Driving a few hours tomorrow to pick up MY21 E63SWAG. I'm bringing track tape, banks checks totally more than anything I've ever spent for a car and tons of anxiety. Did I forget anything?

 

Ohh tape is a good idea because I have to drive mine back a few hours as well, which of course will be prior to getting it wrapped with PPF and mine has magno paint... Is there a specific type of tape you're referring to or just regular blue bodyshop tape?

 

Amazon TRACK ARMOUR TA3X100 - dealer and friend told me so. magno blue for me.

 

Brilliant Blue Magno?

 

^^^Try to skip the anxiety, it's just a car. Bring a radar detector and enjoy your drive home. PPF is overrated. Don't sweat it. Congrats!

 

Phone USB-C cable
USB-C flash drive to try out the dashcam*
Microfiber cloth to wipe off fingerprints that they inevitably leave inside

*FYI, dashcam can record to any of the 3 front USB-C ports (one next to cup holder, 2 in center console storage box), you can select which drive in the settings

 

Have you recorded anything yet? I got the drive for it, but haven’t done shiat with it. Lol

 

It's pretty decent quality but it goes off when you turn off the car. You need to turn it on again every time you re-start.

 

Yeah, I got that. But I don’t get what’s so interesting for me to start recording (only to delete to save space). I did record a few launches that I did, but even that was boring as I only saw empty space whizzing by… now if I was canyon carving, or tracking the car, I’m sure it’s be more interesting, but normal daily driving, I don’t get it??…

 

Agreed. Nothing very exciting about it but if one wants a dash cam, it's nice to have it incorporated. I watched an MB video before I ordered, which demonstrated a dash cam that remained active when the car was parked, and recorded vehicles and people in close contact with the car. Sadly, that was either a prototype or a version of the dash cam not available in the U.S. My sales person didn't know which. But, either way, that would be nice.

 

That’s a rather shocking statement coming from Mr. OCD. 😄 Having 3 young children, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been abundantly relieved I had PPF on my car, and those were all glossy paint cars that were somewhat repairable as far as scratches go. Scratch satin/matte paint and you’re SOL, it’s a repaint, so PPF seems mandatory.

If you haven’t indulged in the PPF, I highly recommend you try it. Certainly puts the OCD tendencies at ease.

 

I did one day while driving to work. It seems like a novelty for the most part. Nothing too exciting but incriminating evidence of easily and "accidentally" accelerating way beyond the speed limit since it shows the speed in kph. It splits up files into about 2 min long clips, so kinda annoying to watch each file.

 

BULLMKT: I've installed full Xpel on maybe my last 6 Porsches. I tend to sell my cars rather quickly. PPF is overrated. Nobody cares when time to sell as long as your car is well cared for. I lose $10k per car with PPF. Ever seen a car after PPF is removed after several years. It's wrecked. I'd rather take care of my paint by careful washing and occasional touch ups. This is another reason why I like non-metallic black paint... simple touchup blending. Perhaps on matte paint, I agree but don't have experience with it so not certain. I'll take your word for it. Have a Frozen Deep Green M5 CS coming next month so I will keep this in mind.

I don't fault anyone for protecting their car especially if it's a daily driver.

 

Resale condition has never crossed my mind. I value PPF because it makes ownership easier and less stressful. With current self-healing technology, non-metallic paints (more prone to micro swirling than metallics) always look deep and glossy, no polishing necessary. My 040 Black wagon always looked fantastic and I’d really consider it for your incoming car. A couple years ago I took the yellowing film off my 2002 Z8 and the paint looked great after we cleaned it up with a little polishing, wasn’t a big deal. Didn’t reapply PPF because it’s a sunny day show car these days, not necessary.

$10k a car is ridiculous. I was shocked when I paid $3500 to wrap my entire wagon. Most of my cars have been $800-1500 for forward facing surfaces. Go to a few cars/coffees or car shows and get to know the local car-people scene. Thats where I met my guy, who is an independent contractor for all the shops that charge $10k. I just take it over to his house and he does it in his garage. Btw, he thinks Xpel is fine but overpriced too. Prefers a product called PremiumShield, which also has self healing and it works. Thats what I had on the wagon and it was great.

On satin/matte paint, the problem is you cannot polish the surface, which would ruin the satin finish. It actually hides micro scratches better than glossy, but anything beyond that is permanent, requiring prep and paint to repair.

 

Seconding bull on this one, @ocdbroker... iirc, you're not getting a matte paint job, but for anyone who is... especially if BBM, you've got to be out of your mind to not get the whole car done and from an ease-of-maintenance perspective, PPF/ceramic makes life a whole lot easier, regardless of what kind of paint it may have.

 

 

Sup cuz…

 

Hmmmm.... So, you pay an extra $3850 for the BBM, spend another $10K to protect the finish which hides the beauty of the color and finish? Makes no sense to me. My previous E63S was Black for which I just waxed it every 3 months and washed it when needed. The finish looked pristine after 27,000 plus miles and 3 years when I traded it back into the dealership for my 2021 wagon. That car was, as is my current wagon, my DD. I'm not a slave to this machine and I do enjoy driving it all the time even if it is not totally clean. I trade my car every 3 years or so at which time I turn in the keys and get a new set. Life is too short to worry about things that can be replaced. That said, if I was a car collector, I would feel differently about how I used each vehicle.

 

I have 2 vehicles, one that is ceramic coated the other with a full PPF wrap. The ceramic is much easier to keep clean than a waxed vehicle with a lot less effort. The PPF is a level above that, plus the PPF gives it the appearance of extra clear coat. For non metallic finishes the visual effect would be much less, but for metallic finished it is pretty much a night and day difference. And the PPF has absorbed a lot of damage from road debris. The ceramic coat (as well as wax) does nothing for that.

 

Xpel Stealth (and equivalent from other PPF vendors) minimizes the "dulling" effect you're referencing for Matte finishes and you cannot wax a matte paint job. Well, technically you can, but you risk damaging the paint job and the wax finish will negate the matte effect.

Also I don't know anyone who is paying 10k for full PPF on one of these... even PFS (widely-regarded as one of the best PPF shops on the west coast) doesn't charge that much.

 

I live in Fairfield County Connecticut. We get ripped off here in the tri-state area. I've used 4 of the best in CT and NY and $10k is about the average for an exceptional full wrap in Xpel Ultimate or new Suntek film. I've never paid less for a full wrap and always on much smaller cars like GT3s or Speedster. Never wrapped anything larger than a 911.

If anyone has a good company in CT or NYC area that will wrap my entire wagon in Xpel Ultimate for $3500 please let me know. I don't want to see edges. Lol

The BBM wagon above is hot with the fake chrome trim.

 

The price I was quoted for full PPF for my wagon was around $10K here in NC which also included any required paint correction. For that sum of money, I could pay one of the local detailers every 3 months for the duration of my ownership to clean and wax the car. I do not like "ceramic" coatings. I've only used a good carnauba wax on all of my cars. Damaged PPF needs to be replaced. I've seen what that looks like on a friend's car when only a panel was replaced and the visual was not good.

 

The ceramic coating is nice because the dirt comes off so easily when I wash my cars. I don't even lay a hand on the cars... rinse, foam, rinse, master blaster dry. I'm sure frequent waxing shave a similar effect.

 

Basically. Never tried foam, though. Maybe my next investment.

 

PPF is the best thing I've ever done to a car. The first car I did it on was my SLS. Got every painted surface wrapped before it left the dealership in XPEL. 5 years and 30k miles later there wasn't a single paint chip, scratch, scuff, or ANYTHING on the paint. It looked like it had rolled straight out of the factory. I never had to worry about scratching it with debris trapped in a wash mitt, drying towel, etc. I never worried when I got behind a car throwing up rocks (except gritting teeth that the windshield didn't get cracked) or driving through construction, tar from new asphalt, nothing. Since I've had it done to all surfaces of a BMW i8, Range Rover SVR, the second gen Audi R8, and front facing surfaces of things like a Focus RS, Fiesta ST, E39 M5 and one I'm probably forgetting. My 2018 E63 has both a complete XPEL wrap since delivery and ceramic coating on top of the Xpel and on the rims. It is COMICAL how little cleaning and detailing I have to do. I've got carbon ceramics as well. The latest stint was 3 months without a wash and after backing it out of the garage into a torrential rain storm then cleaning just the windows it looks like I just had it detailed. On top of that there isn't a single paint chip, scratch, or mark of any kind in the paint. I did have something rub against it in airport parking but it didn't make it through the film, just had them replace the effected piece. I just bought the EWL extension for it so I know in 2025, when the warranty finally runs out, it will still look like it rolled out of the factory. It's worth every penny, at least for me. Land Rover has started offering it from the factory. We ordered my wife's Defender with a factory matte PPF, looks great, was four-thousand something, cheaper than the xpel quote I got before ordering it. Had my Xpel installer look at it and he said he couldn't have done better. I hope more manufacturers start offering it from the factory, save me some time.