2023 BMW M8 Competition in for clear bra and ceramic coating

A 2023 BMW M8 Competition in Isle of Man Green Metallic came in for front end clear bra and a Gyeon ceramic coating. The owner wanted the front of the car protected from stone chips and the whole car easier to keep clean. This is how the job went, start to finish, and why each step happens in that order.

Wash and decontamination

Every job starts in the wash bay. The detailers clean the wheels and the lower half of the car first, since that is where most of the dirt sits. Doing those areas first keeps that grime from being dragged onto the cleaner upper panels later.

An iron remover pulls off bonded contamination, the tiny metal particles from brake dust and rail dust that cling to paint and wheels. The paint then gets a foam cannon wash, which loosens dirt before a mitt touches the car, followed by a hand wash with a mitt. A clay bar lifts anything still embedded in the finish. The M8 was rinsed, blown dry and sent to the film bay.

Clear bra on the front end

The installers inspect the paint first, because film locks in whatever is under it. They then pull up pre-cut patterns for the car on the computer and adjust a few of them for the cleanest fit. The plotter cuts the film.

Panel by panel, they spray the paint with solution, lay the film, check the alignment and squeegee the solution out so the film adheres. The pattern work matters on a car like the M8, where the front end has a lot of shape to follow.

This owner chose the hood, front bumper, fenders, headlights, mirrors, rocker panels and door cups. The front panels take the stone chips. The rockers catch what the front tires throw back, and the door cups protect the paint where fingernails and rings scratch it.

Paint correction

With the film on, the paint that was left uncovered was machine polished to remove swirls and scratches. The detailers look over the paintwork before choosing how aggressive to be.

A coating adds gloss, but most of the gloss comes from the correction. The surface has to look right before anything goes over it, because the coating locks in whatever is there. After polishing, the paint was wiped down to remove polishing oils so the coating bonds cleanly.

Ceramic coating

The Gyeon coating went over both the paint and the film. That covers the whole front end in one continuous finish and gives the car gloss, UV and chemical protection, with a surface that is easier to wash.

Putting the coating over the film means the film is easy to clean too. The two products have separate jobs. The film takes the impacts and the coating handles water, dirt and chemical contamination.

Wheels and glass

The owner also had the wheels taken off so the faces, barrels and calipers could be coated with Gyeon rim coating, which helps shed brake dust. Taking the wheels off lets the technician prepare and coat the barrels and calipers, which cannot be reached properly with the wheels on the car.

The wheels went back on and were torqued to factory specifications. The glass was coated too, for better visibility in the rain.

A quick interior wipe down and vacuum finished the job.

What the owner got

The front end sits under film that stops stone chips, and the whole car sits under a coating that makes washing quicker. The M8 now has chip protection where chips happen, and gloss and easy cleaning everywhere else.

Considering the same package

Basic Front covers the front bumper, hood, mirrors, headlights and fog lights. Full Front adds the full front fenders, and Full Front Plus adds the A-pillars, roof edge and rocker panels. Full Body covers every painted panel. Paint correction is sold together with every ceramic coating we apply.

If you drive a car like this one, send us the year, make and model and the services you have in mind, and we will tell you what the paint needs.