Llumar PPF Experience

[N1rve]

Hi All!

I had my 2019 BMW M4 wrapped in Llumar PPF and I wanted to share my experience. As you may know, Llumar is owned by Eastman which also owns Suntek. The most popular ones in my area are the following:

1) XPEL
2) 3M
3) Suntek
4) Llumar


Even though Suntek and Llumar are owned by the same company, Llumar is slightly different in terms of the top coat which is shinier and slicker. Out of the four, Llumar Plat/Suntek Ultra looks the most natural and has a really nice glossy finish to it and when you touch it it's really smooth. Compared to 3M and Xpel, it doesn't have the same glossy finish and slickness to it.



My original coverage was full bumper, headlights, partial hood, partial fender, and mirrors. Learn from my mistake and never get partial hood and partial fender, especially on a white car. In the sun, you can see there is a difference in texture and also a line, so avoid doing anything partial. If you can't afford to wrap the entire car, do the full front at a minimum.




Now, the next question is custom cut vs plotted. I had both done to my car, originally it was plotted, but since I wrapped my entire car, I went with custom -- my original coverage was plotted. Either would be fine and it would be a personal choice in the end. I would actually prefer plotted as the lines would be straighter. That's just me though.

My installer did a good job in terms of lining up and cutting.











Plotting would had made that line much straighter.

Now -- it has been about 2 month or so with the PPF. I already had my front bumper film punctured in two areas. No amount of heat would heal it.



So it does work, I don't know if I got any paint damage because the film bunched together and it looks like a dark spot. I'll probably get some touch up paint and make it a white spot. I really enjoy cleaning my car because I can just wipe the car down with detail spray/spray wax/waterless car wash spray and wipe it with a towel and everything comes off. When I wash my car, I don't need to worry about swirl marks, I can just wash it normally.

Now, would I go with Llumar plat again or should I have gone with Xpel or 3M? In reality, the warranties are all about the same in terms of what is included/excluded. I wouldn't bother with the 5 year films and just get the 10 year films. You need to remove the film before the 5 year or 10 year mark or else a superbond forms. However, if I were to get PPF film again, I would get 3M.

On the Tesla Model 3, there is Xpel on the full front. Debris still cut through it.



"But N1rve! You just said they were all the same!"

Well in reality, they really are in terms of thickness and warranty, however there is a main advantage of 3M. There is something called a "service agreement" Something not a lot of people know is that 3M has this service agreement.

No other manufacture offers this service! Within five years after the product installation date, 3M offers vehicle owners the following benefits for any portion of the vehicles paint that is protected with Scotchgard Paint Protection Film Pro Series. 3M will repair the vehicle paint surface (up to a cost of $3,500), including repainting the affected area if necessary, to the extent that the vehicle paint is:

​
1) Chipped or pitted by road debris
2) Scratched
3) Stained by salt, bird droppings, tree sap, bugs or automotive fluids​

3M will coordinate such repairs with the Seller or a third party service provider and also arrange to reapply Scotchgard Paint Protection Film to the vehicle. In order to be eligible for the benefits set forth in this section, the customer must follow recommended maintenance guidelines provided at time of install. Be sure to immediately wash off salt, sap, bugs, bird droppings and environmental fallout.

https://www.aerotectfilms.com/ppf-service-agreements

PPF getting chipped or pitted by road debris is a more common thing than what you would think, especially the front. If I had known about this service agreement, I would have gone with 3M instead.

TLDR:

All PPF are the same except the top coat. They all have the same thickness, one isn't better than another in terms of protection, but each one has their pro and cons. 3M has a service agreement that warrants wear and tear which is highly valuable for a car that is daily driven.

Disclaimer: By no means am I being paid for this nor am I sponsored by 3M, Xpel, or Eastman. This is just purely through my experience of spending lots of money.

[Eric S]

You paid for custom and they didn't remove the side vents or the badges, emblems, roof rails? that's basically a kit manually cut. We remove everything from the car as needed for a cleaner install when doing custom. With a kit install, nothing gets removed, Xpel DAP patterns get used.

There isn't a "Superbond" that forms the longer its on. Its bonded as much as it will bond after 2 months. Heat and cold affect the film. A car in vegas heat for 2 years will dry out sooner than a garage car kept in a climate controlled room driven 100 miles in 5 years.

3M service agreement will cover new paint and new film should something penetrate the film while driving. HAS to be while driving, doesnt cover accidents. In your case, the 3M film service agreement would cover you for new film, and painting of the affected panel...up to 3500 dollars. Its pretty good deal...only if the film didn't look like garbage. We were going to start offering it, but the film has a ton of texture to it, and a more yellow color compared to suntek/STEK. But for when people dont care about the end look, they want the warranty, its a wise choice. Its only good for the first 5 of the 10 year film warranty.

From a visual standpoint:
Stek/Suntek
Xpel
3m