Paint Protection Film expectations

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Mikebsu

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A bit ago I posted about how I was getting a BLACK Macan with PPF on the front. I've driven the car for a few weeks (fun!) and now it's time to clean it up a bit. Being that it's scratch color...I mean black, I'm aware that I'll be in for some effort.

The first area of concern is the PPF on the hood. There are scratches and such in the PPF. I've hit it with my PC, hydro LC Orange pad, and Menzerna 3800 and it seems I've knocked down the fine scratches. There are still many larger ones, but I'm probably being a bit picky. I'm also being a bit afraid to heat the film and get too aggressive, so I didn't pull out the Menzerna 400. The 400 removed some BAD scratches on the BMW last year with a MF pad. Here is what I'm dealing with (attached). I marked them "Pre" to show what it looked like before the buff. "After" for after the buff and after a coat of Wolfgang 3.0 AND Souveran paste. So, my question is, Is this to be expected from PPF? Should I hit it harder, if so, same pad and M400? MF pad and 400 seems way aggressive.

I threw in a pic of the non-film area. About what the whole car looks like. I'll get that fixed and it's good to point out that the non-film area is worse than the film area, so I guess it helps to have PPF.

While we are talking about PPF, I'm not impressed. There are areas near the edges that look like paint runs, but I think it's just the film being pulled around. There also seems to be a couple spots that have air bubbles. The major defect is 2 white lines that run up the drivers side. I hit them with the PC, but I don't think they changed much. I can't feel the defect, so it makes me think it's IN the PPF. I can tell it's taken a few impacts and "saved" the paint, so I guess that's good. Is this typical of a PPF? Maybe those white lines are from an impact?

Thanks for any feedback!
 
What kind of ppf? What brand and model name?

Have you contacted the company/installer?
 
Just curious...
Was this PPF a factory installed option?


Bob
 
Both great questions! I'm about 100% sure this is not a factory installed product. I bought this car used from a BMW dealer, and they didn't even know it had PPF until I showed up to pick it up and asked. I was able to have a sales person there get me the prior owners email, but he hasn't answered back yet. I don't know who or what or where this film is.

They pulled the film all the way around all the edges of the hood. I can see on spot on the front edge that failed and came off and was cut off (just a real small section along the front edge of the hood).
 
Thanks for your reply.

Sounds like the PPF has seen
its better days. Replacement
is drawing nigh. XPel's Ultimate
is the way I roll.


Bob
 
Find the original dealer and provide the VIN and they should be able to tell you where they outsource the job or buy PPF from. I do it all the time when I get cars with "dealer" installed PPF and wanna know what I can and can't do without voiding warranties.
 
conman1395 said:
Find the original dealer and provide the VIN and they should be able to tell you where they outsource the job or buy PPF from. I do it all the time when I get cars with "dealer" installed PPF and wanna know what I can and can't do without voiding warranties.
Click to expand...

I'm about 99% sure I have LLumar on the hood. I spoke with the dealer and they indicated this is what they use on all the cars. There is a local installer of this product. Should I stop by there and see what they say about it? Or is this just a waste of time? I read that the low end product has a 5yr life*, but I'm quite sure there would be no way to get them to help me since they didn't install it AND I didn't buy the product to start with.
 
Mikebsu said:
I'm about 99% sure I have LLumar on the hood. I spoke with the dealer and they indicated this is what they use on all the cars. There is a local installer of this product. Should I stop by there and see what they say about it? Or is this just a waste of time? I read that the low end product has a 5yr life*, but I'm quite sure there would be no way to get them to help me since they didn't install it AND I didn't buy the product to start with.
Click to expand...

Well, what is it exactly you want from them? They might not even know how how to remove scratches from it. Honestly I would remove it if you want the car to look perfect, but if you'd rather keep the protection then you might be able to use something like CarPro Essence and that'll improve the appearance a bit. Otherwise, you'll probably just damage the PPF increasing your aggressiveness.

Is reapplying a PPF with something superior like what Bob mentioned (Xpel Ultimate) not in consideration?

To answer your question a bit more directly, there's no harm in calling and trying, but I can't imagine there's much more you can do without damaging what you have in the car.
 
conman1395 said:
Well, what is it exactly you want from them? They might not even know how how to remove scratches from it. Honestly I would remove it if you want the car to look perfect, but if you'd rather keep the protection then you might be able to use something like CarPro Essence and that'll improve the appearance a bit. Otherwise, you'll probably just damage the PPF increasing your aggressiveness.

Is reapplying a PPF with something superior like what Bob mentioned (Xpel Ultimate) not in consideration?

To answer your question a bit more directly, there's no harm in calling and trying, but I can't imagine there's much more you can do without damaging what you have in the car.
Click to expand...

The only prior experience I have with PPF is from about 2005 when all I saw were half covered hoods with yellow cracking film and wax lines. Not impressive. I haven't looked or talked about them for 10+ years. Now that I have this 2 year old film I'm just trying to sort out what to expect from a product. I can see where it's helped and I can see where it's a bit pointless. I know a shop that has a good name that only uses Xpel, so I'll talk to them. Thanks for this tip!

I'm also trying to sort out if this damaged film is covered by a warranty or not. My guess is no. And that's fine.

I think my plan for right now is to clean up the rest of the car and see how it all looks. There are some nice webs to work out along with about 2lbs of wax around the letters on the back. Then I can decide how aggressive I'll get with the hood and how much I fee like spending one PPF. I figure the worst case is I'll pull the PPF off, and well, that's not soo bad. The problem is the car isn't stationary long enough to wash. Between my wife and I we've already added 3K miles since I picked it up last month!


Thanks for that video on the films! Sure makes me want to dig into more detail on the 3M product. hmmm.
 
If the film annoys you I would suggest you simply remove it. It can be done using a steamer or a heat gun.
 
I personally avoid ppf...my new truck last year had door edge guard ppf and i had the dealer remove it with me present as part of the deal.

Reasons being..ppf areas..if you remove ppf later..thst area will have diff color shade under the ppf.
I have also seen a friend and family car after having ppf installed throughout the car...years later the ppf yellowed...and bonded to the clearcoat...couldnt be removed and basically ruined their cars...
If you only keep your car for 4-5 years...probab nonissue..but keeping a car long term ppf may present a big headache far down the road
 
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