Where to PPF

[Deneed4spd]

Getting my car in a few days. Was thinking of driving it to get PPF but having 6-8 inches of snow and only being 15 degrees on Michelins won’t work. So I’ll just peel the ship film and have to wait to spring. In the meanwhile im thinking doing the front but was wondering if anyone had experience of how much the rear fender needs to be wrapped. The factory wrap on my old m2 was definately not big enough. Any thoughts on taking off the small factory film on rocker and replace it with film on the whole rocker and a decent portion of the rear fender by the rear door? It’s for CT5 blackwing.

 

[NightBlueTTS]

I’m wrapping the whole car and ceramic. The paint was scratched beyond belief by the dealer so I had a multistep paint correction first.

 

[Slick Blackwings]

We did front End to doors up A pillar across roof to sunroof. Bottom of doors, around rear wheel and lower quarter panel. Seems to be good.

 

[redbaron73]

I had the whole car wrapped, and then ceramic coated and windows tinted.

After doing my BMW M3 a year ago, I was sold on the protection.

Most professional installers will have the software to cut the templates on site. Makes for a perfect fit.

I had a flaw on my roof, so it's back at the shop getting the roof redone.

 

[KatyTxCT5V]

It’s subjective in my opinion. For my daily driver that sits outside 2022 GMC truck, did the front and full ceramic. The front as here in Texas, bug season primarily the reason. For my garage queen 2022 5BW, just ceramic this time.

I have done entire cars, portions of cars, etc with PPF & always full 10yr rated ceramic. I have also traded off everyone I intended to “keep forever” & honestly I didn’t get a penny more for trade to a dealer (private sale, possible to get more).

My problem has been that every car since about 2016 develops a major problem for some reason, makes me not trust the car, so I get rid of it after spending thousands for PPF & ceramic. My loss each time and next person’s gain. Just happened again to me, thus lead me to my 5BW.
And, should you have a car bought back due to unresolvable issues, the mfg or dealer doesn’t reimburse you for all that extra stuff like PPF & ceramic. Speaking from my experiences. So, potential loss again.

I will always ceramic coat a car due to many benefits and have it usually refreshed coated on a regular routine. I decided based on my experiences to not PPF my 5BW, only add a 10yr rated ceramic that I like. I realize everyone is different, but after 7 vehicles since 2016, this is what I decided. Also to add, I’m fortunate that I can afford the costs, just choose to now spend it in other fun stuff & hobbies.

Good luck in whatever you choose for your situation.

 

[LF4472]

I had full front, rocker panels (I have a 4BW with both carbon packages) and the lower section of the doors and rear quarter panels done with XPEL Ultimate. The entire car is Modesta ceramic coated.

 

[Beamz27]

Entire front clip, rockers, rear quarter panel behind the tires and I also usually do half way up each door. Those are the most rock chip prone zones

 

[MatthewAMEL]

Can you folks explain why ceramic on top of PPF? You aren't adding anything to the PPF and all the ceramic will be gone in about a year.

 

[RDATLTE]

Can you folks explain why ceramic on top of PPF? You aren't adding anything to the PPF and all the ceramic will be gone in about a year.

If you don’t ceramic over PPF, you have to use a sealer which is inferior in many ways to ceramic.

 

[MatthewAMEL]

If you don’t ceramic over PPF, you have to use a sealer which is inferior in many ways to ceramic.

I have PPF on all my cars and have never used ceramic on top of it. They are all Xpel. The oldest is 6 years on my SS 1LE which sees a LOT of track time. Nose of the car is still perfect. All I do is wash as normal and wipe down with detail spray.

The problem with Ceramic over PPF is the ceramic is rigid and the PPF is flexible. As the PPF expands and contracts, the ceramic sloughs off. Even Xpel says only to use a detail spray or something like a ceramic boost spray on top.

Lots of detail shops charging big $$$ for something that isn't really adding value. The shine is good, but you can maintain that with detail spray, a glossifier (Brilliant Glaze, Beadmaker) or a ceramic boost (Adams, Xpel, 3M).

 

[LF4472]

Xpel says only to use a detail spray or something like a ceramic boost spray on top.

XPEL sells a ceramic coating that specifically calls out application on top of PPF. https://www.xpel.com/ceramic-coating-fusion-plus

 

[RDATLTE]

I have PPF on all my cars and have never used ceramic on top of it. They are all Xpel. The oldest is 6 years on my SS 1LE which sees a LOT of track time. Nose of the car is still perfect. All I do is wash as normal and wipe down with detail spray.

The problem with Ceramic over PPF is the ceramic is rigid and the PPF is flexible. As the PPF expands and contracts, the ceramic sloughs off. Even Xpel says only to use a detail spray or something like a ceramic boost spray on top.

Lots of detail shops charging big $$$ for something that isn't really adding value. The shine is good, but you can maintain that with detail spray, a glossifier (Brilliant Glaze, Beadmaker) or a ceramic boost (Adams, Xpel, 3M).

To each their own. I once believed the same. However, my ZLE has PPF and no ceramic and my BW4 has both PPF & ceramic. I’m now a believer and wish that I would have put ceramic on the ZLE as well.

 

[rubberduck]

I have PPF on all my cars and have never used ceramic on top of it. They are all Xpel. The oldest is 6 years on my SS 1LE which sees a LOT of track time. Nose of the car is still perfect. All I do is wash as normal and wipe down with detail spray.

The problem with Ceramic over PPF is the ceramic is rigid and the PPF is flexible. As the PPF expands and contracts, the ceramic sloughs off. Even Xpel says only to use a detail spray or something like a ceramic boost spray on top.

Lots of detail shops charging big $$$ for something that isn't really adding value. The shine is good, but you can maintain that with detail spray, a glossifier (Brilliant Glaze, Beadmaker) or a ceramic boost (Adams, Xpel, 3M).

Very interesting and I see analogies with other types of thin film coatings. For example optical thin films on metal and plastic.

I would offer the explanation that the PPF dimensional lateral change will follow the underlying sheet metal and ceramic since it has very little shear strength. The ceramic is very thin, ~2 microns, compared to the PPF, ~250 microns, but with substantially higher shear strength. The PPF will essentially buckle under the CTE mismatch with the bottom layer (sheet metal) and top layer (ceramic, SiO2).

However, if the premise is that the ceramic would yield (which I don’t believe would happen as described above) the same would occur with the ceramic directly on metal. -The sheet metal CTE is 5X to 10X that of the ceramic.

 

[MatthewAMEL]

To each their own. I once believed the same. However, my ZLE has PPF and no ceramic and my BW4 has both PPF & ceramic. I’m now a believer and wish that I would have put ceramic on the ZLE as well.

What is the thing you notice and like about that combo?

I have the entire nose of my 1LE wrapped, ceramic on the rest. For my wife’s Wrangler, the whole front is PPF since it’s essentially a brick.

I’m all about learning something and if there is a compelling reason, I would happily join the Ceramic/PPF club.

 

[LF4472]

What is the thing you notice and like about that combo?

I have the entire nose of my 1LE wrapped, ceramic on the rest. For my wife’s Wrangler, the whole front is PPF since it’s essentially a brick.

I’m all about learning something and if there is a compelling reason, I would happily join the Ceramic/PPF club.

The ceramic coating protects the PPF from chemicals (e.g. acid etching from bugs), increases gloss, helps keep the car cleaner and makes cleaning easier. Really, the same benefits that it has on painted surfaces.

 

[RDATLTE]

What is the thing you notice and like about that combo?

I have the entire nose of my 1LE wrapped, ceramic on the rest. For my wife’s Wrangler, the whole front is PPF since it’s essentially a brick.

I’m all about learning something and if there is a compelling reason, I would happily join the Ceramic/PPF club.

Ease of maintenance. As has been mentioned, there’s a specific and less expensive ceramic coating specifically for applying over PPF so, it’s not the same expense as just ceramic without PPF.

 

[MatthewAMEL]

Ease of maintenance. As has been mentioned, there’s a specific and less expensive ceramic coating specifically for applying over PPF so, it’s not the same expense as just ceramic without PPF.

Is that the Xpel ceramic?

 

[RDATLTE]

Is that the Xpel ceramic?

I believe that this is what was used on my BW: CQUARTZ Skin PPF & Vinyl Nano-Coat 50ml

 

[LF4472]

Mine has Modesta BC-05 over XPEL Ultimate PPF and non-PPF surfaces. Instagram

 

[Matt27]

Entire front clip, rockers, rear quarter panel behind the tires and I also usually do half way up each door. Those are the most rock chip prone zones

I've got these + mirrors, front half of the A-pillars and the top of the rear bumper that could get damage from putting stuff into/out of the trunk.