[Sand]

does xpel's new windshield protection film actually work as advertised? (protecting the windshield from having small chips)

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by Sand

does xpel's new windshield protection film actually work as advertised? (protecting the windshield from having small chips)

That's not what XPEL is advertised to do.
PPF is advertised to deliver maximum profit margins to the installers. Front windshield film fully delivers in that regard.

Otherwise, why in the wide world of sports would you want to put ANYTHING over your windshield that degrades and distorts the visibility !?!

Especially when most windshields can be replaced at zero cost or lower-than standard deductible?

More here:
https://rennlist.com/forums/992/1383...ld-skin-2.html

a

[Sand]

Originally Posted by afadeev

That's not what XPEL is advertised to do.
PPF is advertised to deliver maximum profit margins to the installers. Front windshield film fully delivers in that regard.

Otherwise, why in the wide world of sports would you want to put ANYTHING over your windshield that degrades and distorts the visibility !?!

Especially when most windshields can be replaced at zero costs or lower-than standard deductible?

More her:
https://rennlist.com/forums/992/1383...ld-skin-2.html

a

after seeing two or three windshield replacements on my MB and BMW at the dealerships, I honestly believe that the original factory installed windshields are the best. In fact, that was what the Mercedes service manager told me once... he said that no matter how good of a job they did, it would never be as good as when Mercedes installed it at the factory. (not really sure why, but that was what he said)

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by Sand

after seeing two or three windshield replacements on my MB and BMW at the dealerships, I honestly believe that the original factory installed windshields are the best. In fact, that was what the Mercedes service manager told me once... he said that no matter how good of a job they did, it would never be as good as when Mercedes installed it at the factory. (not really sure why, but that was what he said)

Living in Florida, windshield replacements are totally covered by my auto insurance with a $0 deductible. The most important thing that a Safelite installer that was working on a Jeep in my condo complex once told me is that if your car has HUD, you need to make sure your insurance company is giving you BMW OEM glass (which is more expensive) that is compatible with the HUD feature.

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by afadeev

That's not what XPEL is advertised to do.
PPF is advertised to deliver maximum profit margins to the installers. Front windshield film fully delivers in that regard.

Years ago, SYMS which was a retail clothing chain in the NYC area had a famous advertising slogan, "An educated consumer is our best customer.". Anyone that purchases an after market product like windshield PPF knows that they are not buying from a nonprofit company which is why I always urge anyone installing any type of PPF or ceramic product to shop around for the best price while doing their research to make sure the work is being done in a quality shop.

Originally Posted by afadeev

Otherwise, why in the wide world of sports would you want to put ANYTHING over your windshield that degrades and distorts the visibility !?!

I agree with you to a point. If there was a covering which didn't distort your visibility and actually provided the level of windshield protection that is advertised, for some people it might be worth the price. Most especially if you live in an area with with terrible roads where this type of damage is a known issue.

Originally Posted by afadeev

Especially when most windshields can be replaced at zero costs or lower-than standard deductible?

That statement is not totally accurate as it really depends on the state where you live and the type of coverage you have in your auto insurance policy.

In Florida, Kentucky, and South Carolina, insurance companies cannot apply a deductible for a covered windshield claim as long as you are paying for your comprehensive coverage as a part of your premium.

Also, I am not sure about other insurance companies but with Progressive as long you have comprehensive coverage on auto policy, you won't have to pay a deductible if your windshield can be repaired instead of replaced.

Finally there are also several other states that allow drivers to purchase separate glass coverage with their comprehensive coverage. The glass coverage has its own deductible that can be waived or lowered for windshield claims.

[Dan B]

2024 M440ix with 27K miles. About to have my 2nd windshield replaced.

I don't know about others, but BMWs windshields seem to be really soft glass. I have a crack that will propogate once winter gets here, and dozens of smallpits.
I had really back luck with windshields in 24. I had to replace 2 honda Pilot windshields, 1 Wranger windshield, and my BMW. My insurance rate did not go up, but I now have to pay the deductible for any more windshields.

I am going to try PPF on my windshield. I figure it will prevent the pitting and would have probably prevented the crack I do have.

[slilley]

Windshield PPF is best for a car that's garage-kept, imho. They need to replaced every 18 months to 2 years, in my experience. I'm on my second film on my 2022 Cayman. I started with a ClearPlex, ran that for 2 years before a few larger tears became annoying, and ExoShield is what I have now. I'll try Xpel during my next change, since there are 2 installers near me who will install that product. The film has definitely done it's job, as my car sees track duty at least a couple times per year. It's taken some big impacts that I'm pretty sure would have cracked the original windshield. When the ClearPlex was removed for replacement, the windshield was still fairly pristine except for the couple places where a rock hit had impacted the film hard enough to penetrate and leave a pin-sized mark in the windshield. It's critical to keep the windshield and windshield wipers clean, otherwise using the wipers with grit on them will leave streaks in the film.

[Phillies8008]

I'd assume that the windshield PPF prevents pitting from sand, etc.? If it did, and if it didn't degrade visibility, etc., I'd be very interested. The every day wear-and-tear pitting is what absolutely drives me nuts.

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by Sand

after seeing two or three windshield replacements on my MB and BMW at the dealerships, I honestly believe that the original factory installed windshields are the best. In fact, that was what the Mercedes service manager told me once... he said that no matter how good of a job they did, it would never be as good as when Mercedes installed it at the factory. (not really sure why, but that was what he said)

Honestly, that sounds like either they're just not good at it, or whomever they're farming it out to isn't. So long as they're using OEM glass – and I'd assume a dealership would – there's really no reason the installation shouldn't be just as good as the factory's. It's not like there's some sort of black magic to installing a windshield. But like everything else, whomever is installing it has to actually care, which is most of the battle these days.

[slilley]

Originally Posted by Phillies8008

I'd assume that the windshield PPF prevents pitting from sand, etc.? If it did, and if it didn't degrade visibility, etc., I'd be very interested. The every day wear-and-tear pitting is what absolutely drives me nuts.

Yes, it prevents pitting of the windshield - keeping it like new - but the downside is that the film itself is what gets pitted and damaged. But then you can replace the film (budget $500) and be back to a near-clear experience after the new film cures for 1-2 weeks. The underlying windshield stays like new, and most importantly, is protected from many impacts that would cause damage otherwise. (Also, it's still possible for a big rock to crack the windshield - nothing is foolproof.)

Unlike paint PPF, which can be installed and will easily last many years, windshield films need to be replaced as often as annually for a daily driver because they deteriorate much faster than paint PPF.

[BroDoze]

I’ve had 3 different types of films on multiple vehicles - currently on xpel right now.

In my experience they’re mostly all the same. I think the difference lies in ease of installation and optical quality.

They scratch from the windshield wipers (even after a full double-layer ceramic coat) and pit (not nearly as bad as glass).

Knowing I have a pristine original OEM windshield underneath is worth it. Plan to swap the film every couple of years, based on driving behavior/miles. The M2’s may last the entire time I plan on owning it (4-5 years.)

Anybody that knows anything knows exactly how shitty replacing windshields can be. There is always damage done to the car. There is no perfect replacement, only degrees of mediocre to full-blown shitshow. If they’re saying it’s 100% as good as OEM they’re lying. In CO we go through windshields like gasoline. I’ve had a lot of windshields replaced on a lot of cars by a lot of different shops of varying caliber. Every one hasn’t been OEM quality.

If you can avoid replacements, that is the goal.

I’ll always run WPF.

[Sand]

finally got a chance to stop by my xpel installer this morning.

ask him about this new xpel windshield film product. he told me not to waste my money. he said it kind of worked, but..... I always like the guy. He is always honest and never try to take advantage of customers.(even customers like me who know nothing about tint or PPF films)

[Phizzzle]

Our installer didn't recommend it. Not worth the cost.

[BroDoze]

One man's "not worth it" is another man's "worth it".

[Sand]

Originally Posted by BroDoze

One man's "not worth it" is another man's "worth it".

the wife told me something similar not too long ago. I was staring at a 98-inch TV at Costco. long story short, I'm still watching baseball post season games this week on a very tiny 65-inch TV.

wait.. on second thought, I think what she said was "size doesn't matter" (the 98-inch TV, that is)

[silvermanor]

Originally Posted by Dan B

2024 M440ix with 27K miles. About to have my 2nd windshield replaced.

I don't know about others, but BMWs windshields seem to be really soft glass. I have a crack that will propogate once winter gets here, and dozens of smallpits.
I had really back luck with windshields in 24. I had to replace 2 honda Pilot windshields, 1 Wranger windshield, and my BMW. My insurance rate did not go up, but I now have to pay the deductible for any more windshields.

I am going to try PPF on my windshield. I figure it will prevent the pitting and would have probably prevented the crack I do have.

I hear this stuff about BMW glass being soft all the time. Glass is glass, there no such thing as BMW glass being softer than Audi glass. Also the harder glass is, the more chips you would get. Just like paint, harder paint and harder glass isn't going to stop rocks and it is just more brittle.

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by slilley

Yes, it prevents pitting of the windshield - keeping it like new - but the downside is that the film itself is what gets pitted and damaged. But then you can replace the film (budget $500) and be back to a near-clear experience after the new film cures for 1-2 weeks. The underlying windshield stays like new, and most importantly, is protected from many impacts that would cause damage otherwise. (Also, it's still possible for a big rock to crack the windshield - nothing is foolproof.)

Unlike paint PPF, which can be installed and will easily last many years, windshield films need to be replaced as often as annually for a daily driver because they deteriorate much faster than paint PPF.

Man, that's really tempting – I despise windshield pitting! Well worth $500 a year not to look at it forever or until the windshield gets broken, which isn't something that I really want to have to look forward to happening.

Thanks for the info.

[slilley]

Originally Posted by BroDoze

Anybody that knows anything knows exactly how shitty replacing windshields can be. There is always damage done to the car. There is no perfect replacement, only degrees of mediocre to full-blown shitshow. If they’re saying it’s 100% as good as OEM they’re lying. In CO we go through windshields like gasoline. I’ve had a lot of windshields replaced on a lot of cars by a lot of different shops of varying caliber. Every one hasn’t been OEM quality.

If you can avoid replacements, that is the goal.

THIS!

Roundel (BMWCCA magazine) just had an article on this earlier this year or late last year. That was their conclusion as well. In their case, even though the installer knew that the replacement process was going to be photographed and written about, it still had to be done a second time to get it right (doh!). That wasn't something the article spelled out, but if you read between the lines you could pick that up.

Anyone who thinks a windshield replacement is "no big deal" should be forced to watch a replacement. Just because insurance eats most of the cost doesn't mean I want it done.

[OC40]

Originally Posted by slilley

THIS!

Roundel (BMWCCA magazine) just had an article on this earlier this year or late last year. That was their conclusion as well. In their case, even though the installer knew that the replacement process was going to be photographed and written about, it still had to be done a second time to get it right (doh!). That wasn't something the article spelled out, but if you read between the lines you could pick that up.

Anyone who thinks a windshield replacement is "no big deal" should be forced to watch a replacement. Just because insurance eats most of the cost doesn't mean I want it done.

When I had the window replaced on my last bmw, the installer said “you should probably wait in your loft…you don’t want to watch this”. Lol

[KevinGS]

Yes, it works. I've had the windshield PPF since I bought the car in 2021, and I have 105,000+ miles, and I have replaced the windshield PPF twice.

For me, 100% worth it....as I definitely would prefer to keep the original windshield.

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by slilley

Anyone who thinks a windshield replacement is "no big deal" should be forced to watch a replacement.

Windshield replacement on BMWs is, indeed, no big deal.
I had it done (in chronological order) on E30, E46, and E90. First one was held in place via rubber gaskets and was very inexpensive to replace. I swapped it after ~10 years on the road to get rid of glass pitting and glare. This was before I learned about polishing the glass with orbital polishers.

Last two were structurally urethane glued to the frame, and took maybe a full hour. E46 glass was done in the parking lot at work. Second one required visit to Safelite to "configure" cameras or what not. The work was still ~1 hour, driving there and back took longer.

No drama.

Originally Posted by slilley

Just because insurance eats most of the cost doesn't mean I want it done.

Ha?
This makes zero sense.

If the cost of silly glass PPF is $500+ annually, and the alternative is replacing glass via insurance is your deductible ($100? $250? $500?) or $0 (on some policies), then the math is clear and easy. As are the conclusions.

FYI,
a

P.S.: The amount of FUD, product placement, and disinformation on some of the treads here is remarkable.

[Silence*]

The guy that does all our dealership's 3M work started offering glass PPF earlier this summer, so I had him pre-install it on the new windshield for my 4 series before getting it installed last week. My initial thoughts? I'm on the fence about it.

You can tell there's PPF on it from a bit of distortion that looks like orange peel looking through it, which I'm slowly getting used to. I put new wiper blades on at the same time but after using them in a light rain shower on the weekend, you can already see light scratches starting to appear (even with using copious amounts of washer fluid as pre-wash). This is mostly annoying at night when you notice it while driving under street lamps. With winter right around the corner we'll see how it holds up against the snow, cold temps and endless gravel my city throws down. That said if it does help keep my glass from a couple nasty rock chips or even a crack, are the downsides worth dealing with long term and cost wise on a daily driver? Time will tell on that one.

On the note of scratches, does anyone know if you can polish glass PPF with like a cleaner wax and maybe a DA on low speed? If not, I feel like I'll be peeling it off come the spring time....