Do you have stone chips to the paint in front of the rear wheels?

[998M]

When I bought my X5M in December, I drove it right to the shop to have 3M put on the front. They covered everything from the front bumper to the windshield (bumper, fenders, entire hood and wheel arches). Yes, I made the mistake of not doing the sills or rear fenders. This custom shop has a lot of experience applying this 3M film. Because it is black and the size of the hood, they really had a lot of difficulties. We were both disappointed in the finished look. They agreed to look for something better and redo it. All I would pay for is the cost of the film. They decided to use XPel. XPel uses a gel to aid application. They stated it was a significant improvement with installing. The finished look is 100% better. They were able to wrap in under the leading edges of the hood and fenders for extra protection. They were able to use just one piece for the entire hood. Taking off the 3M was a HUGE pain for them. Half of the adhesive was left behind. See the picture.

They repainted the sills and rear wheel arches. They were able to repair most of the rear fender without repainting the entire thing. They then applied XPel on portions of the rear arches, sill and fender. It looks great. I could not be happier. This is a must.

While there I also had the factory wheels (which I use for snow tires) powder coated and a Passport 9500ci installed. Check the other thread.

M

[LeMansX5]

Originally Posted by 998M

[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]When I bought my X5M in December, I drove it right to the shop to have 3M put on the front. They covered everything from the front bumper to the windshield (bumper, fenders, entire hood and wheel arches). Yes, I made the mistake of not doing the sills or rear fenders. This custom shop has a lot of experience applying this 3M film. Because it is black and the size of the hood, they really had a lot of difficulties. We were both disappointed in the finished look. They agreed to look for something better and redo it. All I would pay for is the cost of the film. They decided to use XPel. XPel uses a gel to aid application. They stated it was a significant improvement with installing. The finished look is 100% better. They were able to wrap in under the leading edges of the hood and fenders for extra protection. They were able to use just one piece for the entire hood. Taking off the 3M was a HUGE pain for them. Half of the adhesive was left behind. See the picture.

BTW, Xpel film is actually made by 3M. Xpel just pre-cuts them or provides the cutting machine and software for "fit to size" to its vendors. Ventureshield is also now owned by 3M.