Best protection for brand new paint?

[dhutch]

Just had my E46 330ci repainted and I'm wondering what if anything I should apply or get someone to apply to provide protection to the car from tar, sap, life in road etc.

I've got some Turtle wax "GRAPHENE FLEX Pro" which I use on another car, but I wonder if it would be wise to get professionally coated in a ceramic wax or similar.

Cheers

[resolve10]

Depends on your goal and the cars' usual storage circumstances in my opinion.

If you only want to protect from tree sap, bird poo etc, my first suggestion would be can you park the car somewhere away from this? Presumably it won't be a daily driver? If not, a ceramic coating is a good option. As you have fresh paint it shouldn't need much prep work so you should be able to get this done at a quality detailer for £300-£400.

If you want to drive the car and not have to worry about stone chips & scratches, paint protection film is what you need. Depending on how much of the car you have done could range from anywhere from £700-£2000+ for a full car.

[C5_Steve]

dhutch said:

Just had my E46 330ci repainted and I'm wondering what if anything I should apply or get someone to apply to provide protection to the car from tar, sap, life in road etc.

I've got some Turtle wax "GRAPHENE FLEX Pro" which I use on another car, but I wonder if it would be wise to get professionally coated in a ceramic wax or similar.

Cheers

Get it professionally detailed and ceramic coated. The detail alone will enhance the paintwork no end and if you're serious about protecting it then ceramic coating is the way to go.

I'd be very cautious about PPFing brand new paint, I believe you need to wait a while before applying it anyway.

[Belle427]

I'd just use what you have if it performs well, easy enough to apply every few month when it starts to die off.
Just make sure the paint is given time to fully cure before applying anything.

[dhutch]

The car will be used daily, and I'm not against islt showing signs of that, it's on 200k miles and even after a driveline and rear subframe rebuild, its not a garage queen.

PPF doesn't really appeal to me, and given the paint job was "only" around £2000 paying the same again to cover it seems a bit odd.

Hope I do enjoy washing it and keeping it looking nice, and as the house is surrounded by mature pine trees and I don't have space to keep it under cover (two other cars garaged) while I do my best to keep it in the clear spaces, it's inevitable it will get some time under a tree.

Hence some sort of heavy duty wax seems a good idea to atleast give a chance of getting the sap back off again!

[Belle427]

Fusso coat is one of the most durable and claims to last 12 months, maybe a consideration.
Easy to apply too.

[C5_Steve]

Belle427 said:

Fusso coat is one of the most durable and claims to last 12 months, maybe a consideration.
Easy to apply too.

I've used their glass product and it's exceptional, best stuff I've ever used.

[dhutch]

Belle427 said:

Fusso coat is one of the most durable and claims to last 12 months, maybe a consideration.
Easy to apply too.

Yeah, that does look very good, although I'm slightly put of by the fact it's PTFE based, by day job currently involves trying to remove that and any other PFAS materials due to their environment impact and the expectation supply will be restricted shortly. Certainly I would advise anyone to avoid PTFE cookware in favour of ceramic alternatives, because it really is a fairly nasty thing to get into the environment or food chain.

That said, while I'm interested in the idea of having the car professionally detailed. A durable DIY applied ceramic wax might be the best value for money balance for now. Maybe get the car detailed in a couple of few years when it's starting to show it's no longer new.