2022 Paint Protection Film

Since the 2022 was first revealed I've wondered if the front bumper is painted or color-impregnated plastic. Either way, adding a layer of protection can't be a bad thing. Could the PPF on your front bumper be replaced after years of sacrificing itself to protect your bumper?

The 2022 bumper would have posed a problem for the customization I performed on my SE by removing the fake bonnet scoop. Being naive, I assumed my body shop would take the primered MINI Cooper (non-S) bonnet I purchased, spray it with official MINI Moonwalk Grey paint (which I assumed would be very expensive), and mount it in place of the original bonnet.

Nope. There is no guarantee that factory paint will match what the factory was spraying the day my car was painted. So the body shop had to dismantle the front end to remove the bumper and grille, paint the bonnet with a blend they believed matched the original paint closely, and then blend the bonnet color into the front fenders for a gradual transition to the ever-so-slightly different-colored factory paint.

Also, being one who wants my SE to look electric, I'd have my 2022 SE's front bumper painted Energetic Yellow (certainly requiring a layer of PPF).

 

No, the front bumper takes the most beating. You definitely want it protected.

 

A local XPEL dealer here still doesn't have the 2022 templates from XPEL. So I cannot get the PPF applied yet at the place I want to use.

 

The quotes I got around here were unreasonable. So I’m not doing it.

 

Yes, it cost me less to have a new scoopless bonnet painted and installed on my SE than some of the PPF quotes I've seen!

 

Partial front (not full hood) is $1,200 here.

 

Sorry to recover an otherwise dead thread…

Is the SE’s paint thin enough to need PPF? I am mostly concerned about chips leading to rust; scratches I have accepted will happen on any commuter.

I am considering getting a full bonnet PPF, but $1500 is a bit hard to swallow. Anyone done the PPF install themselves?


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Threads are meant to collect information--it's better to keep using one than to have two parallel threads. So thanks for finding and resurrecting this one.

I spent my bonnet bucks getting rid of the scoop (electric cars don't need bonnet scoops)--after finally selling the original bonnet, it cost just a few hundred more than PPF and included painting and installation. I assume PPF protection is limited to rocks in a certain sharpness range. I'll go back to my body shop if I acquire a ding I can't live with.

My strategy to avoid rocks is to purposely stay far back from the vehicle ahead, accepting that I will have other cars cutting in front of me. That strategy won't work when a rock is launched by a vehicle in oncoming traffic, but I think it helps in general. I've been lucky for a year now (I shouldn't have written that).

 

Cool.

Would it be safe to say that Mini’s paint is decently durable to chipping?

Coming from Honda and Toyotas, and while their paint isn’t the glossiest relative to German brands, it’s pretty tough stuff.


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Perhaps we'll hear about paint durability from MINI owners in southwest states that have sand-storms.

 

I've posted this before, but this is the front bumper of my R53 when it was about 7 years old. I've opted for the clear bra since then, so I don't know if the newer cars hold up any better.



This was after about 2 years in Los Angeles, 18 months in Ohio, and a year or two in New Mexico. I think the worst of it happened in Ohio driving on roads that were under construction constantly. I don't think any of those projects ever actually finished.

 

As someone in Columbus OH this is accurate…

I guess PPF may well be in my future.


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That's a strong case for PPF.

 

Because of the low slope profile of the MINI front-end I think it's a good idea to at least do the front/hood. I've done it on all five of the MINIs I've owned.

 

Has anyone looked at ceramic coating? Which one would be better?