2022 Paint Protection Film

Carsten Haase

Carsten Haase

Well-Known Member
Has anyone gotten paint protection film for a 2022 yet or gotten a quote from somewhere other than a Mini dealer?

My dealer has it available but none of their kits include the front bumper. My salesman couldn't understand why that was a problem and said nobody has ever asked for the front bumper to be covered before...

Does the front bumper really not get damaged by rocks/debris on these cars for some reason? The bumper on my current car looks like it got sand blasted...
 
Carsten Haase said:
Has anyone gotten paint protection film for a 2022 yet or gotten a quote from somewhere other than a Mini dealer?

My dealer has it available but none of their kits include the front bumper. My salesman couldn't understand why that was a problem and said nobody has ever asked for the front bumper to be covered before...

Does the front bumper really not get damaged by rocks/debris on these cars for some reason? The bumper on my current car looks like it got sand blasted...
Click to expand...
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).

2022-SE_scoopless_EYbumper.jpg
 
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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.
 
That's the same quote I got from the dealer.

My wife's outback was $890 for basically the same package (partial hood) but it included the front bumper and both front fenders which is what I was expecting. No front bumper for $1200 is a deal breaker for me.
 
My local Xpel installer has the 2022 templates available only for the gas models but said it shouldn't be a problem to do the SE since they're close enough. Quote was $1500 for full hood, headlights, bumper, front fenders, and mirrors. Dealer was $1600 for full hood and no bumper. Hopefully I wont get too many chips in the two weeks between pickup and PPF!
 
Just an update on the dealer PPF:

My salesman was wrong. The dealer option (both partial and full hood) does include the front bumper. Kinda disappointing that I could have had it done before picking up the car but oh well...
 
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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DisgruntledSanta said:
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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Click to expand...
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.

mini%20chips%202.JPG


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.
 
chrunck said:
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.

mini%20chips%202.JPG


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.
Click to expand...

As someone in Columbus OH this is accurate…

I guess PPF may well be in my future.


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chrunck said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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