The value of PPF and coatings

If you have a car that you take to the track often, you know how hard it is to remove the rolled-up rubber marks you get on the exterior. They don’t often damage the paint, they just require some intense polishing to remove. And that’s the risk: If you aren’t careful with the polishing, you may burn or damage the paint elsewhere when you’re concentrated on removing each mark.

This BMW M2 had both paint protection film and a ceramic coating. With this combo, about 70% of the marks came off just with a good washing. Another 10-15% came off with a clay-bar application. The rest come off with a single stage polish. Compared to another car with no PPF or coatings I worked on recently, this one cleaned up in about half the time. The PPF provided a sacrificial layer of protection against rock chips. The ceramic coating offered an additional protective layer against contamination and UV damage.

Taken together, it’s an expensive package, but will pay off in 10 years when removed to sell the car and it doesn’t require repainting. In the near-term, it makes clean-up a breeze. Check out the video below to see how easy it was to remove these rubber stains.