X5M PPF install begin

[guess2098]

Got my X5M from Beverly Hill BMW 1/29, almost a month from now. finally have time to do PPF now. I was planing to do it on the 1st day i got the car but dont know which shop is good for it.

My friend recommend me impressive wrap as he did PPF on his car in here too and impressive wrap did a perfect job to his corvette

I spoke to James at impressive wrap at Chino which only 5 min away from my house. He helps a lot and gave me very good price consider X5M is not a small car.

anyways here is the picture they took for me yesterday. I will post daily picture and some X5 m-performance grill take it apart for X5M grill, save you $200.

[r33_RGSport]

Looks good. Congrats!!!

[guess2098]

some more update. can't wait to get the car back.

[PatrickC23]

Those that have researched, what would be the bare minimum coverage for the x5m? Im going into a lease, was going to cover up the most exposed areas like front bumper and headlights. What do people suggest for wheel/rock spray coverage.

If i were buying it, full hood like you would be no brainer.

[AwesomeM3]

Originally Posted by PatrickC23

Those that have researched, what would be the bare minimum coverage for the x5m? Im going into a lease, was going to cover up the most exposed areas like front bumper and headlights. What do people suggest for wheel/rock spray coverage.

If i were buying it, full hood like you would be no brainer.

Definitely do the rockers and rear wheel arches. That's where you'll get a lot of road rash.

[PatrickC23]

Originally Posted by AwesomeM3

Definitely do the rockers and rear wheel arches. That's where you'll get a lot of road rash.

front and back of the rear wheel arch?

[jcfay]

I may be in the minority (and I could regret this in a year!), but I've decided against any PPF as it's darn costly, and I'm worried a decent sized rock would penetrate the XPel anyway. Yes, I'd get less micro-dings but I only get a couple of those a year regardless. Also, I know any clear coat can still be damaged by bone head car wash techs (or those at BMW service), and again there's lot of cost to that too. Then, if I turn the car in a couple of years, probably on a trade in, I'm pretty sure it will make zero difference to the dealer if there is 1, 2 or 7 micro-dings on the car.

I bought some BMW metallic sapphire black touch up paint and clear coat for $30. I guess we'll see how I fare? Any reason I should be thinking differently? Maybe if I end up keeping the car for more than a few years?

[UrbanExtant]

Originally Posted by jcfay

I may be in the minority (and I could regret this in a year!), but I've decided against any PPF as it's darn costly, and I'm worried a decent sized rock would penetrate the XPel anyway. Yes, I'd get less micro-dings but I only get a couple of those a year regardless. Also, I know any clear coat can still be damaged by bone head car wash techs (or those at BMW service), and again there's lot of cost to that too. Then, if I turn the car in a couple of years, probably on a trade in, I'm pretty sure it will make zero difference to the dealer if there is 1, 2 or 7 micro-dings on the car.

I bought some BMW metallic sapphire black touch up paint and clear coat for $30. I guess we'll see how I fare? Any reason I should be thinking differently? Maybe if I end up keeping the car for more than a few years?

When we turned in a lease, end of December, it was black sapphire metallic. We had some chips, dings, etc. on it, and I went to touch it up with the kit you just described. It was a mess. Make sure you have some mild solvent, that won't damage the hardened clear coat, to wipe away multiple attempts to repair the chips. The clear coat is stringy, and not as liquid as I felt it should have been. The black undercoat was easy to work with, it was the clear coat that was a disaster, repeatedly. In the end, I used an old Audi clear coat repair stick/tube we had from many years ago to use as the final coat.

[jcfay]

Originally Posted by UrbanExtant

When we turned in a lease, end of December, it was black sapphire metallic. We had some chips, dings, etc. on it, and I went to touch it up with the kit you just described. It was a mess. Make sure you have some mild solvent, that won't damage the hardened clear coat, to wipe away multiple attempts to repair the chips. The clear coat is stringy, and not as liquid as I felt it should have been. The black undercoat was easy to work with, it was the clear coat that was a disaster, repeatedly. In the end, I used an old Audi clear coat repair stick/tube we had from many years ago to use as the final coat.

Thanks, good to know. I've traded a few cars now and I've never had them come back at me about paint chips - perhaps I've been lucky? Don't get me wrong, I hate scratches and dings as much as everyone else, but I think they are simply inevitable. Not to knock those who go this route, I'm sure they're happy, and I'm sure it's been worth it to them. And we do love modding But I just don't see the return on investment...

[heat'n'cool]

Can't even tell it is on there! Did the same with my car.

[elisiX]

Originally Posted by PatrickC23

Those that have researched, what would be the bare minimum coverage for the x5m? Im going into a lease, was going to cover up the most exposed areas like front bumper and headlights. What do people suggest for wheel/rock spray coverage.

If i were buying it, full hood like you would be no brainer.

As the others have said, the rockers and rear arches cop the brunt of any damage, along with the front bumper. That said, my M50d (which was not wrapped btw), got stone chips on the middle of the door from a car beside me. In a nutshell, you could cover the key problem areas (entire front, rockers and rear arches) and still cop a stone chip or two on the drivers and passenger doors.

That is essentially why I decided against doing the wrap I had planned for my X5M. Imagine covering the main areas, spending 2-3k only to still get chips on the side. The quote I got which covered the full front, full sides including rear arches was $3200 AUD (discounted from a mate). That would be the only way i'd do it (short of covering the entire car), but that's some serious money for a lease.

[AwesomeM3]

Originally Posted by PatrickC23

front and back of the rear wheel arch?

The front of the rear wheel arch, although the back isn't a bad idea either.

[PatrickC23]

Originally Posted by guess2098

Got my X5M from Beverly Hill BMW 1/29, almost a month from now. finally have time to do PPF now. I was planing to do it on the 1st day i got the car but dont know which shop is good for it.

Is this Sapphire Black?

[elisiX]

It's not Carbon Black.

[guess2098]

Originally Posted by PatrickC23

Is this Sapphire Black?

yes it is Sapphire Black

[guess2098]

almost done! one more day!

[vince7870]

So you did whole truck?

I'm at a loss also. I want to do the whole truck as I think I'll notice the covered area versus the non covered area.....then I feel like just doing ceramic Quartz hd all over and skipping the clear bra. So confused, whenever I get a new toy I always have hopes of keeping it forever, then the bells me whistles wear off and I jump ship to a new toy. But it will kill me or even end the romance early if it's appearances are harmed before its time. I'm just super anal about the condition of my stuff.

[elisiX]

The 4K+ you could spend on wrapping part of the car, even more for the entire car, goes a long way to some mods

[Manoloiv]

Ppf is the way to go. You are paying roughly 3-5% of the vehicles value to protect your investment. I cant stand the sight of rock chips. You cannot tell the difference between the covered and non covered areas unless you are wearing polarized lenses. You may notice where the film was stretched or where alcohol was applied when light hits at a certain angle.

[Luca42]

Originally Posted by vince7870

So you did whole truck?

I'm at a loss also. I want to do the whole truck as I think I'll notice the covered area versus the non covered area.....then I feel like just doing ceramic Quartz hd all over and skipping the clear bra. So confused, whenever I get a new toy I always have hopes of keeping it forever, then the bells me whistles wear off and I jump ship to a new toy. But it will kill me or even end the romance early if it's appearances are harmed before its time. I'm just super anal about the condition of my stuff.

I agree with you, Vince. I wrapped the entire front, rocker panels and other select areas a week after delivery. I cannot tell the difference between the covered and non-covered portions in terms of color (either standing still or moving -- and I'm usually moving. Fast!) It has been great.

If anything, I would have opted for more Xpel on my car -- probably the doors. Here's what I've found: the greatest hazards for chips and scratches on my car now are from careless drivers and how they open their doors. I cannot tell you the number of times that I've come out to find someone either parked super close to my car or who has actually opened their car door and let it rest against the car. Literally resting against the car. I've found two small scratches in places that are consistent with that theory. I've also noticed that people walk between cars and don't mind that their coat, purse or bag drags against the cars they are walking past. I've found a scratch consistent with that.

I am a true fan of PPF (Xpel). I find it's easy to keep clean and I don't worry about small scratches, given the self-healing properties of the material. Will it protect against a dent? No. But its pliable nature and slight "give" really helps to avoid scratches in the situations I've identified above.

[guess2098]

i got my car back yesterday but yes i did the whole suv but only the front is complete wrap over all the edges including hood, front bumper, both front fenders. other areas like doors, trunk, mirrors, and etc are pre-cut.

actually, i think it does likes a little bit different after do the xpel ppf.
with PPF on top the color looks more water-ish. i will post more photo later.

why not just the front, it is because my wife she does drive this car to EVERYWHERE with kid. plus ppf all around i dont need to do car wash too often. just using quick detailer to clean is fine. it save me $50 a week or 2 hr of my time if car wash guy does not come to do the car wash on weekly schedule.