How much of the F12 front end to wrap?

Guys,

My F12 is showing up shortly and I am trying to decide how much of the front end to wrap. Xpel offers a couple options (Paint Protection Kits | XPEL) to choose from.

I am not really concerned about minimizing cost, moreso reasonably mazimizing exposed paint while not taking too much of a chance on chips. My 458 had the full hood and fenders, but that always seemed to much to me, although at the end of the day it 100% preserved the paint.

Certainly I will need the bumper kit, but what about full hood and fenders versus the more abbreviated kit? I suppose the trade-off is a seem across the hood?

Specifically, is the whole hood of the F12 prone to chips in normal driving? What is the experience here on this? I will drive the car a lot, but not in rain normally. Short 75 mile summer trips, sure.

Thanks for your kind feedback and insights.

 

I'm thinking the whole front...bumper, front wing, full hood, front fenders, A pillars, side rockers, wheel well edges. Having a line for half hood is a pain. One more edge to keep clean.

 

Maybe add the mirrors as well.

 

I think the mirrors are included in both packages.

 

I did the entire car, every single inch, full wrap. For me its worth it as I don't worry about swirl marks, other chips in paint, etc. Its so easy to wash the car and the film is self healing so any light scratches go away.

Everytime I skip out and don't clear bra a particular area, I end up getting a chip there. Murphy's law.

 

Forgive my ignorance on this question, but what about waxing in this situation? All paint tends to oxidize over time and with sun exposure. Does the XPEL slow that process in some way?? I have an incoming F12 and I am tempted to do exactly what you have done, but wondered about how/if waxing can be done?? Thanks in advance....mark

 

What about one of those ceramic sealing products over the Xpel film? How does that work does anyone know, and how does it look?

 

You can use paint sealants on XPEL. Here's their care guide.
Care Instructions | XPEL

 

I have CQuartz Finest over Xpel...looks flawless....

 

do these glass type coatings adversely affect XPEL's natural self healing capabilities ?

 

I put cquartz on top of xpel ultimate. I bought on amazon and Applied it myself. It seems to absorb into the film. It seems to make the film stronger, harder, and bugs just completely and easily wipe off. Havent noticed a change in the self healing properties.

The first car I tried this with was my GT3RS. Now I have slowly done it to all of the ferraris. it just works SO darn well.

 

Thanks...so the cquartz is easier to apply than say Kamikaze glass coating ?

 

Wrap the entire car in Xpel. Stay away from the ceramic snake oil.

 

Just wanted to point out that the wraps do come with some precautions. First, a very well known and respected detailer on this board would rather you not go crazy on the wrap as they hide the perfection of the detail and the true paint color especially on triple layer paints. Second, removal of the wrap in certain areas can cause the paint to pull off requiring a re-spray (even from an experienced shop). The wrap WILL have to be removed at some point and no one will give you a guarantee that removal wont require a re-spray which is what your trying to avoid in the first place. That said, most of my F12 is wrapped. I don't see a need to do the roof or the rear lid area and to answer the OPs question, the upper F12 hood is not prone to chips (none yet) but I do not daily drive.

 

Thank you. After paying over $11K for historic paint (grigio ferro) I would like to see it "in the raw" as it were. My 458 looked ok with the Xpel wrap, but I was never truly happy with the hood being 100% covered. I did not mind the bumper and front fenders though, it was more like you would get with a bra.

I guess the trade-off is whether you can live with a seam across the hood or not.

 

I agree with you. It's a shame to cover up the car to the point where you can't even wax the paint. I may skip the hood and focus on the front bumper, wing, fenders, rockers, a pillars and keep the hood, doors, roof and rear section of the car el naturale.

 

I have the half hood seam on my 458. Not a big deal. Grigio colors hide the seam well.

 

My mentality is totally different. I do the full car wrap. I never worry about major rock chips, swirl marks in the paint, scratches and scuffs during daily use, etc. After 3-4 years I remove and re-apply.

It helps that my good friend has a shop which does this. I had my entire F12 done with xpel ultimate for $2500.

I wax before the film is applied. I know they say not to, but I dont care. Doing this makes the film not stick as well so when it comes to removing it, the process is easier and thankfully to date I have not ever had paint peel off and I have never had the clear bra not stick well enough.

I have now pretty much added cquartz on top of all of my cars with xpel ultimate. It definitely is NOT snake oil. There is a huge different between having it and not having it. I bought the cquartz on amazon and 1 50ml bottle did 2 cars for me, an F12 and an FF.

Maybe my paint isnt a brilliant, or the depth and shine is 10% less. And yes I do have a seam of clear bra here and there. But overall I spend much less time worrying about my paint and more time enjoying my car.

 

What about the windshield pillars? If you wrap them then it would make sense to wrap the whole roof to avoid the lines there.

 

It a personal preference but wrapping the whole roof is unnecessary. I find its the last surface either the driver or passenger sees before entering and it is a joy to pear deep into that perfect paint just before getting in. Worth the almost no chance of a rock chip on the roof and any pillar lines.

 

I did the whole car over Bianco Italia... First install was not done well so I had concerns about end result.... Second install was spot on and I'm very happy with the product. Previously I had only installed on front clip. Paint still looks very special and pearl comes through. I'm sure paint is a little nicer without Xpel but 1 rock chip would change all that.

 

Very good point. I can't find any fault with your reasoning.

 

Do you think that this is pretty straight forward and easy enough for owners to do themselves? Obviously you had no problem with it.

 

I would confirm with XPEL (if that is what you use) before applying any coating they don't have listed on their care guide. CQ Quartz may be perfectly fine, but I would check first. I would be concerned that the integrity of the xpel could be adversely affected in some way with a coating that soaks into it so to speak. I wish to know the answer too as I would like to try CQ Quartz.

 

Its pretty easy to apply. Few quick tips. Work small sections at a time. If you for example try the whole hood, it will dry and you will not have enough time to take it off. For the bumper for example, I did half of it...took it off...and then applied to the other half. Also, a little bit goes a long way. Just about 5-1 drops to do a whole hood.

Have plenty of light. Dont try to do it in a dark garage. If you don't get it all off, it will stay on and it isn't going to come off without using aggressive polish. Don't ask how I know.

Otherwise, its very easy to apply and it works extremely well. I wash all of my exotic cars myself (I enjoy doing it) and the cars clean up so easily now. Prior to CQuartz, I tried every kind of sealant and wax you can think of. Nothing is even close.

If you are hesitant, you can try a small panel on the car for practice, or try on another car. My first car was a full size range rover. It came out great, but a few areas I didn't take off completely so it had some high spots. I basically rushed and didn't follow instructions and tried to do whole panels at a time.

As for it being used on clear bra...I have 6 Ferrari now that have CQuarts applied on top of the film (XPel Ultimate) and it has been fine. However, the clear bra is definitely a little harder (not as soft for example if you try to scratch with a finger nail). I have confirmed the self healing still works with the CQuartz applied.

Finally, CQuartz is great...about 2 months ago I got a GT3RS from my friend. He had it wrapped with Xpel Ultimate and then had OptiCoat professionally applied. The opti coat is definitely better than the CQuartz. Its probably twice as good...but it also cost him I think about $1,000.

For my collection, so far Im very happy with the CQuartz and it is WELL worth the money and I can apply it myself in the comfort of my own home for about $25 per car.