to consider the deforming nature of pellets or whatever nature of ammo they are using. I don't think this test is realistic, definitely over exaggerated from why you would expect to see on roads.

Good point but really 360 fps is 245 mph, I guess it is possible to hit a rock or bug at this speed.

I have 3M on one car and the other I don't know what (was on the car when I bought it) and I have been happy with both.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by jphughan

"Best" for many people will involve more than just level of protection. I just did a bunch of research myself since the last time I got clear bra it was with the now-obsolete VentureShield, and the consensus I found was that XPEL and Suntek are the front runners at the moment; 3M Pro or whatever it's called didn't come up very often. But between XPEL and Suntek, people who have both either on different cars or who switched from one to the other, and installers who have worked with both, consistently said that Suntek is clearer and lets more of the paint's shine and depth through, and the installers consistently find it easier to work with than XPEL, which was a big factor for me since I would argue that the quality of the installation is more important to the end result than the material being used, so if you find a skilled installer who prefers one over the other, that's worth a lot. XPEL on the other hand is thicker (though some are saying the additional thickness is in the adhesive layer rather than the protective polyurethane layer) and has a 10-year warranty for Ultimate compared to a 5-year warranty for Suntek, but considering that XPEL hasn't even been around for 10 years yet and I've never heard of a single person availing themselves of a clear bra warranty, I consider that nothing more than marketing and possibly evidence of XPEL having more cash reserves as a company until proven otherwise.

I agree with this statement. I started with 3M years ago, switched to Xpel on my last car and now have Suntek for these reasons + needed to replace Xpel under warranty for yellowing (on white car).

[jd_perspective]

I have xpel ultimate and love it. It looks perfect and is strong as hell! Proof? First my neighbor scraped his car across my bumper. Damage to area covered in film was just the film! Underneath was perfect but had to replace because of the extent of the other damage.

Then after it was all fixed small tree fell and bounced off the hood and front of my car. Absolutely no damage to the car under the film but got a bit scuffed so the insurance replaced it for me.

[georgere]

Originally Posted by ZilberGrau ZHP

I have Xpel Ultimate on my 435GC my brothers 435 Coupe one of my companies RAM trucks, my wifes M235 and my 2004 daily driver 330 ZHP Coupe. Love it and will continue to use the product. Its NOT perfect (or cheap) but performs as advertised. My 435GC and my brothers 435 Coupe are 1 year old and have had no issues- and here in Texas with the entire state seemingly under construction- we have a LOT of rock trucks rolling on the freeways and interstates almost 24 hours a day.

What are you building over there?
Oil boom is over for now.....

[Rikx1M]

Love the product and after 25,000 miles, no damage. In fact a bike hit my car and chewed up the clear bra on fender, I could have sworn the paint was damaged but after I removed the film, no paint damage. I haven't seen signs of yellowing but I must admit I have an orange car so would I really notice? Only issue has been bug juice staining the film in 4-5 places, but that may have been my fault for not cleaning in a timely manner on a road trip.

When I replace I'll replace with Xpel Ultimate.

[Ragged Edge]

Another F80 was backed into my F80 (with Expel). He lost his paint at the contact point and there was no damage to mine or even the film.
The peace of mind when I leave it somewhere had got to be worth a lot.

[shivaswrath]

Nano fusion ftw?

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

While a really talented installer can overcome my aesthetic opposition; the economics of these films makes me scratch my head. I feel the profitability of films are the real reason they are so popular. Personally I subscribe to the theory that I'll just repaint if I see/feel the need.