My M5 will be here in around 4 months. I'm debating what to PPF, I obviously will do the entire front portion up to the front doors. What else should I do? Does the carbon roof scratch, should I do that? What about the carbon fiber side blades? Is doing the whole car overkill?

jw3571 wrote

My M5 will be here in around 4 months. I'm debating what to PPF, I obviously will do the entire front portion up to the front doors. What else should I do? Does the carbon roof scratch, should I do that? What about the carbon fiber side blades? Is doing the whole car overkill?

Personally, I believe the entire car to be overkill. It's a cost/benefit analysis at that point. Most (if not all) damage from road debris is going to occur on the front end so that is why I only PPF'd the front. Damage elsewhere will be rare and cost prohibitive, but if money is no object, more protection is always better than less.

For what it's worth, a friend of mine had a rock chip on his trunk from a rock that was kicked up on the highway and vaulted over his car and landed right on his trunk. PPF probably would've protected him there, so it's entirely up to you, just like levels of insurance coverage.

I did the entire car and I'm glad I did.

While I did it more for the protection it provides, maintaining the paint looking perfect is super easy. I had the paint corrected and then had the PPF applied and it always looks good and requires zero maintenance.

I recently noticed a scratch on one of my doors and was glad to see the paint was not affected as it was on the PPF. I poured some hot water on the PPF and it healed the scratch ... gone.

I realize it is a substantial investment but this is a six figure car.

In the end it really boils down to the type of owner that you are and how much having the extra protection and perfect looking paint means to you.

I like my car to look as perfect as possible and felt this was well worth it to me despite the fact the car is a lease.

Also maintaining paint on dark colors is a nightmare .. I know this firsthand coming from two dark (BSM & SG) F10 M5's w / no PPF. Current M5C is SG and the difference w/ the PPF is night and day.


Good luck!!

I did the whole car, but in matte. If you were looking at doing partial, I would include:
-mirror fronts, door handle cups, door jam, carbon fibre roof, behind rear wheels, rocker panel. I am starting to show road rash, rock chips on lower 10% of car.

If you are not doing the entire car then for sure do front including hood, mirrors, door handle cups, rear bumper too side (for items dragged out of the trunk) and both front and rear sides just behind the wheels. (Of course edge of the doors)

What are people paying to do the whole car?

I'd do the entire car. I only did the front on mine (including mirror caps, headlights and a strip on the front of the roof) and I'm considering doing the rest of the car.

I already have a few small scratches on the CF roof, but luckily they're superficial and will come out with a polish.

I did partial PPF, which included full front, front fenders, hood, side skirts, under handles, and behind rear fenders.

Thought I was safe. I noticed over the weekend that a rock or something left a small but very deep (down to metal it looks like) gash near the driver's side handle. One of the least likely spots I would think...

How much are you guys paying for this? I was quoted 10k to do the entire car. Thats more than the cost to repaint it... makes no sense.

gpdriver17 wrote

How much are you guys paying for this? I was quoted 10k to do the entire car. Thats more than the cost to repaint it... makes no sense.

At the place I went to in Houston, a full PPF with ceramic coating the interior and exterior was around 7-8k if I recall. My partial w/ ceramic in and out was around 4-5k.

I went for a whole car with Suntek self healing PPF. Yes it is a cost of repainting the car, but your car won't depreciate as it would after repainting. Additionally it is so much easier to wash the car and than dry it. You can just use a towel without any risk of scratching the paint, as the PPF heals. After a year my car still looks brand new and shines like crazy

$6,500 CAD whole M5, xpel. very good quality.
Liked it so much, did my wife's Macan as well.

windtendo wrote

I did partial PPF, which included full front, front fenders, hood, side skirts, under handles, and behind rear fenders.

Thought I was safe. I noticed over the weekend that a rock or something left a small but very deep (down to metal it looks like) gash near the driver's side handle. One of the least likely spots I would think...

That's a bummer. I was so tempted to not spend all the money but I said screw it and it's in right now doing the whole car. Better safe than sorry I guess. Although my wallet is sorry :P

Hockeytyme wrote

That's a bummer. I was so tempted to not spend all the money but I said screw it and it's in right now doing the whole car. Better safe than sorry I guess. Although my wallet is sorry :P

Yeah you pay for it one way or another unfortunately. I’m not keeping the car long term anyways so the sting from discovering the chip didn’t last long.