I had my R coated with ISM yesterday. This stuff provided a glossy wet look sheen and will last up to 2 years. I had the wheels coated in 22PLE wheel coating and the inside of the wheels with Gtechniq EXO.
Last year I had my Porsche coated for the second time in Gtechniq EXO, it provided awesome water beading all year (I coated once a year) and made cleaning very easy. The ISM is significantly more glossy, and is supposed to even better at water beading. I also had the glass ( windshield, pano-roof, and rear window ) coated in another material made specifically for glass.
Anyone else used glass coatings? How have you liked it so far.
This will be my third year of use and the tech keeps getting better, I am a believer and think this will replace waxing in the very near future as application becomes easier.
I prefer coatings over VentureShield and other clear bra's as they take away from the gloss and shine of the car, and are an order of magnitude more expensive than coatings.
If you are interested in having this done and live in the Seattle area let me know, I can hook you up with my detailer Devin. He comes to your house and does the work in your garage. If you don't have a garage it wont work as you need a controlled environment and need to let it cure overnight.

 

Looks great, how much?

 

Not cheap, around $400 depending on what you want done and what coatings you want applied. My car took about 6 hours of labour for wheels and exterior only.

 

is the coating purely for cosmetic (shine)? or is the coating for protection? sorry, completely clueless about these coating products.

 

It offers protection from the elements, bird poop, dirt, etc..., water shedding and hydrophobic properties and offers a shine. Very similar to a good carnauba wax, but the coating is more permanent and offers a harder surface than a wax would.

 

I have used Wolf Body Guard and the Gtechniq products.

Wolf's Body Guard is really excellent - helps prevent swirls and scratches plus gives a fabulous coat. There is a new Gtechniq product just released that makes even more claims than the existing glass coatings -
No idea what it is like but beginning to get good reviews from detailers.

However, the best product ever had was the Paint Protection Film. While costly, it stopped some very large stones on my old XK that would have meant a full bonnet repair and respray .. and it did it more than once with little damage to the film. Very impressed. You can also wax it to give a great shine.

I'll probably get the front covered when the F arrives in a few weeks.

 

Clear Bra (or paint protection film) technology has improved greatly...I am still not a believer yet, the latest self healing stuff from VentureSheld and 3M is amazing stuff, and if you are not a pain in the **** nit picker about color vibrance and shine like I am then it is a great option for $$$. If you do go down this route DO NOT DO A HALF HOOD, do the full hood! If you can afford it do the full car. It is too early to tell if the new tech does not yellow over time, but the previous generation Clear bra's would yellow, and then you would remove them and discover that the part of the car that was covered looked new, but the part that was not was impacted by the sun and had a different shade to it. Not the greatest look, especially if you did a half hood.

 

abedh thanks for posting.
how resilient is the glass coating in your experience? will it crack or chip with rocks, and does it stand up to repeated high pressure hose washing?

 

After watching that video, not sure I would be in a big hurry to have such a product applied to my car that, if not applied exactly right, in the best conditions, might have to be removed with sandpaper.

 

It basically acts as another clear coat on top of your paint. I have not seen it crack or chip, though it does not protect against any rock impacts any more or less than a high quality wax would (at least in anyway that would make a difference to us). It does protect against sand blown in the wind, and even rubber from the tires (from sticking, not necessarily from a hard impact). It did not seem to me that high pressure hose use impacted it much, though my guess is with repeated and frequent use it will decrease the life span of the coating.
I have not found the need to use a pressure washer since applying glass coatings to my cars about two years ago, there was no need since dust, mud, debris, brake dust, etc... did not stick, and most of the dirt just flowed off the car with a regular water hose spray.

 

There are many types of coatings with different degrees of difficulty to apply and remove. The current Gold Standard in glass coatings is called Modesto, and it is applied thick and offers rock chip protection because it is that thick. Unfortunately if you screw it up, you need to sand it off. It is also a beast to apply and only experienced professionals should apply it.
I opted not to go with Modesto...was not worth the risk to me.
Most other glass coatings are not that extreme, and many will come off with off the shelf solvents or can be re-applied to make up for error during the initial application. Most others are also rather easy to apply. 22PLE, GTechniq, and ISM all offer coatings that are easier to apply.

 

The newer stuff even has 5-10 year guarantees against yellowing. There was no sign of it after 2 years on the old XK.

It will take wax really well - no one could tell which panel had it on just from the shine (and, like you, I am VERY particular about my paintwork). The only precaution was to ensure you did not use a petroleum distillate based wax - not good for the PTF.

The self-healing aspect is just something to see in real life - seeing marring disappear in front of your eyes with just a dollop of hot water gives you great faith in it.