Vehicle Wrap: Matt Black M3

[Jon Marshall]

Hi Andrew, looks good. How did you find the 3M material? I understand it’s not a cast, was it ok on the bumpers?

[Andrew Gamble]

Thanks Jon, I personally find this the best material to use, the bumpers caused no problems, the only thing required is gentle heat and not get carried away with stretching to avoid matt becoming gloss, which is a problem i’ve found more on other matt black films.

[Cheryl Smith]

oooo…now that does look pretty matt black…..suit me down to the ground that would….

[Andrew Gamble]

I agree Cheryl, think you’ll suit it better than me … blonde is way better than bald!! :lol1:

[Richard Urquhart]

Nice job, well done Rich

[Cheryl Smith]

Thank you…I think id like to have one of those…. 😀

[Robert Lambie]

The application looks excellent Andrew, well done mate and thanks for taking the time to post the pictures…

ive never used matt on any vehicles, so just picking your brains here.
as you mentioned, matt tends to gloss when over stretched. im guessing you have "peiced-in" in areas like "underside of headlights" and the like?
or was there enough give to do this without it glossing?

[Andrew Gamble]

Rob, apologies for the delayed response…busy day! There wasn’t any need to piece in on this one, there was enough material to drop in without glossing on the bumpers….I personally find the 85 series is far more forgiving in these areas and seems to have a far greater tolerance than other matt films i’ve used.
The other thing often mentioned is that this film is more of a satin black than matt, which I prefer too, as it is far more resilient to marks than the really matt films!

[Phil Craddock]

hi Andrew – does look fantastic.

What is the material you have used as I have a full matt black wrap to do and worry about it glossing during the fitting.

So any pointers greatfully received. Also, hope you don’t mind me asking but what was your ball park ££ to do this ??

[Andrew Gamble]

Hi Phil, The material is 3M Scotchcal Car Wrap Film 85 series matt black, product code SC85-2097 CW, sourced from William Smiths.
You can get it to ‘gloss’ with too much heat and/or overstretching but as mentioned I personally find this film very user friendly and don’t encounter any problems with it.
With all due respect i’d rather not post any of my rates/prices on here, I don’t wish to start any price wars, or be appearing to plug myself in any way, hope you understand but i’m new to the boards and don’t think posting prices on here is the right way to do things??

[James Martin]

Used the 85 on a Honda civic bonnet Andrew and the guy is coming back for more this year.

The 85 stuff is the kindest film I’ve used and seeing what you have did gives me confidence to expect even more from this film now.

[Robert Lambie]

no rush on replies andrew, fully understand we all run business’s day to day mate… im the worlds worst for it, seen me taking about a week on my replies. lol

quote A. Gamble:

With all due respect i’d rather not post any of my rates/prices on here, I don’t wish to start any price wars, or be appearing to plug myself in any way, hope you understand but i’m new to the boards and don’t think posting prices on here is the right way to do things??

:appl: Thank you Andrew, sorry Phil… but i think Andrew’s tact here is justified mate. Being independent but also under a major suppliers wing, so to speak, he could be vulnerable to "finger pointing". so its good to see some thinking before just posting/promoting.

thanks for the feedback on the headlight question etc andrew…
its good to hear areas like this can be negotiated with the vinyl. when i first looked at the picture i thought the over all effect looked great but "my thoughts" on those front prominent areas may have been patched and not looked just as good in the flesh. so good to hear, although glossing does happen, the 3M matt goes that bit further before it gives.

[Phil Craddock]

thanks Andrew and Robert – I fully understand about the pricing as we all have to equate our own overheads and price structure into our work.

Also thanks for the heads up on the material – I shall research WS to see what I can find.

It does look stunning Andrew – a fantastic job.

Phil

[Michael Szwacki]

Oh yes.
I love it.

Fantastic job Andrew.

Mike

mod-edit

[Paul S Martin]

hi Andrew

did you leave the lights & trim fitted and just cut around them,

I dose look like a very nice job that has been done.

Paul :clap3:

[Andrew Gamble]

Thanks Mike!

To answer your question Paul, yes, thats exactly what we did. Nothing was removed from the car other than the M3 badge on the bootlid, which was carefully put back using vhb tape! The lights, indicators & door handles were all carefully cut to the outer edge and of panels, with the excess material then just applied with the hard edge of the squeegee and heated in.
I tend to remove what I can from vans/commercial vehicles, their ‘agricultural’ nature means nuts/bolts are easily removed… cars i only remove what I feel comfortable with…. and I didnt feel too comfortable taking a 50K motor to bits in all honesty!
If there was a remote chance of any original colour showing though I use a mechanic that resides close to our bay to strip things down.

[Peter Normington]

Nice looking job, and well fitted Andrew.
I am still not sure why someone who spends £50K+ on a car wants to cover it in sticky backed plastic?
Yes its good for us that they do, but why dont they just get a proper paint job done?
Yes I know the arguments about how difficult it is to paint a matt finish etc.
and how the vinyl can be removed before selling the car, etc,

But If you have more money than sense, why go for a cheap substitute for the real thing?

Peter

[Michael Szwacki]

I agree with Peter.

If you have fitted genuine carbon fibre roof it’s mean you count on performance of your car. That roof it’s probably about 15 kg less than standard roof and Andrew just put another 15kg of vinyl on it 🙂

Anyway it is good for us and I would not say to customer don’t do it 🙂

Mike

[OwenTaylor]

quote Peter Normington:

Nice looking job, and well fitted Andrew.
I am still not sure why someone who spends £50K+ on a car wants to cover it in sticky backed plastic?
Yes its good for us that they do, but why dont they just get a proper paint job done?
Yes I know the arguments about how difficult it is to paint a matt finish etc.
and how the vinyl can be removed before selling the car, etc,

But If you have more money than sense, why go for a cheap substitute for the real thing?

Peter

Are you saying a 4litre V8 isn’t sensible in todays economy?

The wrap however makes total sense to me. The increase in residual value of a stone-chip-free M3 when it comes time to sell will likely cover the cost of the wrap and removal. Also a nice M3 is just the kind of car that jealous scallywags like to run a key down the side of.

[Simon Polakof]

Great work!
It looks like you have no overlaps. Truly lovely work.
Just for the fun of it, how long did it take you to do? How many appliers?
Simón

[Andrew Gamble]

Hi Simon,

Thanks for the comments, the car took 11 hours to complete. There was 2 fitters on it while we did the bumpers and bonnet, and the rest of the car was completed by myself. While it’s possible to do it all on your own, the time savings for having 2 people to handle the vinyl for the larger areas outweigh the hassles of tabbing and centre hinging to apply on your own.