3M paint protection film??

[LeeJV]

Hi all,
after some real close up detailing on my 507 this weekend I've found various little stone chips etc on the car, (as to be expected on a 5 yr old car) So I've decided to have the car re painted in a bodyshop so its A1 before the New 507 side decals go on.
Obviously I'm looking to protect my investment as much as possible, and looking into 3M paint protection film.
Has anybody used this on their cars, if so does it actually work without going yellow in a year or Two?
Also don't want to sacrifice the glossy finish of the paintwork.

Any Honest reviews would be great

Cheers
Lee

 

[st13phil]

Not used it on a car, but have used it very successfully on bikes in the past and have just fitted 3M VentureShield to the pannier lids (that are vulnerable to getting kicked by the passenger getting on and off) on my K1600GT.

In my experience it doesn't yellow or discolour and works well, but it's not completely invisible, and when compared to fully corrected paintwork it loses a little gloss. However, that's a small sacrifice compared to a peppering of stone chips.

 

[anglaslt]

I've got it on my M6. The whole car was wrapped soon after new by the first owner and it's now a couple of years old. It does look very good and shows no swirl marks at all. I like that it (allegedly) self heals minor marks although thankfully I've never had any to heal.

On the plus side it always looks good, especially after a wash. I see no sign of any discolouration and it's very difficult to detect that it's been wrapped at all. If anything it looks even more glossy than my son's M4 which is in an identical colour.

On the minus side it is expensive. A whole car wrap is around £4k. It also concerns me that even the smallest damage would require a whole panel un-rap, repair and re-wrap. If I take it to a hand wash I have to ask them not to put too much pressure on it for fear of lifting the edges. Hasn't happened but it's just one more thing to worry about. Also I don't have the pleasure of giving it the occasional polish. You can polish a wrap I've been told but it just seems a bit odd.

I'm very happy it's been wrapped at someone else's expense but I don't think I'd spend £4k to do it, especially as I'm a low mileage user anyway and stone chips have never been a major concern for me. Maybe ceramic coating is a better way to protect your paintwork? For me, regular washing and the occasional polish has always been enough to keep my cars looking good.

You can read more about paint protection film (PPF) on the Topaz Detailing website where mine was done. The previous owner kindly left me the invoice and guarantee. Topaz Detailing | Car Detailing | Paint Protection | Maintenance

 

[Jrattan]

Happy with mine on my GTR. No discolour between the wrapped and unwrapped parts after 4 years

 

[Jrattan]

However, maybe look at Xpel as it’s self healing. That’s my only regret.

 

[LeeJV]

thanks for the replies guys, I've been looking into the the cost, and it would seem that I'm better off just leaving it., I only do a small amount if miles, as its my weekend car, and I seem to spend more time cleaning than driving.
it also works out cheaper to have the paint work refreshed every couple of years instead of the cost of wrapping it.
and I do love detailing the car to the point of obsession.

thanks again for the comments, I ll have to give it some thought.

 

[Deleted member 126251]

Maybe ceramic coating is a better way to protect your paintwork?

Doubt that it will.

 

[Jrattan]

What colour is the car out of interest? I can recommend someone very good in Kent

 

[LeeJV]

What colour is the car out of interest? I can recommend someone very good in Kent

its silver matey.
have you used them yourself

 

[Yex]

Lee, I have a full PPF film on my 507 (fortunately paid for by the previous owner) and it really does make cleaning the car a 20 minute job. Any bugs, dirt, water marks etc. just wash away with lightly soapy water and a quick dry down with cloths and I’m done

With the colour of my car being a Matt finish it makes perfect sense to have the PPF film due to possible damage from stone chips, bird crap, tree sap etc so I was very happy to replace a few pieces recently after I had some stone chips repainted and had a few issues with the original PPF film pointed out to me by the guys who did the new cover on the bonnet and the whole of the rear redone. If my car was a gloss finish I would probably not have the PPF film done as I do like to clean and polish my cars like you and having seen a few of the ceramic coating polishes now available would probably consider them as an alternative. As mentioned above a full PPF on a C class is not cheap and is certainly in the £3-4,000 range at decent suppliers so is a major outlay that would probably cover servicing and running costs for a 3-4 year ownership timeline so does need serious consideration.