[clt_m2]

PPF for the win!

Someone decided to not hear my horn or see my bright orange car and backed into me. Here is the damage before and after the PPF film was removed.

Amazing if I'm honest. Hopefully they won't have to repaint the whole bumper and I won't have to worry about any major color variation. What are your thoughts? Would you just touch up the paint chip and move on? Or have them repair the small line dent and repaint the whole thing?

[moveswiftly]

I would just use touch up paint... PPF is great.

[HazChem]

That’s pretty amazing.

[P4rD0nM3]

Repair the whole thing! No compromises for me.

[19x]

PPF is great stuff, no doubt. I've had it on several BMW's, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's worth having. I always went back and forth on this. I may or may not do it when my new M2C arrives next month. Still on the fence about this..

PPF on the front runs how much roughly, $300-400? - Given the damage here, I'm willing to bet that you can find a reputable shop to repaint that bumper for a similar price, which offsets the price of the PPF. But in many cases, what's ruined is both the paint and the PPF. So you again have to fork out the money to paint a bumper and do the PPF vs just repainting the bumper. I know that PPF is great at protecting the paint from small debris like rocks, etc., but then again having the bumper resprayed every 5 or 10 years is not a big deal.

BTW, a reasonable shop shouldn't have a problem matching the paint. Bumpers are the easiest to paint right. Quarter panels are not.

[akkando]

If you want your car to look like new always and drive worry free about rock chips, it's totally worth it.

[StarMan]

had similar thing happen to me on my previous car. Someone side swiped and PPF saved paint on the fender and fixed dent via Painless Dent Repair. Be sure to let the other person's insurance know that you had paint protection film and they'll pay for the re-application of it.

[khoa@x-ph.com]

That's just amazing. Now I need PPF for my car.

[VisualEcho]

Xpel PPF FTW.

The ONLY issue I have with it is the fact that they use alcohol to put it on, and being an automotive photographer, who uses a circular polarizer, the trapped alcohol shows up like oily water in photo's. It's a lot of work to do each shot on a tripod, with and without the CPL, then merge them so it looks clean in the end, but I do it.

You can clearly see it here on the front of the car where the film cut line was, and also beside the headlights, and the middle of the car.

[19x]

Originally Posted by VisualEcho

Xpel PPF FTW.

The ONLY issue I have with it is the fact that they use alcohol to put it on, and being an automotive photographer, who uses a circular polarizer, the trapped alcohol shows up like oily water in photo's. It's a lot of work to do each shot on a tripod, with and without the CPL, then merge them so it looks clean in the end, but I do it.

You can clearly see it here on the front of the car where the film cut line was, and also beside the headlights, and the middle of the car.

This.

Plus, with time, they will all yellow. Some worse, some less, but all will yellow slightly over time, regardless of how well or how often you clean it.

[VisualEcho]

Originally Posted by 19x

This.

Plus, with time, they will all yellow. Some worse, some less, but all will yellow slightly over time, regardless of how well or how often you clean it.

I think Xpel says 10 years. With as little as my car is in the sun, I don't think I'll ever have to worry about it.

In truth I like it because I can blast the bugs off the front of the car without any worry that I'm damaging the paint. Here in Missouri the bugs get terrible.

[Anthony1s]

The issue with shops and small damage is that they don't have little air brushes to deal with them and blend in. This is why they re-spray the entire bumper, then have to blend into the hood and fenders.

As for PPF, my entire car has been covered since I bought it. Best part for me is not having to worry about putting micro-scratches in when washing it, or having to worry about bird poop eating through the clear coat. I'm not saying bird poop can't damage the Xpel, but just that I don't worry about it damaging the paint. I definitely am more lax with having it. In my experience, bird poop does leave marks in the Xpel, but it clears up in a few days.

Worst part of the PPF is when a distracted 19yr old girl side-swiped me 6 months after I got the car. Had to have half the car re-wrapped.

[AUSf22]

I had no idea PPF worked so well,

definitely PPF-ing the whole car now

[ashtaron14]

Originally Posted by clt_m2

PPF for the win!

Someone decided to not hear my horn or see my bright orange car and backed into me. Here is the damage before and after the PPF film was removed.

Amazing if I'm honest. Hopefully they won't have to repaint the whole bumper and I won't have to worry about any major color variation. What are your thoughts? Would you just touch up the paint chip and move on? Or have them repair the small line dent and repaint the whole thing?

My shop installing aftermarket suspension for me, and while they were doing the alignment they clipped my rear bumper with PPF on. It dug deeper than the PPF. They paid for paint as well as to re-wrap the PPF.

[clt_m2]

Yea I mean obviously results will vary. The film I used was suntek 11.5 mil stuff. Thicker than the normal 8 mil and it took the damage well. We were all shocked.

So consensus is get it touched up and re-film it? I hate knowing the small dent is there

[robertm]

I can’t over sell PPF. This is the first car I’ve ever owned with it and I will never own another sports car again without. The whole car is wrapped and it is like a protective candy shell. I don’t worry about the semi in front of me kicking up a rock and chipping the hood/bumper. I don’t worry about the bird poop, I don’t worry about my three kids walking by the car and rubbing their grubby mits down the side, I don’t worry about my cleaning implements possibly have a contaminant I didn’t see and scratching the car, I don’t worry about the road construction dust sand blasting the paint job.

Most people don’t mind imperfections on their vehicles. I am the type of person that expects my car to be in better condition the day I sell it than the day I bought it. PPF makes that possible. I bought a new 1m and after three years had to spend $3500 getting the front bumper, fenders and hood properly repainted due to rock chips. My M2 car will look like the day I bought it in 3 years and that is worth every penny spent on the PPF and more to me.

[VisualEcho]

Originally Posted by clt_m2

Yea I mean obviously results will vary. The film I used was suntek 11.5 mil stuff. Thicker than the normal 8 mil and it took the damage well. We were all shocked.

So consensus is get it touched up and re-film it? I hate knowing the small dent is there

I'd get it fixed properly with insurance, let the paint out-gas properly and re-film. Insurance should pay for the film as well.

[clt_m2]

Originally Posted by VisualEcho

I'd get it fixed properly with insurance, let the paint out-gas properly and re-film. Insurance should pay for the film as well.

Yea insurance is going to take care of it. Everyone is advising to just get it fixed good enough and keep it moving. But I think the crease in the bumper will annoy the shit out of me eventually.

[Dark-Yoda]

wow.. very nice. PPF is great if you have a competent installer.

[nearwater4me]

How does insurance handle PPFs?
I’ve got quite a bit of coverage on mine... just curious if it’s covered if the unfortunate happens.

[robertm]

I added a 10k rider to my insurance policy to cover PPF and the other bits and bobbles added after delivery.

[JggyM2]

Originally Posted by starvmarv

had similar thing happen to me on my previous car. Someone side swiped and PPF saved paint on the fender and fixed dent via Painless Dent Repair. Be sure to let the other person's insurance know that you had paint protection film and they'll pay for the re-application of it.

Now that's smart about the ppf repair via insurance!!!