steve sl550

XPEL on diamond white good or bad idea ?

I"m thinking about bumper, mirrors and 1/2 of hood. Want to minimize road rash and chips.

Diamond White is a pain to touch up (MB touch up does not match, Dr Color diamond white doesn't match so needed to mix Dr Color white with Dr Color diamond white and I got a good match after experimenting with ratios...BTW if done correctly much better result than normal touch up with a brush or applicator ).

So...Anyone have comments as to using XPEL over Diamond White....will the Diamond White show different under vs exposed ?

Any other concerns.

THANKS

Heisenberg

Always a great idea just make sure the paint is in as good condition as possible before it is applied as it will seal in any imperfections.

Also I'd strongly suggest doing the full hood, particularly on a white car as the edge will be very obvious once it starts collecting dirt and dust. Hood is easy to fully wrap so should not be much more money.

sclass350d

I considered this also on my pearl diamond white sclass just after buying it.

Took the car to my nearest XPEL accredited detailing shop... He washed the car to inspect the paint etc before giving me a quote.

He told me the factor paint job was poor alot of orange peel etc and would need a major correction before apply the PPF, he went on to tell me the front bumper was touched up possibly before leaving the factory as he had seen that before.

Because of this there would be no guarantee that he wouldnt lift some paint during the installation of the film, and if it happened it would be on me to fix it else where. Once I heard that I heard this I said no way. The quote was 2000 euro for full frontal, i.e. complete bonnet, bumper and wing mirrors.

Spoke to my local MB dealer on it a few months later, he said 2K would go a long way on a respray should I ever need it, he showed me a pearl white car they had sprayed for an accident repair and honestly it looked perfect.

Others may have a better experience with XPEL and I just got the wrong guy, but the above were the reasons I didnt go for it.

SteveVukelich

I just installed XPEL PRO on my new 2020 diamond white S560. That comes with a 10 year warranty. If you look in a bright sun, slightly off angle, you can see a slight yellow tint. To me the protection far outweighs the slight tint color at off angles. And yes, I did the front bumper, full hood, both fenders, and mirrors.

fun33

I had XPEL installed on my 2018 560S. Full front including FULL hood & fenders (PLEASE DON"T do the 1/2 hood - it is VERY noticeable), rocker panels, rearview mirrors, and rear trunk loading lip. Did the exact same installation on my 2017 550SL. I have had both cars for almost 2 years and the results have been wonderful. Not a single paint chip on either vehicle but numerous minor hit on the front of the hood, ALL of which self-healed within days. I was able to negotiate the XPEL as part of the deal when I purchased both cars. My MB dealer did the install in their shop and I was able to have it done at N/C as part of the purchase. $2,000 - $3,000 would be the normal price to do each car at an independent shop but the price is 90% labor and profit. The actual cost of the XPEL is @ 10% of the job. If your dealer offers XPEL, it costs the dealer relatively little to throw in the XPEL to seal the deal.

I just have to state a second time....NEVER do 1/2 hood - it justs looks terrible.

DABRONX

Ok I know I am on the outside of this one but I just do not get these $3-5k paint films? So you drive around with a $100k car where you see the film vs the paint? If they were say $500 I would get it but your basically paying to protect what it would cost to simply have it refinished if a mishap happened? There is no way I would even think of those mid panel jobs where you see the film line. I have never seen a film I couldn't detect but understand having been in the industry my eye sees more than the average person.

Another new must have is these so called level whatever??? paint correction jobs. When paint is applied especially clear coating they are applied to specific paint film measurements. These guys who have never painted a car in their lives decide they will cut and polish till they remove all of the orange peel destroying your clear coat. Then they show you look see you total mills is still in range but what they cant show you is how much of that is clear coat and how much is undercoats. When a car is painted to be glass smooth we would apply several more coats of clear with the understanding you would be cutting and polishing it off to still maintain the proper clear coat film mill measurement. That glass smooth finish needs to be done by applying more clear not cutting down what you have.

Please live with the small amount orange peel. I hate when I see anyone using a buffet ton any car. You can cut off paint with a wool pad and compound just as easy as you can with sand paper.

The only paint prep I will allow is a slight compound and polish and thats it. There is a reason that slight orange peel is there and that is to cover small imperfections. When you have a perfectly flat new panel and then prep the paint to perfection every single small defect will be amplified 10 fold. You are then stuck in this ever chasing perfection polishing cycle. Whats they also dont tell you is left alone that now level 5 finish will look dead in 6 months as you are taking away the clears protective qualities.

Unless they develop a product to be applied and THEN cut and polished to perfection your better off just using regular hand applied products and worrying about coatings such as ceramic sealants that ADD to the coating not take away to develop their shine. I know now ill get 100 people showing me how they sand with 5000 and then polish and that is great but show me how you measure the actual clear coat and isolate it from your total mill measurement. Leave that car and a stock one outside for 6 months and will see the difference.

SteveVukelich

My experience:

1. A white car is the most difficult to paint, since there are at least 50 different shades of white.
2. I had the bumper on my previous (black) car repainted after 2 years due to rock chips and it cost over $1800, and did not include the hood, mirrors, or fenders. And it was not a local mom and pop paint shop, but a decent shop.
3. XPEL PRO on the front bumper, hood, mirrors, and fenders on my white car cost about $2000. And XPEL PRO is warrantied for 10 years.
4. The paint coating is a good buy.

Utopia Texas

A lot depends on where you live. The Houston, Texas area is now over 7 million in population with 110 thousand new folks moving in every year. Road construction is everywhere. When my BMW Z3 ended up with over 40 rock chips in the paint after only 3 years I said never again. It was a cheap car compared to what I have in my stable now so all my high end cars get Xpel. Why pay 100-200k for a car only to have it look like **** after 6 months? BTW- Xpel applied properly is not seen. 10 out of 10 folks walking by the car do not see it. If you only lease your cars for a few years or trade in often I might not bother. My 1919 Model T, 100 years old now, even has Xpel in key places on the front. The first time you see a rock skip across the hood at 70 mph and leave no marks it has done its job.

as.thompson

I have EXPEL PPF on my selenite grey S550 coupe and, so far, it has been doing it's job of preventing stone chips. I did the bumper up to the fender seams, the headlights and the mirrors but not the hood. I definitely didn't want to do half the hood and have an edge line on the hood. So far, no hood chips.