[zhangyi17]

New G05 owner here. Just picked up the car last Friday. Carbon black exterior with Cognac interior. I am planning to keep the car for 7+ yrs, so I am looking for some advice on how to protect the exterior and interior look of the car, I have few questions:

1) I have scheduled an appointment with a reputable shop for full frontal and 4 door PPF as well as ceramic coating (Ceramic Gold Pro with 10yr guarantee). Price comes to $Xk CAD. They also quoted me $X.5kCAD for full body PPF. So difference is only $500 CAD. I am debating if I should just choose the full body PPF and forgo the ceramic coating part?

2) I have seen pictures where they apply the PPF. Looks like they have to remove quite a bit exterior bits from the car (like door handle etc). Looks scared, even this shop is reputable and they do alot of high end cars like Ferrari etc. I am still a little bit uncomfortable.

3) Front and back windowshield Rain-X treatment is also included in the ceramic coating3 treatment. I have read on this forum that some ppl are complaining about wiper clattering / skipping after the treatment. So I am question even if I decided to do the ceramic coating part, should I do the Rain-X for windshield or not. I have never done this for my previous cars. Ang advice?

4) For interior, I just ordered Chemical Guys leather cleaner and conditioner from Amazon. Looks like a good product. What about other surface area besides leather (like danshboard etc)?

5) For windshield washer fluid, Can I just use the any good old windshield washing fluid you can buy from Costco or Walmart?

6) Last but not least and non-cosmatic related questions. What grade of fuel do you use? Dealer showed me the label on the fuel cap says 91 Octane minimum. Is it better to have the premium 93 Octane one? I am debating this because on one hand I want to give her the best fuel, on the other hand, gas price isn't exactly cheap here in Montreal....

[MissVito]

Originally Posted by zhangyi17

New G05 owner here. Just picked up the car last Friday. Carbon black exterior with Cognac interior. I am planning to keep the car for 7+ yrs, so I am looking for some advice on how to protect the exterior and interior look of the car, I have few questions:

1) I have scheduled an appointment with a reputable shop for full frontal and 4 door PPF as well as ceramic coating (Ceramic Gold Pro with 10yr guarantee). Price comes to $Xk CAD. They also quoted me $X.5kCAD for full body PPF. So difference is only $500 CAD. I am debating if I should just choose the full body PPF and forgo the ceramic coating part?

2) I have seen pictures where they apply the PPF. Looks like they have to remove quite a bit exterior bits from the car (like door handle etc). Looks scared, even this shop is reputable and they do alot of high end cars like Ferrari etc. I am still a little bit uncomfortable.

3) Front and back windowshield Rain-X treatment is also included in the ceramic coating3 treatment. I have read on this forum that some ppl are complaining about wiper clattering / skipping after the treatment. So I am question even if I decided to do the ceramic coating part, should I do the Rain-X for windshield or not. I have never done this for my previous cars. Ang advice?

4) For interior, I just ordered Chemical Guys leather cleaner and conditioner from Amazon. Looks like a good product. What about other surface area besides leather (like danshboard etc)?

5) For windshield washer fluid, Can I just use the any good old windshield washing fluid you can buy from Costco or Walmart?

6) Last but not least and non-cosmatic related questions. What grade of fuel do you use? Dealer showed me the label on the fuel cap says 91 Octane minimum. Is it better to have the premium 93 Octane one? I am debating this because on one hand I want to give her the best fuel, on the other hand, gas price isn't exactly cheap here in Montreal....

Do they really have to disassemble parts? Yikes! I don't like that idea at all. Mine's scheduled to go in October to get the entire front and rocker panels PPF + ceramic. I definitely don't want them taking anything apart! I'll cancel the PPF if that's the case. I don't want my warranty affected by that. For the fuel, I've always use Premium 93 Octane, but 91 is okay. I wouldn't go lower than that. Good luck and enjoy your X5!

[zhangyi17]

Originally Posted by MissVito

Do they really have to disassemble parts? Yikes! I don't like that idea at all. Mine's scheduled to go in October to get the entire front and rocker panels PPF + ceramic. I definitely don't want them taking anything apart! I'll cancel the PPF if that's the case. I don't want my warranty affected by that. For the fuel, I've always use Premium 93 Octane, but 91 is okay. I wouldn't go lower than that. Good luck and enjoy your X5!

Car is still with them today. I talked with the installer about disassemble pieces for PPF. He said only the car handle, nothing else.
I told them they can do a YouTube video about the process of PPF and ceramic coating. I will post the link here, if they decided to film it.

[MissVito]

Originally Posted by zhangyi17

Car is still with them today. I talked with the installer about disassemble pieces for PPF. He said only the car handle, nothing else.
I told them they can do a YouTube video about the process of PPF and ceramic coating. I will post the link here, if they decided to film it.

I emailed the shop yesterday. No disassembly...they only remove the emblem on the hood and nothing else. That's not a big deal so I'm relieved. I don't want anyone disassembling my brand new BMW. I didn't get the doors done however.

[Mo2002]

I typically just get PPF installed on the front end of my cars and then I get it coated. I absolutely love the benefits of coating and I won't go without it on a car of this caliber.
If you're concerned about the shop removing parts to install PPF then I would look at their reviews and see what type of cars they typically work on. The shop I use work on very high end cars so I feel comfortable with them.
For interior, the chemical guys cleaner works fine. If you want something stronger you can go with the Carpro leather coating.
For windshield washer fluid, I use the rain x fluid. I typically drain out the oem fluid when I buy a car and refill with rain x. But you can use any type of washer fluid. I don't see it affecting the coating.
I'm not familiar with the rain x treatments. I typically put on rain x on all windows.
For fuel, pump what is recommended from factory. 91 is completely fine to use if you do not have 93 octane available.

[Mo2002]

Originally Posted by MissVito

I emailed the shop yesterday. No disassembly...they only remove the emblem on the hood and nothing else. That's not a big deal so I'm relieved. I don't want anyone disassembling my brand new BMW. I didn't get the doors done however.

Yup, emblems are easy to remove. If you did the doors, then they may have had to remove the moldings and door handles.

[Spencer518]

For my non-leather hard interior surfaces, including the windows, I just use a high quality microfiber cloth and water. Wet and wring so it's just damp. Cleans up all the dust and grime. You really don't need to introduce any other chemicals into the car, other than the leather cleaner and conditioner

[SmartSaves]

Following What's the business name? Might visit from Ottawa if they do a good job.

[zhangyi17]

Originally Posted by SmartSaves

Following What's the business name? Might visit from Ottawa if they do a good job.

TopWrap Canada.

Check out the their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TopWrapCanada

They are not the cheapest, but they do a phenomenal job. Browse their YouTube channel you will see they take their time and do a very good job.

I haven't got my x5 back yet, because there was material delay and I told them to take their time to do it properly. I have attached few pictures. You can also check out this YouTube video

My X5 is briefly featured

[zhangyi17]

Originally Posted by SmartSaves

Following What's the business name? Might visit from Ottawa if they do a good job.

Just picked up the car today. Full car Xpel PPF + Ceramic pro Package. The installer did a phenomenal job. They even put PPF put on the chrome m50i piece on the door frame.

The shop I went to is a bit on the pricy side (definitely not the cheapest), but the result worths every penny.

[zhangyi17]

For those of you who are interested, here is a little video my installer shot when they were doing PPF on my car:

It's not for the faint hearted because they did take off door handles and rear lights. But the end result is excellent.

[MissVito]

Originally Posted by zhangyi17

Just picked up the car today. Full car Xpel PPF + Ceramic pro Package. The installer did a phenomenal job. They even put PPF put on the chrome m50i piece on the door frame.

The shop I went to is a bit on the pricy side (definitely not the cheapest), but the result worths every penny.

It looks fantastic! I never really noticed the blue in Carbon Black; it's really pretty. Mine is Tanzanite and it sometimes looks that dark in the shade. Enjoy it and safe travels. Cheers!