Clear film for paint and headlight/foglight protection: DIY route

[satrya]

When I recently purchased a T6 momentum xc90, I saw that the dealer offered clear paint protection package. The price is on par with what I've seen from direct installers; I don't recall the exact price, but it was north of US $1k for the "stage 1" protection, and more than double that for the more extensive protection.

Having applied clear film protection for paint and headlight lenses myself for my vehicles over the years, I decided to go the DIY route. [Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with any of the companies that make this product, and only share this from the point of view of a user that have tried several different ones over the years. I'm not implying endorsement. The product name, description, and approximate price is to give others an idea on whether it is a potentially good idea to attempt the DIY or not]

For the xc90, I bought 3M's 4th generation film, labeled as "3M Scotchgard PRO Series", available from many vendors. This has gloss clear surface; there are some I've used before that has a matte clear surface (with a different product name/label). The amount of coverage I ended up with is a little more than what the "stage 1" would have offered. From a vendor via Amazon, a 30"x108" roll covers more than the width of the engine hood cover (~US$190), and a 24"x120" roll covers the side-to-frontal areas of the front bumper cover (~US$170). I should note that even though this is around the 6th time I've installed clear paint protection film (over the span of 15 years), every time is a new learning experience, unlike the professionals that get to do this on a daily basis. But the difficulty level is quite less than applying automotive window tint (which I've also attempted in the past). This particular paint protection film is around 8mil (8 thousands of an inch) thick, which is an ideal thickness in terms of ease of install and ability to protect the painted surface.

I also bought a thicker type meant for headlight lens protection. They come in either clear or tinted (black, grey, blue, yellow, etc.), but for low beams, it is best to choose clear, and some colors may render your low beam color outside of the legal color allowed by local / country laws (e.g. FMVSS in the US). I bought a 12"x24" Lamin-x branded clear roll via Amazon (~US$30), which, when split into 2, is just enough to cover the headlight lens. Headlight lens films are usually available in the 20-40mil range. Since a headlight's surface is significantly smaller than any of the typical body panels, picking the 40mil doesn't carry that much more installation difficulty, but you get the most impact protection. The xc90's foglight can be covered by a 3"x12" roll with some material to spare. The closest I found was a 2 roll of 6"x12" (~US$25). The colored ones are usually only offered at the 20mil thickness.

So, without any waste due to installation mistakes, covering a little more than "stage 1" like plus headlights and foglights costs a little over US$400 in roll materials. The leftovers were more than enough to make small patches to protect the inside of the door handle, and along the a-pillar.

You also need 2 spray bottles (one for the slippery solution, another for the evaporating solution), water from a few bottled water, a bit of isopropyl alcohol (for the evaporating solution), and a drop of baby shampoo (to make the slippery solution). When you buy the rolls, they typically send you a sqeegee and a paper cutter.

 

[satrya]

Film for engine hood cover

The first order of business is to mark reference lines for the film that protects the front part of the engine hood cover. The 30"x108" roll means that the front 30" of the engine hood cover is protected, which is more than what the typical "car bra" covers. The 108" length is quite longer; if I recall correctly, the engine hood cover is about 70-80" wide or so. I use blue masking tape to give me visual cues of perpendicular lines etc. I also use the masking tape to help "hold" the sheet to prevent it from falling down and gathering dirt; it needs to be absolutely clean.

This particular film has an opaque white adhesive backing liner. Other models have frosted or translucent liners. Also, some have additional temporary protective liner on the business end of the surface (like when a smartphone or bigscreen TV is still in the packaging).

 

[satrya]

Defining a rough pattern for the film (for the engine hood cover)

With one side taped secure (see left side), simply unroll to measure the needed length (of the roll) to cover the width (of the engine hood cover):

Tape edges that are roughly in the right place, cut the roll to the proper length, and add rough cuts for the headlight profile:

Important: the amount of film should ideally go past in front of the engine hood cover. This is to allow the film to be "folded" over into the engine compartment.

 

[satrya]

Separating the film from the protective liner

To prevent dirt (e.g. from fingernails) to contaminate the film's adhesive backing when peeling the film from its protective liner just before installation, it helps to put two pieces of tape, opposite of each other. Then, you can pull the tape apart from each other to easily separate the film from the liner:

Here's a picture from a different install (not a Volvo) illustrating what I mean by placing 2 pieces of tape to aid in separating the film from the liner:

After that, spraying the film with the slippery solution, and placing the liner back, will allow the film's adhesive backing to remain protected until you need to focus on a particular are to install.

 

[satrya]

Splitting the protective liner along the centerline of the vehicle

Without the help of 1 or 2 other persons, it makes installation easier if most of the sections not being affixed remain protected by the liner. Start by making a cut along the liner so it can be peeled gradually to the side like so:

In the picture above, the film is squeegeed along the centerline, and gradually along the engine hood cover on the right side of the picture. As the squeegeeing goes further to the right side, the liner is also gradually peeled away. Any slippery solution needs to be displaced by the evaporating solution whenever that particular area will be squeegeed.

Here's another angle (and another vehicle) illustrating what I mean:

 

[satrya]

Engine hood cover film install completed

Here's how it looks like when fully squeegeed from center towards the outer sections. Basically, it is almost impossible to see under most daily conditions.

The extra material extending ahead and to the sides of the engine hood cover needs to be carefully fitted to cover the rounded edges of the engine hood cover. Mild heat from a heat gun or household hair dryer should suffice. I start with about half an inch of extra material to roll into the engine compartment (not Volvo, obviously):

 

[satrya]

Front bumper cover -- aligning the film roll

Once the film is installed on the engine hood cover, we can attempt install on the front bumper cover. It looks more challenging, but not with the right preparation & precautions. YouTube videos I've seen for front bumper cover install DIY typically uses an extra pair of hands to help keep the roll in place. I use masking tape like so:

The 120" roll was slightly longer than I need, but it was the closest size that provides the coverage I wanted.

While the protective liner is opaque, it is thin enough that under certain conditions, you can make out most of the necessary features (e.g. edges of the grille, lower bumper cover profile, etc.). This helps in the freehand trimming of the film (along with the liner still intact).

 

[satrya]

Trimming the front bumper cover film to fit

Remember to leave a bit extra material for the film to follow the rounded edges, and to hedge against unplanned stretching of the film during the install, that can misalign parts that haven't been squeegeed yet:

Remember to use tape to keep the roll in place as you add more cuts:

 

[satrya]

Installing the film for the front bumper cover

Again, since this is a relatively large piece, it helps to try to squeegee from the center, and gradually work your way to all sides. Splitting the liner along the center helps keep the side you're not working on protected and more or less aligned.

Gradually displace the slippery solution with the evaporating solution as you squeegee more film away from the center:

And done:

 

[satrya]

Headlight film

The xc90's headlight lens is relatively simple compared to many other vehicles I've installed film on. Just work your way from one side to the rest of the lens surface. As this was the thick 40mil, I actively applied heat during the installation so I can stretch the film as much as I can to allow for the convex surface to be well covered with minimal risk of wrinkles.

At least there are no concave surfaces; those are the most challenging, especially on a 40mil thick material.

I didn't have a picture of the install on the foglights (yellow film, thinner 20mil). Here is the closest (blurry) image I have of the completed instal:

 

[satrya]

It is quite simple once you know the proper precautions and the right timing & amount of pressure / stretch to apply to the film. It is easier than automotive window film (which is very difficult for casual DIYers like me), but isn't terribly impossible. I'm not making any guarantees that it is easy though.

If you're in for some DIY challenge, you might want to consider this route.