Delivery in April - A few questions remain

[Schyl]

Hi all!

After spending far too long lurking on these forums, I bit the bullet and ordered an M3 in February. Production just finished this week. Like everyone else, I've been eagerly (obsessively) awaiting its arrival here in the US, tracking it's status multiple times a day. It will be the first luxury vehicle I have ever owned, and is certainly the highest performance. For several years now, I've thought of the M3 as the quintessential car - as close to perfect in my mind as a sports sedan can be. Something about the styling of the M3 attracts me in a way that its competitor's cars do not.

As the delivery date nears, I've found myself unable to find satisfactory answer to questions on three topics: dash cameras, detailing, and protective coatings. Going into the purchase, I knew next to nothing about any of these. After considering how much I was paying for the car, however, these items all suddenly seemed to be of the utmost importance. Separating the obsessive-compulsive worrying that some people (enthusiasts) have for their car (baby) from legitimate concerns, however, has made reading up on these challenging.

1. Dash Cameras. I am leaning toward the BlackVue DR650GW-2H for two reasons: (1) I like the way it looks, and I tend not to like screens in my cars (2) I prefer the idea of having a single dedicated system for front and rear coverage to using two separate systems. BlackVue reviews, however, seem to be all over the place. On this forum, they seem mostly positive. On Dashcamtalk, they're almost entirely negative. Is this a case of the dash cam enthusiast finding fault where your normal user (me) would not? Or should I steer clear of the BlackVue in favor of something else?

2. Detailing. For years I single-bucket-washed my cars with pride, secure in my ignorant bliss. Wading into detailing forums was therefore a bit of a horror show for me. Not only was everything I'd ever done to take care of my car wrong, but it also seemed like no one could agree on exactly what the right way was (see coatings, bras below). The only thing everyone seemed to 100% agree on is that you should never let the dealer detail your car. Most appeared to recommend that you get your car professionally detailed ASAP to protect it. I do plan on not letting the dealer detail the car, and taking it to a detailer after delivery, but given the imprecise nature of the arrival dates and the fact that I'll be driving several hours to pick up the car, scheduling a same-day detail job seems difficult. This is likely a silly question, but the detailing forums have made me preemptively neurotic: am I committing a sin by waiting a week or two before getting the car professionally detailed?

3. Clear Bras, Coatings. Half of people seem to think that these are snake oils, that they make your car look worse and that you're better off just repainting your bumper every couple of years. The other half swears by them. Having never had a car with either an aftermarket coating or a bra, am I making a mistake in foregoing these options? I will be using the car as a daily driver, but I live in a pretty rural area without a lot of traffic/parking issues, and it will be kept in a garage. For someone who hasn't ever handled these products in person, can anyone explain the difference visually, tactilely, and protection-wise, between something like the Modesta Coatings and the Xpel clear bras? The M3 I ordered has the Yas Marina Blue paint with all of the carbon fiber add-ons, if it matters.

4. Coding. With a 2016 6MT, will any coding be undone by the 1200 mile service? If not, is there anyone in the VA area who might be willing to help me with it or that you could recommend?

5. I live in southeast West Virginia, and will be picking the car up in Pittsburgh. As stated, I would like to (1) get the car professionally detailed. I'd also like to get (2) the windows tinted, (3) the dash cam professionally installed, (4) a number of items coded, and perhaps also (5) the IND cosmetic pieces professionally installed. I've seen a number of places in VA/MD recommended on this forum, but I thought I would see if I might have missed any recommendations for shops that can do this work closer to home in either western Virginia or the Pittsburgh area (I've given up hope of finding a recommendable shop in WV). Ideally, it'd be nice to get as many of these done is as few places as possible, but I'm not against driving a few hours for each if necessary.

I'm not particularly concerned about price for any of these items, as long as they aren't astronomical (I did, after all, skimp on the ceramic brakes)

Thanks!

[s0ul]

Quite a bit of questions to answer.

I have the BlackVue 2ch dashcam. The same one you posted. Honestly, I think it's the best and does exactly what I want. Most people agree with me here on this.

Most people will recommend Raja for coating/paint protection film, tints and pretty much a lot of other stuff. I have used him and I highly recommend him. His work is a masterpiece!

I would wait after breakin period before coding as they may so a software update but these coding are very easy, most of the coding shouldn't take more than 10 minutes or so.

[TillyM]

1. don't have installed ATM, but I assume S0ul knows what he's talking about

2. 7 months into it, I do my own wash /detail as needed. since car's kept at garage as weekend cruiser, don't have too much trouble touching up here and here.

3. Highly recommended. got my XPEL done on first week and perhaps this is one of reason why it requires less detailing / wash... a simple wipe would do... don't have a single scratch all thanks to XPEL, and recend close call on flying rock onto my hood... it slightly ripped the bra, otherwise would have surely made a dent on the hood.

4. coding after 1200 mile breakin service may be more ideal. dealer resets during break - in service which will wipe any coding you have. better to ride upto 1200mile, which by than, you are more comfortable with the car and you will know what you want for the coding.

5. Raja highly recommended for one stop for most of your cosmetic need. you should definitely be in touch with him for your cosmetic need. you'll be very pleased with his work.


Gratz on new M and happy driving ~~

[EALm4]

Congrats on the new ride!

1. Dash Cameras. - The Blackvue 650 2ch is perfect for a solid basic cam. It's competitively priced for the market (personally I think it should be 50-100 less). Has all the solid features like GPS, 1080p, event recording, parking, etc.. There are better cams out there for sure such has the Thinkware F750, however most users end up disabling all the advanced features because they arent needed (such as collision warning). The Blackvue is easy to hardwire and serves it purpose.

2/3. Detailing. Waiting a week to detail your car wont hurt. Neither will waiting a month. Just the longer you wait the more you will have to do to get the paint back to better than factory condition. Unless you have the dealer leave the plastic on and drive it off the lot and directly to a detailer, but even then your car's paint will inevitably be contaminated.The car wont be 100% covered. You will need to have the paint decontaminated, clayed, polished and sealed. If you go with a wrap like Xpel, the previous still need to happen, otherwise you'll be wrapping imperfect paint.

There are also coatings available such as Cquartz and Modesta. Cquartz is pretty basic nano ceramic coating and Modesta is a hardened glass coat which can last up to 10 years compared to Cquartz's 2 year claim. Both will give your paint that perfect shine, smoothness to the touch, and years of protection. I have Cquartz and it's great.

Cquartz can be applied yourself but you need to prep the paint as well. Modesta is to only be applied by a professional that's certified to apply it. There are also different types of Modesta coating.

Wraps like Xpel are a the best bang for your buck protection out there. Most people do not choose to run both a coating and wrap though. However, I do notice that after a while the wrapped cars do not 'shine' as nice as the cars applied with a coating.

4. Coding. Do after the 1200 break in. Read up here to learn how to do it yourself or there are many options for remote coding to be done.

5. All of this would take at least 48hrs. The detailer would most likely need to keep your car for the entire business day to properly do everything. TBH you can install the dashcam and IND parts yourself. I recommend such so you can learn something about your car and be more comfortable with modding it.

The only detailer I would let touch my car would probably Phil at Detailer's Domain but he is in Jersey and probably out of your way. Other than that I cant speak for any other DMV detailers around here.