[gnkats]

Hey guys,

My M5 comp is being delivered this month. Looking at doing some form of protection for the paint. My car is color is Donington Grey.

Thoughts on Ceramic Coating vs Xpel Paint Protection Wrap?

I am new to this stuff.

Thanks

[Materhead66]

Depends what you are trying to accomplish. I did both. Full front wrap, rockers and carbon roof with PPF to protect against chips, scratches etc. Then several coats of ceramic to make the paint look miles deep and make the surface hydrophobic. Water sheds off the car and no more waxing.

[scotty91ss]

Congratulations, and very nice color choice. I never tried matte before, so I wanted to with Xpel. Wrapped the whole car. The did clear wrap on the headlights, grille, roof, roof rails, black rails between the windows and even part of the door jams where heals usually scratch. I did not use Ceramic coating. So far, I am very happy with the results.

[kdeleon]

What kind of protection are you looking for? Are you looking for protection from chips or just protection from the environment like a super coating of wax?

[frisky]

I have Xpel Stealth on my frozen cashmere. Not only is it a painless to clean it actually remains clean for longer than normal frozen paint. I dont think adding ceramic on top of Stealth Xpel is worth it.

[NASTY-M5]

Originally Posted by frisky

I have Xpel Stealth on my frozen cashmere. Not only is it a painless to clean it actually remains clean for longer than normal frozen paint. I dont think adding ceramic on top of Stealth Xpel is worth it.

If you get Xpel film you could always get a DIY ceramic coating kit so that dust and water just blow off.

[Gassy]

Originally Posted by NASTY-M5

If you get Xpel film you could always get a DIY ceramic coating kit so that dust and water just blow off.

Do you coat the ceramic over the PPF or just up to its edge?

[Rjduff]

Originally Posted by Gassy

Do you coat the ceramic over the PPF or just up to its edge?

I just did a ceramic pro over expel and it turned out terrific. Ceramic pro has a formulation to go over a PPF.

[shellbmb]

Originally Posted by scotty91ss

Congratulations, and very nice color choice. I never tried matte before, so I wanted to with Xpel. Wrapped the whole car. The did clear wrap on the headlights, grille, roof, roof rails, black rails between the windows and even part of the door jams where heals usually scratch. I did not use Ceramic coating. So far, I am very happy with the results.

So this is frozen Donington Grey?

[scotty91ss]

Originally Posted by shellbmb

So this is frozen Donington Grey?

Well, this is Donington Grey with Xpel Stealth, matte finish. If you want to call it "frozen", I think it looks pretty cool.

[hemi to e90]

matters how you feel about the orange peel look of your car. I had a ZR1 that was purchased with a full xpell and it drove me insane. coating it didnt elevate my OCD.

while the look may not be up to my standards the protection was. That said, Ive had coatings on three 7 series' and the coatings have provided some rock chip protection and definitely provided a lot of help cleaning it that even a coating on an xpell wouldn't give you.

and coatings can be DIY

[NASTY-M5]

Originally Posted by Gassy

Do you coat the ceramic over the PPF or just up to its edge?

Right over it. Xpel has a certain formula for paint and another for going over PPF

[scotty91ss]

Originally Posted by hemi to e90

matters how you feel about the orange peel look of your car. I had a ZR1 that was purchased with a full xpell and it drove me insane. coating it didnt elevate my OCD.

while the look may not be up to my standards the protection was. That said, Ive had coatings on three 7 series' and the coatings have provided some rock chip protection and definitely provided a lot of help cleaning it that even a coating on an xpell wouldn't give you.

and coatings can be DIY

Going matte was a tough decision. I like the shiny look of Donington Grey. However, it was my teenage children that told me matte is the cool look. They said shiny is an older person's look. They also said black wheels are what is in with younger people now. Instead of following my older person's intuition, I decided to go with a younger person's opinion.

[gianboy]

Originally Posted by gnkats

Hey guys,

My M5 comp is being delivered this month. Looking at doing some form of protection for the paint. My car is color is Donington Grey.

Thoughts on Ceramic Coating vs Xpel Paint Protection Wrap?

I am new to this stuff.

Thanks

I did both with my Donington Grey: Ceramic coating over the whole car (and the interior) and partial Xpel wrap on the front hood, front bumper, partial fenders, rear bumper and door edges and inside of door handles. The combination looks great and keeps the car looking cleaner longer. Donington Grey is also excellent in hiding dirt to begin with! Below are some pics on the day I picked up my DG M5 Comp.

[hemi to e90]

Originally Posted by scotty91ss

Going matte was a tough decision. I like the shiny look of Donington Grey. However, it was my teenage children that told me matte is the cool look. They said shiny is an older person's look. They also said black wheels are what is in with younger people now. Instead of following my older person's intuition, I decided to go with a younger person's opinion.

you can coat a matte car, and it wont make it shiny. intact it will make the matte paint look flatter and more uniform.

[Fegelein]

If one has to choose, I'd go ceramic. I choose ceramic only, cause I felt it a waste to wrap and ceramic a corporate lease for almost $6k.
The ceramic really makes the paint pop even more and it's very easy to maintain. Dust and water come off very easily. I've wrapped cats before and currently have my Masi wrapped, so I'm speaking from experience with both.

[Alberta]

Originally Posted by hemi to e90

you can coat a matte car, and it wont make it shiny. intact it will make the matte paint look flatter and more uniform.

Exactly.

My detailer applied Gtechniq ceramic coating on my Frozen Arctic Grey M5 and it didn't turn shinny.

[bedh8]

Just applied ceramic coating last weekend. Only got around to 1 coating. How many coat's is everyone else doing?

[kdeleon]

Originally Posted by bedh8

Just applied ceramic coating last weekend. Only got around to 1 coating. How many coat's is everyone else doing?

I did 2 coats plus 1 coat of Gliss.