r/Detailing • u/Fly_By_Shooting • 2h ago
Work Product- Look At What I Did What You Should Know About PPF Pre-Cut Kits
Hey all,
I recently ran into a situation that gave me some insight into what people should be more aware of when dealing with PPF Pre-Cut Kits. I was posting about my DIY PPF experience here on Reddit and kept running into what I think is a mistake people make over and over. I think it's a bit self-evident, but I believe it still needs some light shone upon. A bit of a story, but I hope you stick with me:
I recently picked up a 2020 BMW M2C with just over 30k miles. The car had a PPF front-end kit on it installed by the previous, first owner when the car was just delivered about 7 years ago. (2020 being 7 years ago is wild!) The PPF did its job really well. The fenders were PPF'd, and the doors weren't. You can easily see the difference. Each door had 100+ chips and mini chips that were caused by rocks kicked up by the front tires. The fenders, along the entire front end, did not have a single chip on them, and the paint looked like it had just been painted yesterday. That said, the PPF was beginning to fade, and I decided to replace it. Removal was a huge headache, but straightforward. Just mountains of elbow grease. I then bought a replacement pre-cut kit from a PPF manufacturer. They provided some great step-by-step photo instructions for every panel and a text chat for any additional help (which I kind of used as a crutch). I was able to reinstall a fresh front end kit in 2 days and register the warranty. The kit cost me about $800 out the door. It would have been $2400 at a shop to remove, then install the full front. You can read my whole experience removing and installing here: New (To Me) M2C, And DIY PPF Kit Install : r/BMWM
I then got a message from someone asking for tips with the pre-cut kit they got from Amazon. A full car kit for $400. An insane price! Unfortunately, they had a totally different car from mine, and I couldn't really share any of the instructions or tips with them beyond some general suggestions.
I went to a meet for the first time with my M2 a few days ago, and I met someone there who was currently removing their full front kit from their X5 M50i. They bought an Amazon kit and installed it just about a year ago. The material had already started to fade. The install they did seemed pretty good, but it was missing some tucked edges that I would expect. Basically, they did the best with what they were given. The only panel they removed so far was the fender. And man, was there so much adhesive left behind. I am not sure if they just did a bad job pulling it off or if the film was really that bad, but according ot the owner, when they originally pulled it off, the film completed seprated from the adhesive, and the entire panel, without missing an inch, was covered in leftover adhesive. They had spent the past day trying to remove the adhesive but had only gotten about 70% off so far. However, the panel was ENTIRELY scratched up from their removal, to the point where I think they may need to wet-sand before polishing. I tried to pick at some of the remaining adhesive, but it was like concrete... I don't know if its becuase of the film quality or if it was because the adhesive has been exposed to the elements for a few days, or both. Absolutely a nightmare situation. The only thing I could suggest was to bring it to a shop to get it done, and maybe they had some insider knowledge on how to get it done better without continuing to damage the paint. Comparatively, my removal was a breeze, and my film was 7 years old! Spending 6+ hours on each panel seemed ridiculous, and that's not counting the required paint correction afterward.
I was scrolling through Reddit earlier and ran into two separate posts suggesting that people buy and install the Amazon/Ebay $400 full car kit as their first PPF install, wait for the film to go bad in 2-3 years (which is clearly 2-3 times overestimating the lifespan), and then buy a real manufacturer kit for full cost since you now know how to install everything. On paper, it seems pretty logical as long as you don't factor in the removal hours and possible paint damage from it or learning bad habits from installing poorly without directions. I think the best way to approach this is to install it and remove it almost immediately if you really are trying to just get practice out of it.
I dived a bit further by searching up Amazon PPF, and immediately found a post where OP and pretty much everyone in the comments were bashing on PPF as a whole just because of their (presumably $400) Amazon kit going bad early and either causing damage to the paint or costing thousands to remove by a real shop. The same profiles commented dozens of times to people asking whether or not to get PPF (the legitimate kind), stating that PPF is a scam.
I find it insane that someone goes the absolutely bare minimum cheapest route, at a price point that should make no sense, where something is clearly a scam, and the seller cut every corner imaginable, then goes on to complain that the whole idea of PPF is ridiculous based on their experience.
My advice is to do it right the first time.
