[MILLA]

I have been playing this argument back in my head for months.
First hand experience would be greatly appreciated.

My incoming 2025 M2 will be daily driven in the North East.

I've never owned a car that has had PPF or ceramic on it.

I keep my cars for a decade or more usually and aside from a few paint chips (luckily!), I've never had major paint issues. Regular cleanings and polish have seemed to work.

I sell cars for a living, so I see cars come in with and without PPF and or ceramic. I don't believe it adds to the value of the car. Maybe the peace of mind when buying high end cars like a GT3 for example. Not to mention, some PPF jobs are just awful, yellowing, or are tearing.

Do I shell up the $6+K to have the car PPF? I don't think it will help resale unless I sell the car relatively early in its life.

I've also read that some PPF are superior to others. Any experience as to which ones to avoid?

here are my questions?
1-do I PPF? if so, how much of the car? front or full car?
2-what brand and type of PPF do I look for?
3-local to philadelphia installers you would recommend?
2-do I just do a paint correction and ceramic?

Many thanks for your help. It's a big dollar commitment for me but with a brand new car in 2024 in a special order color, I'm not quite sure what the best approach is.

[beren]

I would do the full car. I did PPF to the A pillar, but now I see marks at the rear of the car with only 4K on it. An extra 2 grand and I would not have these marks permanently. So annoying. I suppose I cna buff these marks out, but you know what I mean. I also live on the north east where there can be a propsensity to use blue stone dust instead of sand on the highways...which is murder on paint.

[mynameisnick4]

PPF on the bumper, rockers, and rear quarters is the bare minimum for me moving forward. This was the first car I ever got PPF on and I only did the front bumper but I regret not getting the rockers and rear quarters. The section of the rockers that go up into the rear quarters are already getting chewed up at only 8k miles. I don't think doing the full car at something super expensive like $5k+ is worth it. The bumper PPF for me was just under $800. I think the the rockers and rear quarters would probably have brought me to around $1,300.

[fanofbmwe46]

Ohio here. Plan to drive it 2-4k miles a year in fair weather 3 seasons only. No PPF. Just ceramic. And mud flaps.

[IanH]

Full front, hood, mirrors and rear fenders sometimes called "track pack" Is usually 1500-2000, you want xpel ultimate film.

Huge gap in price to get the whole car done (because it is way more labor time to full wrap due to extra part removal) i was recently quoted in the range of 6250-6750 from good shops in the Boston area. And that does not include the ceramic.

[BimmerBenzorBentley]

You're all so weird about PPF, it's a car, drive and enjoy. Bound to get scuffs and chips.

A 70k M2 is not a 400k GT3RS lololol.

[IanH]

You really do need to be comfortably into the 6 figures of vehicle value for full car ppf to make sense financially, but few of us are into cars because they are sound financial decisions...

Ceramic coating and a pro detailing job to start the cars life really makes caring for the car a whole lot easier.

Seen plenty of road debris damage that goes right through ppf and it does little to mitigate the damage.

PPF is kind of a catch 22, for it to make sense you have to keep the car at least 10 years, and the best time to put it on is when the car is brand new... but you probably don't know if you're going to keep it 10 years when you first buy it.

[BimmerBenzorBentley]

PPF is for people that have never had a speeding ticket yet want an M2 lol. Old rich slow MFers.

[kraken]

To me, on a 70K car, not worth it to spend 10% of car's value on PPF. It doesn't add value to the car... if it's GT3RS on the other hand, yes PPF.

[///M TOWN]

Originally Posted by BimmerBenzorBentley

PPF is for people that have never had a speeding ticket yet want an M2 lol. Old rich slow MFers.

The most ridiculous post so far

It has to do with being an enthusiast

It has absolutely nothing to do with age

[BroDoze]

This thread has gone full retard.

[BgsDks]

Xpel

Full Front end, front fenders, full hood, Mirrors , a pillars, roof cap, rockers, lower part of the doors, big patch in front of the rear wheels, patch behind the rear wheels, fuel door patch, small patch on the trunk where you use your hand to pull the lid down. Also, make sure the headlights are covered as well.

I find that to be a good compromise between maximum protection with a total car versus cheaping out.

and above all, a good installer.

And take it to your PPF guy immediately.

[///M TOWN]

PPF if you want the car to stay Pristine.
I’d PPF the car without hesitation …

I have a six-year-old M car and I had paint corrected, PPF on the front clip, the a-pillar’s, hips, and ceramic coating over the entire car and the car looks brand new to this day.

It might not be worth it to some people, but to others it’s worth every penny

Is it something you should spend your money on? That’s only something you can decide. If you’re asking me, I say why not.

[JABCAT]

Originally Posted by ///M TOWN

PPF if you want the car to stay Pristine.
I’d PPF the car without hesitation …

I have a six-year-old M car and I had paint corrected, PPF on the front clip, the a-pillar’s, hips, and ceramic coating over the entire car and the car looks brand new to this day.

It might not be worth it to some people, but to others it’s worth every penny

Is it something you should spend your money on? That’s only something you can decide. If you’re asking me, I say why not.

100% - I have it on all my vehicles, and it's worth every penny. I've seen those cars with "just a few rock chips", and sure they look ok from 10 ft away, but once you get up close, they look like crap. Was just at a car show this weekend & the vast majority of the cars had small chips & touch ups all over the front bumpers & hoods. With the amount of $ these car owners spent on their car show signs/boards, & gimmicks to promote their car for said shows, they easily could've had ppf on the those parts (and maybe placed in their respective categories). Not that I care but my almost 14-year old Z06 placed second in a C1-C8 Division beating several brand new Z06s without one of those cool expensive signs with my car airbrushed on it.

I like keeping my cars looking new, and if 47 is "old", then I guess I'm old. We're in the cell phone era, trade in for a new one every 2 years, so most people don't care about keeping things looking new.

[ajchoi]

Originally Posted by ///M TOWN

The most ridiculous post so far

It has to do with being an enthusiast

It has absolutely nothing to do with age

I PPFed my frontend and also just tried to keep up with an M5 up to…very high speeds but allowable during break in. If I wasn’t still in break in that would have been even more wild.

My main question though is why are there so many judgmental people who seem to care what others do to protect their cars? It’s not your money, so it’s actually really sad to take time out of your life to make that judgement. But you do you, weirdos.

[c1pher]

I typically get the track pack to protect the higher impact areas. It’s a nice compromise from full PPF and half the cost. I used to be totally against PPF but it certainly has protected my car against all the little chips and road debris.

I do believe PPF helps with resale from the perspective that if you have two cars side by side, with and without PPF, the car with PPF is going to have less damage. I also like that I can be less careful washing the car over those parts since the film will “heal” and remove any swirls. Will you get your money back on resale? I doubt it.

I do not have PPF on my trucks. They seem to be high up enough not to get hit as often on the paintwork. I do have two chips on the hood of my Super Duty that I will have to apply some Dr. Colorchip to. I can only imagine how many little chips or dings I might have on the M2 after 8,100 miles.

[JABCAT]

Originally Posted by c1pher

I do believe PPF helps with resale from the perspective that if you have two cars side by side, with and without PPF, the car with PPF is going to have less damage. I also like that I can be less careful washing the car over those parts since the film will “heal” and remove any swirls. Will you get your money back on resale? I doubt it.

My experience has been positive regarding the increased value at resale/trade-in. We received $5k more than the highest Carmax and local dealer offer on my wife's '20 Grand Cherokee from the dealer we ordered her '23 GC. They actually increased their offer after seeing the vehicle in person, specifically because it had ppf & looked brand new with 56k mi on it. The manager said he'd be able to sell it for more due to its pristine condition. *And no, they didn't just roll the trade-in offer into the price of the new GC, we paid 4% below invoice for that. They sold our '20 GC 2 days after we picked up the '23.

We purchased the '20 brand new in 2020 for $45k, paid $1,700 for Xpel, put 56k mi on it over 2 years & received $38k trade-in. Kbb at that time was $32-35k trade in, and the highest offer we received, even from the original dealer from which we purchased was $33k. And that was if we paid msrp for the '23 we ordered. To me, I'd say I got my $ back on that vehicle. Same thing happened when we traded the '23 GC for her current X3MC. Dealership increased their offer after seeing the vehicle in person. They also sold that GC in less than a week from getting it from us.

But that's just my experience, others may differ.

[DrewNewM2]

At most I would do front end and hood for less than $2k. That should cover most of where any potential damage could occur.

There is no way a full PPF for $6k-$8k makes any financial sense. It only makes you feel better emotionally.

Full PPF is like 10% of the value of the car for what? A plastic covering? It can’t be removed and sold like an exhaust can when you sell or trade the car. It covers areas that don’t even need to be covered. It won’t protect against any bigger rocks, dings, etc. It needs to be replaced eventually for another probably 15% of the cars value since the car depreciated.

My almost 5 year old STi has like 4 chips that could have been prevented by PPF, probably $200 to fix. My 21 Bronco has a few as well. Both have a couple of dings that wouldn’t have been prevented by PPF. Clearly not worth $12k-$14k to protect against.

[BroDoze]

Full-car PPF’d my FPB. No brainer, no regrets. Gloss PPF’d all the gloss bits (CF roof & Spoiler), all the gloss black stuff (this stuff gets trashed with swirls/scratches), headlights etc and obviously the entire matte paint everywhere.
Entire car. It’s freakin awesome. I’ll do the Dr Beasley Matte Film Ceramic myself.

[DDG61EW]

Timely as i just picked up my 25 on Thursday and have an appointment to get the "track package" this morning. Full front, mirrors and rockers. I opted not to have the A-pillars done because i don't want a visible line (and they are pretty thin so rolling the dice). 50 and this will be my first PPF venture, will polish and ceramic coat myself as i have 20 years experience in those areas.

1-Track Package
2-Ceramic Pro is what i went this.
3-Located in Dallas
2- As stated above I've opted for both (PPF 2800.00).

[thefinals82]

Originally Posted by MILLA

I have been playing this argument back in my head for months.
First hand experience would be greatly appreciated.

My incoming 2025 M2 will be daily driven in the North East.

I've never owned a car that has had PPF or ceramic on it.

I keep my cars for a decade or more usually and aside from a few paint chips (luckily!), I've never had major paint issues. Regular cleanings and polish have seemed to work.

I sell cars for a living, so I see cars come in with and without PPF and or ceramic. I don't believe it adds to the value of the car. Maybe the peace of mind when buying high end cars like a GT3 for example. Not to mention, some PPF jobs are just awful, yellowing, or are tearing.

Do I shell up the $6+K to have the car PPF? I don't think it will help resale unless I sell the car relatively early in its life.

I've also read that some PPF are superior to others. Any experience as to which ones to avoid?

here are my questions?
1-do I PPF? if so, how much of the car? front or full car?
2-what brand and type of PPF do I look for?
3-local to philadelphia installers you would recommend?
2-do I just do a paint correction and ceramic?

Many thanks for your help. It's a big dollar commitment for me but with a brand new car in 2024 in a special order color, I'm not quite sure what the best approach is.

IMO, its worth it.

I have high impact areas done in 3m clear ppf.

[///M TOWN]

Originally Posted by ajchoi

I PPFed my frontend and also just tried to keep up with an M5 up to…very high speeds but allowable during break in. If I wasn’t still in break in that would have been even more wild.

My main question though is why are there so many judgmental people who seem to care what others do to protect their cars? It’s not your money, so it’s actually really sad to take time out of your life to make that judgement. But you do you, weirdos.

Classic keyboard warriors

Nothing new sad but true

Ignore those ratbastards