They are like $200-300 right? That’s not too bad to appease a potential buyer down the road if need be. I’m indifferent to protecting parts whose replacements need not be painted.

 

Are you sure about painted surface?

My headlights are not painted and Xpel is not peeling off.

 

Looks like OEM emblems are $100-$200 on eBay. There are cheaper knock-offs.

 

Right! I don't know why that is the case. My headlamps are covered too.

This is the email from XPEL regarding door sill protection:

 

Regarding the star emblem, my installer told me XPEL will just peel off over time, and it can affect the sensors behind it. Again, he has zero reason to not do it when I'm paying him $6K to wrap an entire car, and his shop is full of $250K+ supercars.

 

When my PPF was installed(Llumar Platinum), the pieces were cut using XPEL software which had a template for the front star emblem. The surface is flat and smooth and I have not noticed any adverse effects related to the sensors. I felt that I would protect the emblem as it probably costs more than $50 to replace. I had the headlight lens covered with the PPF and it is not a painted surface. In 9 mos in NorCal, I have not seen any peeling of the PPF.

 

So long story short, every advice from the armchair expert to the installers with years of experience and over 250k cars is simply.....No one actually knows the right answer.

When the cars are being turned in with 3plus year old films over the sensors, we will all know the answer.
​​​​​​Till then it's whatever your installer will do

 

True. We can also ask XPEL. The reason I didn’t get it done is because I trust my installer - he did two of my cars, full body PPF. Why wouldn’t he do the star?
And the risk of the collision assist not working perfectly plus the low cost of a new emblem, and it was not worth it to me.

 

So, I have Llumar full PPF cover for a year now and all is working fine. The sensors detect pedestrians walking in the roads, it warns and apply the breaks and tightens the seat belts if I get too close to the front car. The real test will come when the film gets aged or peels off. But then again, a dirty sensor will have issues also.

 

Thanks for bringing up the valid point: which one is higher value to us?

Cost of the new emblem, or risk of collision?

Seems to me we are drifting in the wrong direction here. Why should we care if piece of expel will last nine months, three years, or more?

 

Very, very unlikely that a thin film of clear PPF will affect the performance of the 70 GHz radar operating behind the star. If the film had a metal used tint, I could see a problem, but otherwise it’s not going to be an issue.

The thing is, most installers aren’t going to want to take on any liability for a collision down the road. Even if it is proven technically that the film played no part in the accident the legal fees and general disruption of life doing so would be prohibitive.

 

I agree - why push it? I just spoke to XPEL directly. They do not provide film for the emblem. So any installer that does so is doing it on their own. Even full body kits from XPEL do not include film for the emblem.
Personally, I would rather replace the emblem for $100 every few years than risk the collision assist or Distronic being a little off. Think about it - you're putting something between the sensor transmission and receiver which was not intended.

(Someone said that parking sensors and lane keep still work - these do not use the sensors behind the emblem.).

 

If your adaptive cruise control still works at highway speeds, the radar behind the star is functioning. I believe that at low speeds the lane keeping assist cameras track the car in front to help keep the car centered in the lanes and maybe also help with distance.

Lots of other cars also use radar for collision avoidance braking and there are plenty of posts out there discussing PPF and the vehicle radar. Not a problem.

Do I have PPF over my star, no. But that's because I don't have PPF anywhere on the car, not because I'm worried about it.

 

I have been doing a lot of research and working to build my own shield for a custom w203 Distronic set up.

It’s all working - but no one can code it.
I have a manual, although the issues are communication with the ME.
https://mbworld.org/forums/performan...ult-c1510.html

I’ve been working with tier 1 vendors, OEM suppliers and OEM R&D...it’s true (at least in my gen of Distronic) the wave is 77GHz and is .00245m in length. The materials must have a dielectric constant of less than 3. This is not negotiable. That is why the wrap supplier will not supply it OEM.

You can read patents 20140062114A1 and 2017/0259754A1 for more.

What is most used for OEM decorative film is PC or PET.

 

Yes, it should be PPFd. Along with the little lens on the front camera, it's necessary with the debris/rocks the front end gets hit with. I've had zero problems with distronic after PPF install.

The entire front end up to the A pillars including full hood, headlights, front bumper, front quarter pannels, side mirrors PPFd.

 

Do not PPF the Distronic star. XPEL does not make a template for it for a reason.
It’s plastic, so it’s not going to chip or dent like paint will.
Not to mention you can just buy the cover if you ever want to replace it and it’s cheap.

Even if it works, all you need is a fraction of a second delay, and you’re looking at a longer braking distance, for instance. At 80 mph you are travelling at over 117 feet per second. So a 1/100 second delay in response (because the signal has to travel through a foreign object - the film), and you’re looking at almost 2 feet longer braking distance.
I think it’s silly to risk an accident over this.

Again, the fact that XPEL does not include this in their full body wrap template should tell you something!