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I've been trolling the forums the last few weeks trying to determine if I want to get XPEL installed on my m235i. I did ED about a month ago and my car is scheduled to arrive in port later this week, so I'm guessing it's about 2 weeks it until it arrives. I want to make a decision before taking re-delivery as to whether or not I'm going with XPEL as I can have the auto shop come get the car from the dealer, have XPEL and tint done, and then I can take re-delivery (don't worry, I worked a deal where I'm not paying dealer markup on the work).
I've never had any sort of PPF installed on my previous cars and have always been a Zaino user and have loved the results (z-2 and Clear Seal), but that was when I had a house and the space to detail frequently. Now I'm in an apartment (with garage, too small to do a lot of work in) and have to use the community car wash port, so I'm looking for options that cut down on how much effort I need to put forth to keep the car looking new. I am very anal retentive about my car's appearance, maybe not so much as others on this forum, but still, I'm picky. I plan to keep the m235i for a long time because 1) it's an amazing car, and 2) I really can't afford to be going through cars every couple of years. That being said, I want the paint to look great 5-10 years down the road. So I've been doing a lot of research on PPFs and ceramic coatings like Opti-Coat, and think getting a full front end XPEL PPF along with Opti-Coat on the rest of the car is the way to go. A few concerns I have are:
1) How hard is it going to be to remove XPEL down the road when it needs to get redone.
2) My car is AW and I've read reports of the pff yellowing over time, so have any of you seen this or can attest to the long term appearance of XPEL on white cars.
3) I live in Alabama and at some point the car will probably get hail damaged (high probability of crap weather during the spring, and even though I try and keep the car in the garage on bad days, I can't avoid it every time) and will require dent removal or body work. Have any of you ever filed an insurance claim for a vehicle covered in XPEL? Did your insurance provider reimburse for XPEL install?
I got a quote from the auto shop for XPEL yesterday. They haven't done an m235i before, but they just did a brand new M4 (I plan to go look at it today) and estimated the cost would be roughly the same. The shop owner quoted me $1200 for full front end (full hood, bumpers, mirrors, and fenders). What are your thoughts on the price?
Another option I've been doing is installing XPEL myself, buying the bumper kit, but then buying a bulk sheet for the hood and fenders. I've never installed XPEL myself, but I'm pretty handy and think it's something I could tackle. Have any of you tried it yourself? Good results? Bad results? Only major drawback to this is the work wouldn't be warranted.
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