I've been hanging out in this forum for several months but I didn't purchase an F-type until 2 weeks ago. I was in search of Italian Racing Red or Ammonite grey with black tornado wheels and the black pack. I ended up with Italian Racing Red with black Gyrodynes and the black pack. My F-type has spent the last few days with my detailer to get paint correction, Xpel paint protection film and Opti-Coat wax on the car and wheels. My detailer did an excellent job. The paint had a lot of swirl marks but he removed all of them and brought the paint back to life. The only thing left for me to do is to order a front grill bar to replace the one that the previous owner painted to match the car. Here are a few pics of it. I hope to do a photoshoot of the car this weekend.

 

Just have your detailer wrap the bumper with black film. I had all my gloss black pieces wrapped in matte black. Much cheaper than replacing.

 

F12guy -

I've seen hundreds of T-types in the last couple years online and that is in the top ten.
Flowing art.

Might be in the vast minority on this one, but that body colored bumper is nice as is IMO. It doesn't look 'uglier' than the stock black one and adds a uniqueness to the car. I'd leave it as is for a while.

I agree w/ Unhinged - if you don't like it - have it wrapped.

For the Opti-Coat - they do the whole car and then the Xpel can go over the parts needing protection? I'd read conflicting things such as Xpel must do direct onto the paint/clearcoat, nothing in between.

SNIP time for your car to be my wallpaper for a while.

 

The replacement part is about 180.00. Do you have an idea of what it would cost to wrap that? I emailed a company for a quote but haven't heard back from them. I'll try to get some estimates. I figured that the price of a wrap would be close to the price of the bar so I may as well replace it but I really don't know for sure.

 

That whole bumper cover piece is $180 but replacement CF paddles are $600?

If really $180 then I guess replacement is the way to go.

 

Thanks for the compliment on the car. My wife and the guy that detailed it like the bar as is. He suggested that I leave it unless I plan to remove the bar all together so that it's just an open grill.

The Opti-coat goes over the film. I didn't wrap the entire car. I did the full hood, front end and rocker panels.

 

Yes, the price varies a little if you get it with sensors vs without but the price isn't that bad. I checked a few Jaguar part sites and parts.com. Here is the link to it on parts.com

https://parts.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...5-%20Liter-GAS

 

Lovely photos. Can you get one looking straight at the rear too?

The front bar is only $102 US for UK export at dealer cost (the gloss black w/sensors is part T2R2828). If you press for a discount at a dealer (not one of those online part brokers who will already be paying +20% before their margin) you should be able to get one for $150.

 

I like that you have black sills and rear valence. Looks great with IRR.

 

That F-Type looks awesome, congratulations! Looking forward to the photo shoot. My F-Type is currently with my detailer getting the same treatment, I can't wait to get may car back and see the finished work. Any special precautions on the car or extended curing time with the ceramic coat?

Jay

 

I love the black sills. I'm not a fan of the body colored ones.

 

Same spec as mine. It is definitely an attention getter. IRR with the black pack really looks sharp. Being a MY15, the right parts are black as well (except your bumper bar which doesn't look that bad honestly).

Enjoy the ride!

 

Thank you. I've looked at pics and videos of your car several times as I was deciding on a color.

 

Xpel wants it applied directly to the paint because they don't trust most detailers to take the effort to achieve a good bond with the OptiCoat or cQuartz. My detailer, who co-developed the xPel, however, insists on applying it over the "sealant" as he has done it successfully for years and the wrap adhesive can chemically degrade the paint when in direct contact.

 

The car is stunning, obviously the best color combo available on the F-type, and even the body colored grill bar isn't bad. But, why not just paint it if you don't want it red? It can't cost $180 to paint a 4"X24" band, can it?
Have fun!

 

Im not doubting your guy but I don't understand why Xpel wouldn't train their authorized installers to install the film over the ceramic coating if that is the best method. My detailer has been an authorized Xpel installer for years so he knows how to install it properly. Xpel even states that the ceramic coating should be applied over the film on their website. They could easily retrain the authorized installers to apply the film over the opti-coat if they truly feel that is the best method. I wonder what 3m and suntek reccomend.

 

Thats an option as well. I may just leave it as it is. It's starting to grow on me.

 

Think about it. The spongy mass of the vinyl is there to absorb all the damage incurred by gravel and other missiles. The quartz is there to protect against the elements, environmental contamination and corrosive bird crap. It also serves to protect against penetration of the wrap adhesive into the paint. If you are trying to maintain your paint job for future posterity you need to protect the paint from the wrap. The wrap gets replaced every 5+ years anyway whether it stays attached or not. The paint hopefully never does.

I'm not certain it's worth arguing the point since we have no scientific data to point towards and either one of these viewpoints could actually be correct.

 

^

What he said. It is far preferable to apply the ceramic coating to the paint, and then wrap on top. The purpose of ceramic coating is to protect paint, not the vinyl wrap.

XPEL says do it the other way around because inexperienced installers sometimes have trouble getting it to adhere properly. It causes them less headaches to make that recommendation, but it's not the best recommendation for protecting the car.

Regarding whether to wrap the body-colored bar, you might want to wrap it anyway, in either clear or black. I had my bumper bar painted to fix license plate bracket hole damage, and after a short period of time it started picking up rock chips.

 

Ceramic coatings are also applied to enhance the gloss level of the finished surface, and I would argue this is a more prevalent reason owners pay for these types of coatings. Applying the film over the coating nullifies the gloss enhancement attained from the coating, while coating over the film will indeed enhance the gloss level of the the film, which is generally not as glossy as the original paint, thus you get the protection against gravel chips, with an improved gloss level that would not be available with film alone.

I've never heard of film adhesive adversely infiltrating the paint. I have heard that removal of a film can inadvertently pull paint with it, but this is usually due to the hasty work of the tech not adequately softening the film/adhesive ahead of the work area.

IF, a vehicle owner obtains a thorough paint correction in advance of film application, and that paint correction includes a proper polish and sealant to the clear coat, the adhesive of the film application should never adversely affect the surface to which it is applied.
Following this procedure, applying Ceramic Coating over the film serves two purposes, it protects the film from staining from bug guts and other airborne contaminants, and it restores a surface gloss level that was naturally reduced by the film itself.