[amus3d]

I recently found my first rock/stone chip on my car. Needless to say, the first one always hurts as I remembered the rock bouncing, bouncing, and bouncing on the pavement before making contact with my hood. Anyways, I am just wondering how many of you have their bumpers, hoods, etc. wrapped with paint protection film?

[clee1982]

Just front and rear bumper for me (XEPL), didn't wrap the hood, so will be the same thing for me...

[Zap-xpilot]

The whole car is wrapped with bodyfence clear protection.

Have the same wrap on my M3 as well, couldn’t be happier. Winter driving in Sweden entails a lot of salt and small rocks (strewn on the roads for better friction, I’ve already had to change the windscreen once on a car not yet one year old...

A colleague of mine got his car six months earlier, the same color, med blue, his hood looks like the moon surface in comparison.
If you plan on keeping the cars then it’s a nobrainer for me

[jwong77]

Originally Posted by clee1982

Just front and rear bumper for me (XEPL), didn't wrap the hood, so will be the same thing for me...

I did the same to the front end. It has saved me, as someone actually hit the corner of my front bumper. All I had to do was to wipe off their paint from the XPel and all was good.

I wish I knew of a similar product for my windshield, which is now pitted in several locations.

[clee1982]

Originally Posted by Zap-xpilot

The whole car is wrapped with bodyfence clear protection.

Have the same wrap on my M3 as well, couldn’t be happier. Winter driving in Sweden entails a lot of salt and small rocks (strewn on the roads for better friction, I’ve already had to change the windscreen once on a car not yet one year old...

A colleague of mine got his car six months earlier, the same color, med blue, his hood looks like the moon surface in comparison.
If you plan on keeping the cars then it’s a nobrainer for me

how much is warping whole car for you guys?

[gooselee]

No wrap or ceramic on my M550. I also don't put cases on my cell phones.

I got my first rock chip about a week after delivery. Got some Dr. Colorchip yesterday and will apply it once it's a bit warmer in my garage. It happens.

It helps that the M550 is not my daily driver and I don't live somewhere that there's a lot of salt/gravel on the roads.

[Zap-xpilot]

Originally Posted by clee1982

how much is warping whole car for you guys?

Its relatively expensive ~ 3-4K eur. But then it’s all craftsmanship - everything is done by hand, and you sure don’t want to underpay a guy holding an exacto knife on your car paint...

But I hope it’s worth it. Color matching paints is a.... pain

[clee1982]

3~4k euro sounds pretty comparable, think it's like 4~5k USD to wrap entire car here (never even inquired)?

[Zap-xpilot]

Interestingly enough I noticed a huge mark in the film on the back left side of the roof, almost close to the rear spoiler (wagon).
I’m almost worried that it could’ve penetrated the film, although my detailing guy says it’s highly unlikely.
I think it was a stone chip from this summer’s autobahn driving, several v-max runs in a convoy..
So, I really don’t regret the added cost of 1,5-2,5keuro to wrap the entirety of the car, as opposed to just hood and front.

This is especially true with the m3, tracked cars suffer so many stone chips, mine looks pristine...

[amus3d]

Hmm...maybe I should get the front end wrapped. The roads here are not rough but I would hate to get another chip. Plus, I am planning on keeping this car for a while so I want it to look good for as long as possible. Now I just need to convince the wife that I am not wasting money, again.

[gooselee]

So I applied the Dr. Colorchip last night. Actually found two other nicks on the front edge of my hood while I was addressing the bigger chip.

This stuff is great! Spot on match for my Azurite Black. You do need to be diligent about keeping things clean and being patient - the key seems to be letting the solutions work with each other and not relying on physical pressure when wiping off the excess.

The two smaller chips are completely invisible after just a single coat unless you're looking for them and have your face at a certain angle about 6 inches away. The one larger chip I did three coats on so far. It went from being a white fleck you could spot from anywhere to virtually invisible as well 95% of the time - if you know it's there you can spot it from about 2-3 ft away and only from certain angles.

I'm sure the results would have been even better had I polished the area a bit before applying, as the rock kind of crinkled up the clear coat around it. But I don't have a polisher yet, so skipped that step. Still really impressed - might add a fourth coat to level it out even more, but also trying to stick to the "less is more" philosophy and just let it cure, then top it with sealant/wax to see if that conceals it enough.

TL;DR - Really happy with these results and if I just need to apply this stuff a couple times a year, that's a much better approach for my particular needs/situation than several thousand $ for a wrap.

[MXNSITH]

Originally Posted by gooselee

So I applied the Dr. Colorchip last night. Actually found two other nicks on the front edge of my hood while I was addressing the bigger chip.

This stuff is great! Spot on match for my Azurite Black. You do need to be diligent about keeping things clean and being patient - the key seems to be letting the solutions work with each other and not relying on physical pressure when wiping off the excess.

The two smaller chips are completely invisible after just a single coat unless you're looking for them and have your face at a certain angle about 6 inches away. The one larger chip I did three coats on so far. It went from being a white fleck you could spot from anywhere to virtually invisible as well 95% of the time - if you know it's there you can spot it from about 2-3 ft away and only from certain angles.

I'm sure the results would have been even better had I polished the area a bit before applying, as the rock kind of crinkled up the clear coat around it. But I don't have a polisher yet, so skipped that step. Still really impressed - might add a fourth coat to level it out even more, but also trying to stick to the "less is more" philosophy and just let it cure, then top it with sealant/wax to see if that conceals it enough.

TL;DR - Really happy with these results and if I just need to apply this stuff a couple times a year, that's a much better approach for my particular needs/situation than several thousand $ for a wrap.

Can you share pics? If you have before and after that would be ideal.

[gooselee]

Originally Posted by zeusmontes

Can you share pics? If you have before and after that would be ideal.

Will try to take/post some this afternoon.

I think I forgot to take "before" pics, though...

[amus3d]

Can't wait to see the after pictures. I opt-ed for the OEM touch-up paint and used a small detail brush to apply a thin coat. Debating if I should attempt to add a second coat but the last time I did that, I ended up with a small bulge and it was an eye sore. I think I prefer a small indent than a bulge.

[gooselee]

So I didn't have any "before" pictures unfortunately. But this (https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1VHqwazq9xY/maxresdefault.jpg) is comparable to the chip that was in the middle of my hood. Basically just bigger than the tip of a ball-point pen, but through enough layers to appear as a white dot in a sea of beautiful, rich Azurite.

I had two other even smaller nicks about 1.5"-2" above the leading edge of the hood over my passenger headlight. These were toothpick-point sized and just barely showing white..or honestly could have just been the light reflecting differently off the impacted clear coat.

One coat of DCC on the two smaller chips. Three cycles applied to the bigger chip on the hood (allowed the first one to cure for an hour before wiping off, about 5-10 mins to dry for the second two applications). IPA wiped the areas before each application and additionally used an IPA-soaked q-tip to clean out the bigger chip before application.

And here are the results - this was just a quick set of shots in my garage, so apologies for the crappy photo quality. You'll have to work to see the smaller chips, but the bigger one is still pretty obvious from certain angles. I placed a towel on the hood to help locate the bigger chip - it's just forward of the curled corner. The towel was not moved in any of the pictures, and it also does not block the chip in the one angle from behind.

View post on imgur.com

Note that this is now just bare paint with just the DCC application. At the time of the photos, I had not gone back over it with any sort of sealant/wax/etc. Plan is to let it cure for a few days, then apply Megs UFF, let that cure, then either wax or Megs HCW. I feel like/hope the protectant layers will help fill in/smooth out whats left of it and make things even more imperceptible - and I was planning to do all of that anyway once things warm back up.

Also, apologies for the general dustiness and stuff elsewhere on the car. It's been freezing in Atlanta so I was only able to wash the areas in the general vicinity of the chips. All the other specks and crap you see is just general surface fuzz from the outside world.

DCC definitely doesn't replace a full-on sanding/polishing/etc. process. But for $75 and a bottle still 95% full, I'm very happy with the results.

[DutchM550d]

I did the front of my car

[Bimmer5]

I have the front of mine done with expel, Mediterranean blue and it still looks flawless.

[530iDriver]

No, I went naked this time and don't regret it. I have clear bras before and they are OK but they also remind me too much of the cheesy plastic couch covers our elder family members placed on their furniture.

After all, this is a car, meant to be driven and enjoyed. I understand the OCD among us regarding rock chips and what not (The advent of water based environmental friendly car paints introduced much of this crap) but keeping the edges of your hood pristine for the next guy I am not sure if that is a healthy approach to ownership.

I guess everybody shares a different view on the subject. What I failed to understand is folks that lease/rent these cars and spent little fortunes wrapping them up in clear plastic...

[530iDriver]

For those interested I found a much better European product alternative to Dr Color chip:

Color N' Drive touch up paint kits... Highly recommend cheaper with faster delivery than Dr Color Chip which I never found to be all that great.

[530iDriver]

Originally Posted by dchuck84

I recently found my first rock/stone chip on my car. Needless to say, the first one always hurts as I remembered the rock bouncing, bouncing, and bouncing on the pavement before making contact with my hood. Anyways, I am just wondering how many of you have their bumpers, hoods, etc. wrapped with paint protection film?

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you own the car or the car owns you?

2. Is this car meant to be driven and enjoyed or rather a car show piece that has to be kept pristine without a speck of dust?

You can wrap the car in plastic but remember this... the unprotected areas of the car will age faster so 5 years down the road you have a pristine hood and older car around it.

[530iDriver]

Originally Posted by dchuck84

Hmm...maybe I should get the front end wrapped. The roads here are not rough but I would hate to get another chip. Plus, I am planning on keeping this car for a while so I want it to look good for as long as possible. Now I just need to convince the wife that I am not wasting money, again.

Your car will age and you will tire of it after many years. Keep it nice but spending g thousands on plastic wrap, I am not so sure about.

Do your keep your couch under clear plastic covers too?

[530iDriver]

Originally Posted by clee1982

3~4k euro sounds pretty comparable, think it's like 4~5k USD to wrap entire car here (never even inquired)?

Originally Posted by clee1982

3~4k euro sounds pretty comparable, think it's like 4~5k USD to wrap entire car here (never even inquired)?

Absurd money. Save that for your next new car or put some high return Investment. And old car is an old car even with the plastic wrap.