did your installer use precut film or custom? ive been shopping around and many places seem to only do precut which looks like two pieces for the front bumper i.e. will show a seam/line where it joins... most wont pull the headlight on a .2 either because it requires bumper removal.. one shop said they can do fully custom film, pull parts so all edges can be wrapped but it was double the price.. i am wondering if that's worth it, anyone go for the precut route? from my quotes so far it is about 2k precut vs 4k fully custom for front wrapped in suntek ultra

 

A good installer can use a stock pattern but enlarge it enough so the edges are wrapped. 99% of installers work this way. I did not want my installer taking my car apart. The front bumper install is two pieces. It's not noticeable unless you get down on the ground and really look. Keep in mind that PPF does not last not forever. Over time you will get tears and scratches. You want to be able to replace pieces at a reasonable cost without disassembling the car.

 

Precut or not, it’s more about wrapped edges and a good install. I had my bumper pulled, headlights pulled and even the hood crest taken off so all edges could be rolled and no edges showing.

When the time comes to replace it all, it’s not a big deal to do the same again.

Some thoughts, if your edges aren’t wrapped eventually dirt and dust will show in the seam over time; especially bad on a light colour car.

To your question, most good installers out here use a template and just blow out the edges so they can fully wrap/roll and hand cut.

 

i go mine fully custom wrapped. i think visually, getting the film wrapped around the edges is far superior than precut, but I think what is most important is making sure the installer is good and knows what he is doing. I've seen some poor PPF custom installs and I'm sure those poor guys wished they just had the precut. If you found a good installer, i would say it is worth the extra money.

 

Both. Custom along certain places like door edges.

 

Wrapped vs unwrapped boils down to cosmetics and if you are bothered by seeing the film edge. Obviously the difference in protection is negligible. I bought 3M film online and applied it myself on my cars. Still looks great on my 9 yr old BMW and 2017 .2. Up close you can see the line, more than 5 feet away, it's invisible. Main exception- if I had a white car, I would have a pro do the whole car wrapped- film is much more visible on white.

 

Precut is still wrapped in most cases.

 

Mine was precut with some wrapped edges. Bumper was not wrapped edges. I would not let a detail shop remove my hood badge lights or bumper although i have done it myself. There is no way to ensure no damage will occur while they are bouncing around the shop.

 

thanks all, this makes me more comfortable w/ the bumper being done in 2 piece. i think i will have them remove the hood emblem but not the headlights

 

Also make sure that if the paint has any scuffs that this gets fixed before the film gets laid on top. Unlike the way the morons at my dealer installed the PPF.

 

PPF over my expensive headlights years ago and no problems at ll.

 

pre cut and yes, i do see "line"

but for $600ish bux for full front coverage is not bad...and i can deal with the bikini lines :-)