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Hey everyone - been driving MB for a few years, but the c63 will be my first AMG. Very excited to take deliver next weekend!
Anyway, I'm getting a diamond white ED1 and have a couple of questions about coating and clear wrap.
1. My dealer is providing exterior and wheel coating as part of the sale (something they value at $1k). Being that this is in Japan, I believe the dealer or whoever they outsource it to will do a proper job.
That said, should the Xpel wrap go on before the coating? Makes sense to me, but would like to confirm, as the dealer can not do the Xpel and I would have to pull the car from the prior to coating.
2. Roads in Japan are generally in great condition and I have not had any issues with chipping in the years I've lived here. However, considering the value of this car, I think Xpel may be a good idea. Thoughts?
3. Without knowing exactly what products the dealer/3rd party uses for the coating or what prep work they do before applying, would you recommend going to a specialized detailer instead?
If so, how far would the $1k go and what would you recommend? Opticoat?
Thanks in advance! This is an awesome forum and I'm excited to be part of it and hopefully contributing once I have more experience with the car.
Hey Lugn! Congrats and good choice in the ed1 in diamond white, I have the exact same car!! I also had the option to purchase the exterior coating, but I don't think it's worth the money. I'm very **** about detailing, and the 1k they charge is way too steep. The service just includes coating, so no paint correction done before the coating. I would reccomend going to a local detailing place and have cquartz instead of opti coat applied. Right after I drove my car home, I did paint correction then stacked 5 layers of cquartz over 2 days and the results are stunning. Definitely adds depth to the paint, and that means a lot since Mercedes pearl is very lacking compared to pearl coats found in Japanese cars. Also do the coating first before you apply xpel, I personally didn't do the clear bra just because it effects the way the paint looks. I feel the bra gets dirty over time and will have a slight tint over the cars paint, so noticeable in the future when you compare the panels. Hope this helps!
If you're good with a buffer you can do your own paint (clear coat) correction, and then use a professional sealant such as Optimum Polymer Technologies OptiCoat, or better, Modesta. I took both of my Benzos to one of the best detailers in the business. Had a multi-stage paint correction, OptiCoat, and a full wrap 3M clear bra. Three years later (on a 10 year old car) and she looks better than most coming right off the dealer floor. Of course, the finish is not bulletproof, so I go to extreme measures such as four bucket wash method, etc. Total cost to me was around $3000. Not cheap - but in my estimation, worth every cent.
'08 BMW 335i Coupe '15 E400 Sedan '25 CLE 53 Coupe
Congratulations on getting your C63 .. a beautiful car for certain ..
Xpel recommends that their paint protective films (PPF) be applied before sealants - stated on their FAQ page linked below ..
"We do NOT recommend applying sealants such as Opticoat or cQuartz to the parts of the car that will be covered with film. The low surface energy of paint sealant products such as these will cause adhesion problems both during installation and over the life of the product."
As mentioned - it's best to have a good detailer perform paint correction prior to installing the PPF or coating (that will seal in imperfections). New cars can have a surprising number of scratches, swirls and other small imperfections that can be easily remedied.
PPF has no UV protection (a good thing in that the uncovered areas of the car will fade at the same rate). For this reason - applying a protective coating or sealant over both the installed PPF and uncovered bodywork seems the best option. Xpel covers this on their FAQ sheet and refers to application of Opti-Coat or cQuartz on their applied films.
I would recommend against having the dealer install any protective coating unless you are certain of exactly what they are applying and have researched both the product and installer.
J.
Last edited by J.Raymond; Oct 10, 2015 at 02:09 PM.
J. Raymond - thanks for correcting my post. It is PPF clear bra and then the OptiCoat. Don't think there's much that can adhere to a well applied coat of OptiCoat, PPF included.
Have spoken to the dealer and confirmed that they do in fact outsource the work to a 3rd party, which is good news in itself. Unfortunately, this also means that they're not very familiar with the process and products used.
So, after a number of phone calls and a lot getting lost in translation, I've learned that they do paint correction and apply a single layer of polymer or glass coating (which one is "better"???).
Shopped around a bit to see how prices and service compare in the area, and it seems the $1k is reasonable. A quick quote on modesta starts around $1.5k, but considering that I will likely keep the car less than 2-3 years, not sure it's worth going that route.
So, at the point where I need to decide on whether to let the dealer do their thing, or bring it somewhere else. I believe any reputable business here in Japan will do a good job, so it comes down to products. MB of course have their "own magic sauce", and they can't explain what goes into it or how it compares to alternatives in the market.
The alternative is to let the dealer to the paint correction and do the coating myself.
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