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BMW 3-Series and 4-Series Forum (F30 / F32) | F30POST > Technical Forums > Cosmetic Maintenance: Wash, Wax, Detailing, Repairs > What would you do? Advice needed *PPF/Tint*
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      08-31-2019, 11:15 PM   #1
FIDDYgg
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What would you do? Advice needed *PPF/Tint*

I took my new 340i almost straight to a local PPF/Tint shop (under 200km on ODO) for PPF on full front clip, full hood, full fenders, full rockers, mirrors, headlights, some door sill strips and a little behind the rear wheel wells on the rear bumper/skirt as well as tint all around minus windshield.

After watching a bunch of detail / PPF shop videos on YouTube I feel like I may have paid a lot ($2300 CAD) for a bit of a sub-par job.

I was expecting a pretty much invisible film over what I thought was basically perfect paint (film installer said he'd decontaminate and prep the paint prior to install).

After looking more closely to the application and the paint after a couple weeks of hand washes I'm noticing quite a lot of either dirt or raised paint under the PPF, distorted film, as well as a lot of dirt / dust under the tint on pretty much every window.

I feel a little bad as the shop got me in very quickly and I'm fairly sure the shop owner spent the whole day on it himself, and stayed late after shop hours to finish it for me, so I'm not sure if i'm being too picky or if it's reasonable to expect a cleaner finished product for a pretty high expense.

Here's some samples of what I'm finding:










I'm really trying my best to maintain a perfect finish on this car but now I feel like I've wasted a LOT of money and need to start from scratch again with a proper paint correction and fresh film application followed by ceramic coat.

What do you guys suggest?

Thanks in advance for any advice.
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      09-03-2019, 10:04 AM   #2
John in VA
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Go over the points/flaws with the installer & get their explanation & give them a chance to fix it.
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      09-05-2019, 05:49 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John in VA View Post
Go over the points/flaws with the installer & get their explanation & give them a chance to fix it.
^ This.

The shop definitely did a poor job. At least based on those videos. Just go back to them and point it all out, if they are any kind of reputable shop with any dignity they will agree and fix it, or offer some other solution.

And if they don't, time to try and get a refund via other means.

But the damage looks like gouging with whatever tool they were using to smooth out the film (wrong use of the tool or wrong tool)

And then they didn't prep the surface very well. And the moment they lay down the PPF and see those specs or raised areas they need to be pulling it up and then respraying to get the contaminants out and then relay it down.

If it was 1 dude working overnight to do it, that might be a red flag there regardless.

Price wise you didn't really overpay. I mean you overpaid for the quality of work you got, but in terms of price point you actually probably got a good deal based on what you had covered. Window tinting the whole car is roughly 200-400. PPF on all of the areas you mentioned is 2500+ (US dollars)
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      09-05-2019, 06:25 PM   #4
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the detailing industry has definitely become like many other industries where you really need to do your homework before spending the money. it's not judgement there's just really obvious signs who can do the job properly and who can't. whether it's from the customer service, products used, communication, etc. it needs to be up to your standard.

everyone just throws out the word ceramic, but nearly none of them know proper prep work.
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      09-05-2019, 07:00 PM   #5
FIDDYgg
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Thanks everyone,

I did return the vehicle to the shop that did the application and he told me it was fairly common to have distortion on the PPF from stretching and/or lifting and laying the film back down as well as debris under the PPF and tint being unavoidable due to so much handling and not being in a perfectly clean environment.

In the end he did offer to remove all of the film and issue a full refund if I'd like, or he could try to re-do the worst areas but unlikely it would be done much better, there'd just be stretching or dirt in new spots.

I really don't have a standard for expectations for this type of product and install as this is the first vehicle I've really invested a lot of care for the appearance and preservation, so I've been stuck in this situation of feeling empathy for the shop owner who really does seem like he cares about making me satisfied but also feeling like I am not going to be happy just accepting the job as it is and not being sure if he could make it better, nor if it's reasonable to expect a nearer perfect job from him or anywhere else.

Making him remove it all and taking my money elsewhere honestly makes me feel guilty, or that I wasted a lot of his time and his own money on the products, but maybe I need to put that aside to get the quality of finish I'm looking for.

I took the vehicle to two other shops to get their take on it, the first being a tint and film shop who did say that some parts would be unacceptable and should be re-done, but the distortion and debris is to be expected to some extent (for the same reason the original installer mentioned)

The second place, a higher end detailing / PPF shop has kind of indirectly hinted that they could do a cleaner job (with more coverage as well) but will cost a little more, however I will be able to package it with a full paint correction and ceramic coating.

I think I may take up the original installers offer to remove the film and issue a refund on the PPF but give him the opportunity to correct the window tint so that it's not a total loss for him.

Thanks again for the comments everyone
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