[Nexon]

Hi everyone, just have an x5 and very glad we have such a big and warm BMW family here.

Forgave me if I have stupid questions/incorrect descriptions here -- Does anyone knows how I can get PPF for an affordable price for the upcoming X5?

Today I just called several car paint shops or body shops, they give me a quote like $7000 with material + labor. The price is so crazy.

Does anyone know how I can get PPF for an affordable price? That will be so much helpful and easier for me than buying a huge piece of plastic film and cutting with my tiny scotch utility knife...

Thank you in advance!!!

[TurtleBoy]

$7,000 sounds about right if you are doing the full vehicle. Not sure why you are calling paint and body shops though, they likely do not do PPF and are sending it out to places that do.

There should be quite a few different places in your area that specialize in PPF. If you can't find any by using Google, or your favorite search engine, then go to the manufacture's sites and there should be locators on there. Some to look for are Xpel, 3M, Legend, and SunTek.

Keep in mind that the installer is as important, if not more important, than the product itself so check reviews. I also tend to stick to installers that are listed on the manufacture's site.

[rmorin1249]

Where are you in PA? There is a great shop near Carlisle. They do installs for Sun Motors. They sell BMWs, Mercedes, Audis and Porsches.
https://www.rosedetailing.com/

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by Nexon

Does anyone know how I can get PPF for an affordable price?

A few things to keep in mind:

(1.) Do you need PPF?
PPF is like a bike helmet - if you risk getting hit bad a lot you need it, if not you don't. In this case, do your cars typically get a lot of very small paint chips? That is, small enough to not cause a dent & trigger a comprehensive insurance claim, but voluminous enough to catch your eye? If not, then you don't need PPF. People who do a lot of snow state freeway driving (sand blasted), live on gravel roads, tailgate semi-trucks can benefit from PPF. Others might be paying big $$ to save a few paint chips they'd never have noticed. And don't forget an entire respray of a panel with new paint is typically equal or less than the PPF cost. For example I just checked with my body shop and a front-end respray was $1200-$1800 versus PPF which was $2200 ... so basically I'd have to need a 2nd respray before the PPF would be worth it for me.

(2.) If you need PPF, know what you want
A cheaper install is with pre-cut pieces that may not wrap all the way around panels. This leaves lines that catch dirt and/or start to bubble up / tear away. Further, pre-cut shops typically use low skilled workers who don't always to do a great job. If your PPF is installed like shit are you prepared to deal with that hassle & fight with the shop if need be versus live with a janky install? Custom installs will fully wrap your panels but they also might require removal of badges and even other components of your car - thus they're spendy and need some disassembly. Further, lower skilled installers risk cutting your paint with a razor during the install. And if you get into an accident and/or the PPF is damaged you might need to pay for the removal and reinstall; sometimes insurance will pay for it, sometimes not.

(3.) It's purely cosmetic and lost money
PPF won't raise the value of your car so every dollar is lost money.


All of that said, PPF can be a HUGE benefit ... if you need it.

[Jetrik]

I rolled the dice and got 'critical' areas (full front, rocker panels, back fenders, & rear view mirrors) done for about $2750. If it turns out to not be the right move, I know what not to do for the future. Right now, I'm cool with it being there. But I can see how it can be a sunk cost.

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by Jetrik

I rolled the dice and got 'critical' areas (full front, rocker panels, back fenders, & rear view mirrors) done for about $2750. If it turns out to not be the right move, I know what not to do for the future. Right now, I'm cool with it being there. But I can see how it can be a sunk cost.

how would you know if it's not the right move?

[Saejin]

On an X5 I really don’t see the need to PPF the entire vehicle. I live in Colorado and they place sand/dirt on the roads during the winter. The front end of my cars get torn up with lots of highway driving. But, it has never impacted my trade in value. With that being said I have PPF’d the headlights to protect those from the tiny chips.

As for cosmetic looks then it’s your call. It will protect the paint of course, but comes at a great cost.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by Jetrik

If it turns out to not be the right move, I know what not to do for the future.

Great point! PPF does have some "self healing" properties but that's a bit overblown ...

For example, an interesting thing I see a good few times is a dude says, "oh man a gravel truck lost a shovel full right in front of me, good thing I have PPF!"

And sure enough the PPF is dinged to shit and the paint is good ... but now, well, the PPF is dinged to shit and it ain't gonna self-heal And since the PPF took the abuse, not the paint, there's no comprehensive insurance claim. So, because the person doesn't want to pay $2,000 to replace the front-end PPF they drive around with chipped up PPF that looks terrible

Anyway, that'd be one way to know if PPF was the wrong move or not!


Another way is ceramic; lots of people who PPF, get it ceramic coated. The thing with ceramic is, it loves to bead water which looks super

The problem with water-beading is, beaded water that doesn't run off evaporates, leaving behind water spots ... and in most areas of the US that means water-spot etching that has to be polished out ... but on PPF that's not really a great idea so now your car becomes the etched water spot mobile. (ironically most owers w/ that problem aren't picky enough to know they have it which means they probably didn't need the PPF/ceramic in the first place...)

Everyone's situation is different and there's no right answer when it comes to this stuff (but then I've never had a phone case either sooo... )


For me the best answer is good ole fashioned bare paint, maintained frequently with simple fast no-bucket 20 min washes, & coated with a "sheeter" vs a "beader".

Hey, $7,000 is a luxury trip to Europe.

[Jetrik]

Originally Posted by nZtiZia

how would you know if it's not the right move?

I'm curious to see what physically happens to that front end. None of my previous three cars had PPF and came away relatively unscathed. Of course, the gorgeous Tanzanite Blue metallic paint was probably the primary reason why I decided to do it. If it seems, though, that not much of anything appeared to happen during the course of having the car, maybe I'd be better off self insuring while holding on to my money.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by Jetrik

I'm curious to see what physically happens to that front end. None of my previous three cars had PPF and came away relatively unscathed. Of course, the gorgeous Tanzanite Blue metallic paint was probably the primary reason why I decided to do it. If it seems, though, that not much of anything appeared to happen during the course of having the car, maybe I'd be better off self insuring while holding on to my money.

You definitely are likely to see pitting/chips etc. if you don't have PPF. I think my first chip was about 2 weeks after getting it. If all works as it should, you shouldn't see any damage on the PPF, either because it is tougher than the paint is and/or because of the healing.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by Jetrik

I'm curious to see what physically happens to that front end. None of my previous three cars had PPF and came away relatively unscathed. Of course, the gorgeous Tanzanite Blue metallic paint was probably the primary reason why I decided to do it. If it seems, though, that not much of anything appeared to happen during the course of having the car, maybe I'd be better off self insuring while holding on to my money.

Yup, it all just depends on how & where you drive.

This is my 3 year old tanz car with no PPF & very little chipping:



Over 3+ years it's taken multiple trips from the Bay Area to to LA and did a LOT of high performance driving in the Santa Cruz mountains. It wasn't babied ... I can't say zero chips but not hardly noticeable and if you asked me what they're worth to fix, for me, maybe a few hundred max.

That said, I never keep my car more than 3 or 4 years and I also like to do my own washing / detailing so prefer to work with the paint versus having PPF or multi-year coatings on there.

My year-round Minnesota cars, though, I'd get those PPF'd due to salt/sand blasting during the winter.

[skyline408]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Yup, it all just depends on how & where you drive.

This is my 3 year old tanz car with no PPF & very little chipping:



Over 3+ years it's taken multiple trips from the Bay Area to to LA and did a LOT of high performance driving in the Santa Cruz mountains. It wasn't babied ... I can't say zero chips but not hardly noticeable and if you asked me what they're worth to fix, for me, maybe a few hundred max.

That said, I never keep my car more than 3 or 4 years and I also like to do my own washing / detailing so prefer to work with the paint versus having PPF or multi-year coatings on there.

My year-round Minnesota cars, though, I'd get those PPF'd due to salt/sand blasting during the winter.

I'm normally not a ppf guy, but the X5M has an issue where the aggressive front tires basically blast the lower front doors. After 1700 miles on my car in relatively clean SF Bay Area roads, there is some sand blasting.

turns out, i'm not the only one...

https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1820704

I went ahead and had my lower doors, rockers, bumper, and hood done by a very very good ppf shop. Looks great, not pre-cut and no seams visible. Worth it to me.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by skyline408

After 1700 miles on my car in relatively clean SF Bay Area roads, there is some sand blasting.

turns out, i'm not the only one...

Interesting - I've been driving mine between Oregon and the bay area and just detailed it and didn't notice any chipping but I'll keep an eye out!

which shop did you use?

[skyline408]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Interesting - I've been driving mine between Oregon and the bay area and just detailed it and didn't notice any chipping but I'll keep an eye out!

which shop did you use?

to be honest, it wasn't noticeable until I did the first critical wash of the car. I was pretty appalled to see the mild peppering only on the lower front doors. My car is black, so maybe more noticeable than say white or lighter color cars. I also found a single chip on my hood so I reluctantly decided to get the hood and lower doors covered. Then I thought WTH, might as well get the bumper done while it is still fresh and chip less.

I was recommended to this shop by a fellow BMW guy :

https://precisionautomotivepaintprotection.com/

They followed the lower door lines, so it looks pretty clean.

[Silver64]

Originally Posted by skyline408

They followed the lower door lines, so it looks pretty clean.

It looks very clean, but would probably still drive me crazy because I would see the line all the time. I totally get why anyone would do it and I considered it myself for my new Arctic Grey, but I can’t get over the appearance of the line.

[skyline408]

Originally Posted by Silver64

It looks very clean, but would probably still drive me crazy because I would see the line all the time. I totally get why anyone would do it and I considered it myself for my new Arctic Grey, but I can’t get over the appearance of the line.

I'd much rather have a line of PPF than the sand blast look of the lower doors.

If you are not crouching down looking for the line, the PPF completely blends in with the door crease and is good enough for me IMO.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by skyline408

I'd much rather have a line of PPF than the sand blast look of the lower doors.

If you are not crouching down looking for the line, the PPF completely blends in with the door crease and is good enough for me IMO.

yeah, it looks good, thanks for the pics! I know precision well and they'd be in my consideration set for doing PPF ... I'll have to do a really close look and see what I see.

I'm at about your same mileage and if I do see some peppering I'll probably go your route. Great pics, thanks for the help!

[specracer]

Ours is a lease (as have been the 6 before), and we have not done PPF on any of them. Not worth it to me. Note, I am a big supporter of PPF in other applications, have 3 cars 100% wrapped, a few more with full front etc.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by specracer

Ours is a lease (as have been the 6 before), and we have not done PPF on any of them. Not worth it to me. Note, I am a big supporter of PPF in other applications, have 3 cars 100% wrapped, a few more with full front etc.

Serious question for anyone: how many people here keep a new X5 more than 3 or 4 years? Anyone?

It seems like regardless of financing instrument most people sell their SUVs because SUV ... no?

[specracer]

I think it was our 3rd X5, we did. We kept it 6-7 years, got it over 100k miles. We regretted this, as the issues had started, nothing huge, but the time out of service, and dealing with it, was frustrating. We are now back on the 3 year lease plan.

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Serious question for anyone: how many people here keep a new X5 more than 3 or 4 years? Anyone?

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Serious question for anyone: how many people here keep a new X5 more than 3 or 4 years? Anyone?

i had my Q7 for 5 years before I traded it in for my 45e which I plan to keep for 6-7 years. i would've kept my Q7 longer, but we came under some fortunate circumstances to update

[jiggie]

I've always held onto my cars for 5-7 years. I also don't drive more than 10,000 miles a year.