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      02-24-2020, 05:20 PM   #34
cesimeone
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Drives: 2020 X5 MSport, 2018 330i
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: South Florida

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2018 BMW 330i  [0.00]
2020 BMW X5 40i  [0.00]
Hello all. I've fiddled around with PPF / Ceramics quite a bit. Here is what I can contribute.

Films: There are quite a few. I stick with the two front runners, XPel and Suntek. I personally always run with XPel on my vehicles. I had a bad run with Suntek on my friends White GT3RS, within 6 months it had all gone yellow and needed replacing. BUT....Suntek has come out with a new film which I have not yet played around with. Another friend of mine had his GT3 all redone in the new Suntek stuff and the clarity is RIDICULOUS!!! We will see what the longevity is like. I am a creature of habit, hence I stick with XPel Ultimate, the clarity is very very good and longevity has always been great.

Pricing: As with anything, pricing can vary depending on your area. I am in South Florida and have gotten numerous quotes on a couple different BMW's I own / have owned. The going rate for what I wanted seems to be $2,000-$2,500....this included
-Hood
-Front Bumper
-Headlights
-Fog Lights
-Grille (All hand cut and wrapped in between each louver...no seams)
-Front Piano Blacks (Extended Shadowline) soo lower air damn bezels around all the "honeycomb", fog light surrounds etc. etc.
-Both fenders (full)
-Wheel arches (wrapped underneath into the fender wells and tucked)
-Rockers (again all the way under and tucked behind the panel edge)
-Mirrors
-All piano black trims - A,B,C pillars, all around side windows
I think that's all of it.

This cost me $2,500, 10 year warranty from my installer, any complaint, it gets replaced...period no questions.
Here is where the prices can fluctuate...many shops just use pre-cut film, so the film manufacturer will make kits for each car and supply dimensions to an installer and the installer will use those dimensions on his cutter / printer and there ya go. My installer DOES NOT use pre-cut film. Pre-cuts 9 times out of 10 leave your edges exposed and it looks janky IMO. Mine is soooo well done you would never ever ever be able to tell its there unless you went around under the hood picking with your fingernail. Shout out to Jesse at Morpheus Designs in South Florida...dude is a legend. He spent 4 full days on my G05, he did not want to let it go until it was spot on. Moral of this story, make sure you understand what you are getting. Remember the term "you get what you pay for?" I am not by any means bashing anybody or any installers....I just know my PPF is on point...if yours is too and you paid $1,000 less well then congrats! Food for thought...it will take a couple weeks for your new PPF to lay down fully, just like window tint except much much larger areas. It may look bubbly for a few days and cloudy for a few after that (at least mine was) I just parked in direct sun at work for that time period and now it looks PERFECTO! You may also need to revisit your installer a couple times shortly after your install. Because mine was not pre-cut, the film did shrink up and an edge lifted here and there, predominantly in high tension areas such as the front grille, just a quick trim and tuck, 5 mins of my / installers time.

Ceramics: These I also have messed around with quite a bit being a detailing professional for about 15 years +/-. They have their pros and cons...myself and Mystro have written quite a bit about them in other threads. I have never bothered with getting accredited by all theses Ceramic Manufactures...Ceramic Pro blah blah blah. I do not see the need. I get outstanding results, longevity and satisfied customers using consumer grade....really good consumer grade but still consumer grade...such as Kamikaze, Modesta, Crystal Serum Lite and Exo V4, CQuartz and CQuartz UK. All great if put in the right hands. My vehicles have CQuartz and Crystal Serum Lite.

Ceramic over PPF: This is the holy grail....it really is. You are adding (in my case with XPel Ultimate) 6mil of glossy film and then ceramic on top of it...the gloss is unreal and durability is obviously bar none. Is it necessary...no but I do recommend keeping your PPF moisturized like your hands. It could possibly dry out over time. I havent had the best of luck with waxes and sealants over PPF but a product I do recommend over PPF which is EASY EASY, is CarPro Reload which is a Si02 Silica Spray. Wipe on, let flash and wipe off. Done. Before I got around to Ceramic on my PPF I ran with that on its own and it works great. This products is intended as a booster for CarPro CQuartz Ceramic Coatings but it works wonders on its own. You can find it on Amazon and all the info on it can be found at CarPro US, Skys the Limit Car Care here in Florida.

I can post some pictures of my car, I have yet to get a picture with Ceramic on, just a temporary wax while I was waiting for new product to arrive. And of course the weather here is s*** today so the car is dirty and the sky is grey, or I would go out a take a few shots now.

My 2 Cents.......
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