Chip repair before PPF thoughts

[anakratis]

Hey all,

Have PPF scheduled for Thursday (2/15) and have been casually driving around to keep building miles for break-in. Got slightly peppered today by a car in front of me (and I wasn't even close), most of the chips are very very small specks on the front bumper, though there's a couple on the hood. How screwed am I for the PPF? I'm certain a BMW-certified body shop will be able to fix those up pretty nicely, but how visible will they be on PPF?







Next time I'm just letting the car sit and do nothing until the PPF.

Thanks in advance!

[DocL]

The PPF place will probably use a Green Sharpie marker to conceal the chips before they put the PPF on. You won't be able to see them either way. That's what was done when I had my NSX PPF'd after i already had a few chips that exposed the primer and you couldn't tell.

[anakratis]

Originally Posted by DocL

The PPF place will probably use a Green Sharpie marker to conceal the chips before they put the PPF on. You won't be able to see them either way. That's what was done when I had my NSX PPF'd after i already had a few chips that exposed the primer and you couldn't tell.

Yeah that's basically what I'm going for. I don't need factory perfection, but just making sure it's not visible unless you look at it really closely with a flashlight. I just hope it's not an actual green Sharpie

[aa2033]

I gave the shop that did my ppf touch up paint and they touched the rock chips up before they did the ppf. You'll still see them but they can at least try

[Burrcold]

PPF usually makes any unfilled stone chips more obvious (air gets trapped under the film). It's best to try and put a toothpick sized dab of touchup paint on the chip. Nothing higher than the paint though or it will cause a bubble as well.

[anakratis]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

PPF usually makes any unfilled stone chips more obvious (air gets trapped under the film). It's best to try and put a toothpick sized dab of touchup paint on the chip. Nothing higher than the paint though or it will cause a bubble as well.

Yeah I'm going to find a professional shop to fix up the chips.

[///MPhatic]

Easily fixed before PPF, and the PPF will actually hide all of that.

[anakratis]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

Easily fixed before PPF, and the PPF will actually hide all of that.

Thanks for the word of confidence haha. Yeah I'll approach a high-end shop tomorrow and see what they can do before the PPF is laid on.

[DocL]

Originally Posted by anakratis

Yeah that's basically what I'm going for. I don't need factory perfection, but just making sure it's not visible unless you look at it really closely with a flashlight. I just hope it's not an actual green Sharpie

They'll use a Sharpie for sure.

If there is BMW touch up paint, I'd give them a bottle and let them apply it. You'll never know it's there.

I got a few really deep chips on my 2017 NSX and they used a Blue and Black Sharpie to hide the primer. At the time there was no touch-up paint available for the Nouvelle Blue paint. Not even Dr. Colorchip could make it.

[anakratis]

Originally Posted by DocL

They'll use a Sharpie for sure.

If there is BMW touch up paint, I'd give them a bottle and let them apply it. You'll never know it's there.

I got a few really deep chips on my 2017 NSX and they used a Blue and Black Sharpie to hide the primer. At the time there was no touch-up paint available for the Nouvelle Blue paint. Not even Dr. Colorchip could make it.

Haha that's awesome! Yeah like I said I just care about "nearly" invisible not fully brand new. Shop near me quoted me 200 bucks to touch up the entire front bumper and hood and asked me to bring OEM touch up paint or Dr. Colorchip. Said the chips are tiny tiny so I think I'm g2g

[mitch32]

The PPF kinda will level it out but you will see the chip, best is Dr. Colorchip or touch-up. I used Dr. Colorchip when I PPF'ed my car worked well.

[jkoral]

Had a huge deep chip on hood from previous owner. Gave my PPF shop Dr. Colorchip and factory touch up, but they didn't do a great job building up the layers and now it's sealed in and very visible. I would done it myself, but was leaving on vacation, so I took car straight from dealer (CPO) to PPF shop. Regret it.

[anakratis]

Originally Posted by jkoral

Had a huge deep chip on hood from previous owner. Gave my PPF shop Dr. Colorchip and factory touch up, but they didn't do a great job building up the layers and now it's sealed in and very visible. I would done it myself, but was leaving on vacation, so I took car straight from dealer (CPO) to PPF shop. Regret it.

Oh man sorry to hear that. Yeah I know a lot PPF shops don't specialize in this stuff. I would give you advice but here I am OCD'ing about every little scuff on my own car haha.

[OGM2]

It looks like only the 2nd pic chipped through to the primer. Maybe try just touching up with clear? My OEM touch up paint for Alpine white came with 2 separate bottles, 1 white and 1 clear coat. I personally would dab a spec of clear to level it and leave it at that on the 2 that didn’t chip through to the primer.

[anakratis]

Originally Posted by OGM2

It looks like only the 2nd pic chipped through to the primer. Maybe try just touching up with clear? My OEM touch up paint for Alpine white came with 2 separate bottles, 1 white and 1 clear coat. I personally would dab a spec of clear to level it and leave it at that on the 2 that didn’t chip through to the primer.

Yeah the shop said very light touch up should do the trick to prep for PPF, so ima just let them do all the work. I definitely don't trust myself lol.

[Westside Guy]

Sorry for the late reply to this thread.

I discovered a chip on my front bumper after driving 500 miles and immediately made the decision to get PPF put on my Z4. My shop used Misano Blue BMW touch-up paint and then the clear coat that comes in the package to cover the area. Once the Xpel PPF was installed you would really have to look closely to see where the chip was as the touch-up paint did the job and blended in with the car's color.

If you are going to a good shop they should do an acceptable job camouflaging any small chips. The small chips on the hood still might be slightly visible under bright daylight but not too noticeable.

[AM340iMiami]

Dont use a sharpie! lol. Just use some some paint touch up. It wont take up that much more time and you will have a better result with the PPF. If the chip is deep, you will see it through the ppf, and if youre anything like me that would bother me in my sleep.

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by AM340iMiami

Dont use a sharpie! lol. Just use some some paint touch up. It wont take up that much more time and you will have a better result with the PPF. If the chip is deep, you will see it through the ppf, and if youre anything like me that would bother me in my sleep.

Exactly. You need a bit of paint built up so that the PPF adheres to and doesn't create an even more noticeable bubble.

[Clark_Kent]

This can be rectified without professional intervention. Between now and your ppf appointment, I suggest not driving the car too much as these chips are inevitable.

[DocOfTheDead]

Dr. Colorchip is your friend for these types of defects. And if you’re really wanting to make it look good, stop driving it until you get it PPF’ed.

[RichF90M5C]

My car had quite a few chips in the 2000 miles I did before getting PPF installed. Nothing you’d notice until you got up really close, apparently. I gave my installer a touch up bottle, so he managed to flat most of them off, and you’d never know they’re there now.