[SpaceSilver.X1]

I have a sapphire black(metallic) BMW 530i incoming in about a month.

will partial front-end clear PPF look bad on a black 530i after a couple of years? (partial as in only covering 2/3 of the hood and about half of the fenders)

[Clark_Kent]

Skip the partial and just do full hood and fenders. There's no need to go partial.

[murderspice]

I have partial on my dark blue macan (came like that). As long as the car is clean, only *you* will notice the line.

[omega2733]

Don't cover only half the hood and fenders. An owner did this to a previous car of mine, didn't keep up with it and etched a permanent line into the clear.

To fully cover a hood, quarters, front bumper and 1/3 the A pillar is like $3-$3.5k. My mineral gray front end panels are fully covered, you can't even tell looks perfect with 8 year old PPF.

[Clark_Kent]

Originally Posted by omega2733

Don't cover only half the hood and fenders. An owner did this to a previous car of mine, didn't keep up with it and etched a permanent line into the clear.

To fully cover a hood, quarters, front bumper and 1/3 the A pillar is like $3-$3.5k. My mineral gray front end panels are fully covered, you can't even tell looks perfect with 8 year old PPF.

The cost depends on where you are in the country. Full front clip, which includes everything you mentioned and more, is less than $2K in Atlanta. And yes, it's from a reputable outfit. Agree on partial coverage. It doesn't make sense to go in that direction to save a few hundred bucks.

[SpaceSilver.X1]

Originally Posted by Clark_Kent

The cost depends on where you are in the country. Full front clip, which includes everything you mentioned and more, is less than $2K in Atlanta. And yes, it's from a reputable outfit. Agree on partial coverage. It doesn't make sense to go in that direction to save a few hundred bucks.

Asked the xpel installer this after. I didn't realize that the difference was only $450. I'll have the entire hood and front fenders done. Better safe than sorry.

[idrivedeutschM]

Where are you located ?

[ppointer]

I have the partial on nearly all of my cars (only 1 does not). I would say the age at which it starts to yellow and crack is around 12 years. Then, I just get it replaced. This is the case for two of my cars, including a 2008 QX56 I bought new in 2007. All cars are garaged.

[P1]

Why only do partial? Just do the entire panel or don't do it at all.

[NickyC]

I can always see the line. It looks terrible, do the whole panel.

[M3SQRD]

The cost delta is small between partial and full front end. You definitely do not want a line forming on a partially covered front end of a black colored car. A paint correction down the road will cost you a lot more than what you saved by not doing the full front coverage after taking delivery of your new vehicle.

[SpaceSilver.X1]

Originally Posted by M3SQRD

The cost delta is small between partial and full front end. You definitely do not want a line forming on a partially covered front end of a black colored car. A paint correction down the road will cost you a lot more than what you saved by not doing the full front coverage after taking delivery of your new vehicle.

on a black sapphire metallic G60, if I only do the full front end PPF, what will happen to the rest of the car? assuming I keep the car for 7 years, it will probably still look different than the front end that's under the PPF, right? (even if I take real good care of the rest of the car that has no PPF)

thanks!

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by SpaceSilver.X1

on a black sapphire metallic G60, if I only do the full front end PPF, what will happen to the rest of the car? assuming I keep the car for 7 years, it will probably still look different than the front end that's under the PPF, right? (even if I take real good care of the rest of the car that has no PPF)

thanks!

Probably will have a different shine to it and more swirl marks lol. My Llumar PPF is much more glossy than a normal car.

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by SpaceSilver.X1

on a black sapphire metallic G60, if I only do the full front end PPF, what will happen to the rest of the car? assuming I keep the car for 7 years, it will probably still look different than the front end that's under the PPF, right? (even if I take real good care of the rest of the car that has no PPF)

thanks!

It really depends on how well you protect the exposed paint. If you did absolutely nothing to protect the exposed paint then the covered paint and exposed paint will definitely look different if the PPF was removed after 7 years. Plus, they’ll be a well defined line(s) in the paint wherever there’s a transition to covered to exposed paint. However, at the other extreme, if you monthly polished, waxed and sealed/coated the exposed paint then after 7 years it’ll be difficult to tell the difference between exposed and covered areas. In 2004, I had to have a section of an Imola Red car repainted and my biggest concern was the color differences showing up as the paints aged. I took extremely good care of the paint (no PPF, no ceramic coatings) and I had it paint corrected once in 2009. After a decade no one could tell me which section of the car had been repainted. I also could not see a difference in color or reflection/depth of the original factory paint and the repainted section. Same thing applies to your PPF’ed vs. non-PPF’ed painted surfaces - stay on top of the detailing and it’ll be extremely difficult to tell the difference between what was covered vs. what wasn’t covered.