Jtamindzic

Do any Magno owners have experience with XPEL Stealth? If so, what's your verdict on quality, performance and does it affect / change the look of the original paint job at all?

As much as I love the appearance of MAGNO paint jobs, I swore I would never buy a vehicle with one so as not to have to deal with the maintenance of the paint, and would simply wrap if I wanted a matte look - that said, I jumped at the chance to buy a GT C Edition 50, and am now looking to protect the paint as best as I can, and the few recommendations I have received have all been XPEL Stealth.

Thanks

emericr

This is my second magno car and I agree that minor scratches, chips or dents are an issue.
I am very happy to report that I did a 3M bra on the GT front bumper and you cannot notice it. So far so good and the it looks brand new after 8K miles.
I do have a chip on the hood and some here have done the front bumper, front side and the hood for full protection.

Jtamindzic

Thanks for the info - do you know which of the 3M products you have? Does it give off any of the simple orange peel texture of older products?

okbarnett

Ive had a couple yrs experience with magno paint. Ive had to repaint 5 panels on my car. I have xpel on the hood , front bumper, a pillars, roof pillar. It is perfect and you never know its there.
I would tell you its a must on matte paint

emericr

I believe there is only one matte 3M product. No orange peel whatsoever. It's perfect. I did try Xpel on one quarter of the car and it was great as well but the local installer of choice only uses 3M so that's why I have it.
You can;t go wrong with either and it is a must have.

okbarnett

theres only one xpel matte film also. its described as satin. But it is equal to my matte paint and i did notice, across the hood, it does make the paint texture/orange peel/ disappear and makes the surface absolutely perfect. It is a solution to people who want to buff the paint to eliminate the OP

NewportSLS

100% https://mbworld.org/forums/sls-amg-g...clear-bra.html

JK417

I have a 550 SL Mille Miglia with the black matte paint. I had the entire hood, fenders, full doors, mirrors, rockers and partial back bumper done in Expel for matte finishes. You would be hard pressed to know that it is even on the car. It also has a ten year warranty. I had it done at Mohawk collision in Albany (Scotia) NY. Talk to Gerry there. Great product.

Vic55

Not a benz but I have stealth on it... no discernable differences even up close:

guynamedsean

Wow how many cars do you have?
gts
r8
c 63s
rs7?

what else?

emericr

VIC55: that is simply gorgeous. Was the OEM color regular non matte paint? I assumed it is tuned. Care to give any feedback on this monster?

Vic55

Its OEM paint called Daytona Gray Matte Effect. The car itself is my 2nd RS7 and yes its tuned. Its the Performance Edition so it has 605 hp and 553 tq stock but the tune blows those numbers up in a huge way. Unfortunately I only have basic 91 octane here so I dont see the types of gains that even 93 let alone race gas will show (the best tune only car ran like 10.4 at 133 mph on 104). The car has advanced over my 14 with better suspension (less fluff and roll) and much less understeer in dynamic mode. Its an unbelievable stop light and rolling racer with the tune plus it emits some great exhaust notes too. Im very happy with this purchase plus its rather luxurious inside. Its not as fast from 0-60 as my departed Turbo S but it can give the GTS a run for its money because with AWD it just launches with no mistake. The GTS (tuned) is still faster up top but not by much Ill bet and the RS7 feels more planted at higher speed with his longer track and weight. It is a bit of a porker at 4500 lbs but I have no expectation of this car handling the corners like a GTS or a C63 BS.

And there is no aftermarket matte wrap that can meet or come close to the quality of the OEM car. Up close my paint has a pearl effect as well, which cant be duplicated with Stealth.

Here is another pic with the Stealth applied:

okbarnett

you can turn any paint to matte by applying the matte clear film. It will look exactly like the factory matte paints.

muhri

So I was about to start a thread and then I saw this thread, so far, I've been looking for a wrap and none of the wraps we tried on the car didn't alter the color of the car! including XPEL, I paid an additional $9k for the color, I can't bring myself to change its looks.

Any other ideas?

Here are some photos that show a 3M matte (no note), a 3M clear (on the side fender) and XPEL Stealth (one with yellow note) on the car.

So far my car remains unwrapped until I solve this unfortunate mystery, I guess darker colors such as black and grey have better success rates.

okbarnett

I think maybe youre not giving a big view, maybe not putting a piece on a long panel against a non covered panel. Put a long piece on the hood and compare to the fender beside it. The car may not even be outside, indoor light is alot different than sun.
The film will take almost all of the gloss off the paint, if you shine light bulbs or flash lights on it you will still get some glare
The local porsche dealer is covering alot of cars with matte and every one Ive seen is as matte as any paint

Vic55

If you paid 9k for a gloss color I would not stealth or matte wrap it... leave it with its glory and use a clear wrap to just protect it. But stealth will for sure flatten out the gloss.

muhri

The idea is the color does not stay the same once wrapped, regardless the type of wrap used. At least for green hell magno.

muhri

It is Satin, green hell magno. The GTR special color.

emericr

I did the same as you did and while I had reservations like you, the installer told me to trust him. All I can say is that I wrapped my front bumper and you cannot see the difference in 99% of the times. The only period during the day where you could argue there is a difference (and that would be real picky) is at sunset or dawn where the plastic reflects a bit less light.
If you are going to wrap the entire vehicle then I would not worry about it and pick the one satin/matte (I would not go with clear as it is a bit glossy) that your installer feels more comfortable with.

muhri

But even my installer is not happy with all the film's we tried!! He is in agreement there is way too much color change

AMG 17GT

I would try SunTek film. I have clear on my car, but the film laid flatter than expel and 3m. They make a Matte product. Try it out.

NL007

NL007

AMG 17GT

str8blst

Here is mine under different types of lighting.... Xpel Stealth.. photos taken with Iphone X



Xpel Stealth...


Indoors under low light...


Outdoors....