DIY full wrap project

[dinanm4]

Hey all, I've had my m4 for a few months and so far I love the car, but not so much the color. I've had some past experience vinyl wrapping with various projects, so I thought I might give it a try. I want to tackle this project very slowly and do 1 panel a day. I'm posting on here to see if anyone has wrapped their f8x and can provide some tips! My areas of concern are the rear bumper and the front bumper because I do not want to remove them. So far I have been thinking of matte gray, nardo gray, chrome gold, and matte black.

[Almaretto]

I have only wrapped trim, but there are many youtube videos. I personally would not do chrome gold.

[dinanm4]

Originally Posted by Almaretto

I have only wrapped trim, but there are many youtube videos. I personally would not do chrome gold.

Yeah I've been browsing YouTube, everything seems manageable but the bumpers are still somewhat of a challenge IMO

[damageprone]

A couple weeks ago at the local Cars and Coffee meet, there was a wrap sponsor doing a live demo on a SUV. They unrolled the vinyl across the entire side of the car, placed magnets on the vinyl against the car to hold it up. They then went and cut to fit from there. This is then followed by generous amounts of detail spray, squeegee action, and finally heat gun to finish.

I've personally tried to wrap a roof on an old car and did a terrible job myself. But then again, I did it the lazy way and didn't remove the antenna, and didn't have a proper heat gun.

[dinanm4]

Originally Posted by damageprone

A couple weeks ago at the local Cars and Coffee meet, there was a wrap sponsor doing a live demo on a SUV. They unrolled the vinyl across the entire side of the car, placed magnets on the vinyl against the car to hold it up. They then went and cut to fit from there. This is then followed by generous amounts of detail spray, squeegee action, and finally heat gun to finish.

I've personally tried to wrap a roof on an old car and did a terrible job myself. But then again, I did it the lazy way and didn't remove the antenna, and didn't have a proper heat gun.

How many feet of vinyl do you think I would need considering I'm not wrapping the roof (carbon)?

[damageprone]

Originally Posted by dinanm4

How many feet of vinyl do you think I would need considering I'm not wrapping the roof (carbon)?

Very loosely judging by the dimensions of the M4 based on wikipedia and estimating that a roll of vinyl is about 60 inches wide (5 feet). I'd say ~11 feet? that is a very estimated guess.

[dinanm4]

Originally Posted by damageprone

Very loosely judging by the dimensions of the M4 based on wikipedia and estimating that a roll of vinyl is about 60 inches (5 feet). I'd say ~11 feet? that is a very estimated guess.

Well in that case, I might just do it! Very affordable if it's under 20ft

[XsltAnalyst]

I've wrapped some panels (hood, roof, front bumper) in xpel. Although it's not same as wrapping in vinyl, I'd say preparation and good tools are the key. Using an installation gel helps a lot as well.

Also, sounds like you should also look into pros and cons of plastidipping your car as well, as it's much faster/ easier to change the color that way

[dut]

Originally Posted by dinanm4

......My areas of concern are the rear bumper and the front bumper because I do not want to remove them....

Just an FYI, the front bumper on our car is really easy to remove. I was quite surprised how easy it was when I installed my front camera. I wish I knew how easy it was when installing my front mount intakes.

[espressoo]

I watched a bunch of vinyl wrapping videos from this guy and he seems to know what he's doing. Apparently there are wrapping competitions they compete in. That said, M bumpers look way to complicated for a DIY project. Do post up some pics of the progress though.

[Luc@Speed&Tech]

Originally Posted by dinanm4

Well in that case, I might just do it! Very affordable if it's under 20ft

That's way off, that's not even enough to wrap a fiat. You need at least 65 ft to wrap an M4 completely and that's considering if you don't make any mistakes. You need to remove the front and rear bumpers to wrap it properly.

Pro Tip: Don't try to heat and stretch the vinyl into the recesses of the bumper...it's too deep...you will need to do seams. The front bumper on my M4 below actually consists of 10 different pieces.

[kitesurfer]

I wrapped my last m3., I probably had 60-80 hrs labor all in. I'm a prefectionist... It was a challenge to say the least, it will take fortitude to see the project through to the end. I would recommend to try wrapping your hood first to see how that goes for you. It will give you a taste of what you are in for....keep in mind that is a relative easy panel. Stay away from 3m vinyl , Avery is much more installer friendly. Buy a full roll 75'x5'
Good luck

[damageprone]

Originally Posted by LucBroDude

That's way off, that's not even enough to wrap a fiat. You need at least 65 ft to wrap an M4 completely and that's considering if you don't make any mistakes. You need to remove the front and rear bumpers to wrap it properly.

Pro Tip: Don't try to heat and stretch the vinyl into the recesses of the bumper...it's too deep...you will need to do seams. The front bumper on my M4 below actually consists of 10 different pieces.

Thanks for the correction!

Looked at my calculations and realized I used a wrong conversion Using the correct number it came out to ~55-60 ft (given no mistakes). Sorry for the confusion OP.

[kitesurfer]

I should also say that wrapping a car is more complex process than if may initially appear, to get a good job you will need to remove moldings, lights, Window/Door Trim, roof trim, door handles, ect... Its a lot of work an you Need to have lots of Patience. After doing it myself I understand why a good wrap job will cost 3K+ I would suggest a satin color , I choose Satin Silver and came out killer!. I would stay away from the Gloss or matte films as they tend to show scratches more so than a Satin Film. I'm glad I did it , as it was life learning exp./accomplishment , however if you ask me if I would wrap a car again I would likely say no.

I also would never pay someone to wrap a car that I cared about because there is too much risk for them to cut into your clear coat/paint if they cut around trim pieces ect... and you would never see the cut marks until you remove the wrap. There is also the potential of wraps retaining moisture under the film there by promoting rust.... alot of the vans that I see around town that have a partial wraps on them for several years have rust forming...just my .02

[dinanm4]

Originally Posted by kitesurfer

I should also say that wrapping a car is more complex process than if may initially appear, to get a good job you will need to remove moldings, lights, Window/Door Trim, roof trim, door handles, ect... Its a lot of work an you Need to have lots of Patience. After doing it myself I understand why a good wrap job will cost 3K+ I would suggest a satin color , I choose Satin Silver and came out killer!. I would stay away from the Gloss or matte films as they tend to show scratches more so than a Satin Film. I'm glad I did it , as it was life learning exp./accomplishment , however if you ask me if I would wrap a car again I would likely say no.

I also would never pay someone to wrap a car I cared about because there is just way too much risk for them to cut into your clear coat/paint if they cut trim pieces ect... and you would never see the cut marks until you remove the wrap. There is also the potential of wraps retaining moisture under the film there by promoting rust.... alot of the vans that I see around town that have a partial wraps on them for several years have rust forming...just my .02

Any pics?

[kitesurfer]

Originally Posted by dinanm4

Any pics?

Here you go


The pic with stripes on the hood was painters tape....I was toying with the idea of adding stripes

Although the carbon fiber door handles were not my favorite, adding them saved me the PITA of trying to wrap the door handles which are one of the most difficult items on a car to wrap well.

[Hirenarora]

Originally Posted by LucBroDude

That's way off, that's not even enough to wrap a fiat. You need at least 65 ft to wrap an M4 completely and that's considering if you don't make any mistakes. You need to remove the front and rear bumpers to wrap it properly.

Pro Tip: Don't try to heat and stretch the vinyl into the recesses of the bumper...it's too deep...you will need to do seams. The front bumper on my M4 below actually consists of 10 different pieces.

Is this Satin Dark Gray wrap?

[Luc@Speed&Tech]

Originally Posted by Hirenarora

Is this Satin Dark Gray wrap?

Satin Nero by Avery

[mhxyltslmt@163.com]

Did u finish the job at the end? Two years later I kinda wanna know how was it going ?