Another M50d EU delivery taken - First impressions

[opasha]

Originally Posted by parm

💪

The water run off is impressive, nice !

Agreed, that's very cool!

@Armen383, in your opinion, is the Opticoat Pro or the 6-layer Nano ceramic 9H treatment better? I'm new to this coating process, so I wanted to get your opinion on what works best/lasts long/doesn't cause yellowing or paint issues. Thanks!

[Armen383]

Originally Posted by opasha

@Armen383, in your opinion, is the Opticoat Pro or the 6-layer Nano ceramic 9H treatment better? I'm new to this coating process, so I wanted to get your opinion on what works best/lasts long/doesn't cause yellowing or paint issues. Thanks!

Opasha, I'm by no means a professional detailer to give that sort of advice. I did some research on opticoat back in the days in 2011 or smth, I believe they just started back then and was only 1-layer thing - dunno if that has changed with ver 2.0 - I'm very skeptical about their "lifetime result" marketing anyway :P

There's a long comparison of different treatments with pictures, however it is in Russian - I don't know whether that'll be helpful for you even if you use google translate :P Generally that forum has loads of examples from professional detailers (some are among best of the best IMO) of 9H applications with pictures before/after (i.e. this BMW X6 Lumma - has exactly the same number of Ceramic Pro 9H layers applied as my F15 + they made the interior treatment as well) and at least in Russia and ex-USSR countries it's very popular. However I believe in the US Opticoat might be more popular, although I only saw comparisons with cquartz - and these are completely different things tbh to compare, both have pros and cons.

[opasha]

Originally Posted by Armen383

Opasha, I'm by no means a professional detailer to give that sort of advice. I did some research on opticoat back in the days in 2011 or smth, I believe they just started back then and was only 1-layer thing - dunno if that has changed with ver 2.0 - I'm very skeptical about their "lifetime result" marketing anyway :P

There's a long comparison of different treatments with pictures, however it is in Russian - I don't know whether that'll be helpful for you even if you use google translate :P Generally that forum has loads of examples from professional detailers (some are among best of the best IMO) of 9H applications with pictures before/after (i.e. this BMW X6 Lumma - has exactly the same number of Ceramic Pro 9H layers applied as my F15 + they made the interior treatment as well) and at least in Russia and ex-USSR countries it's very popular. However I believe in the US Opticoat might be more popular, although I only saw comparisons with cquartz - and these are completely different things tbh to compare, both have pros and cons.

Wow, thank you for the informative post! Your car and that X6 seriously look fantastic with this coat. How much does this coat usually cost? Did you do the full body? What do you recommend coating if not full body?

Last night I was driving home on the highway, and someone in an Acura TL threw a cigarette from the passenger side straight behind while I was obviously behind them; the cigarette almost hit the paint as it bounced on the road going about 70 mph. I think I got lucky, but I will have to double check. I was about to have some major road rage, but I just switched over and went past them in order to control myself. Some people are just so messed up . In that moment, I wish I was driving this just so I could scare them off the road :

[JustChris]

stunning car and the steering wheel is on the right side too, superb.

[Armen383]

Originally Posted by opasha

Wow, thank you for the informative post! Your car and that X6 seriously look fantastic with this coat. How much does this coat usually cost? Did you do the full body? What do you recommend coating if not full body?

I did full body as only full body makes sense when you pay that much, 6-layers of 9H (after the treatment is done another 1 or 2 additional layers of a different chemical from the same supplier are applied, basically as a finishing touch for hydrophobic effect/etc.). Mine cost me EUR 1,100 and literally took 5 days to apply with 2 guys working on the car; plus the detailer insisted the car is kept in the shop for another 72 hours to completely "dry out" (technically you need the car to be put under special lamps to help this process go through, or... you can just leave it under the sun - pretty much the same layer-bonding effect)).
The price is that high mainly because: 1) it's all manual labor to apply the 9H, no polishing machines are used; 2) F15 is a big car... it took somewhat 2.5 bottles instead of the usual 1-1.5; 3) in all honesty - Nano Shine (the company behind this solution) charges a lot for the solution itself + it's only available to licensed pro detailers (i.e. no retail market), and that comes with a price as well - which you technically pay for as well. But in the end of the day... I'm happy with the result and that's all that matters; I am generally very skeptical about stuff that promises good results and costs 200$ or so

My detailer told me to come for a free "inspection/maintenance if needed" after two months. The manufacturer recommends to maintain (i.e. refresh one layer of the coating) every 12 months, but with the "professionals" washing the cars these days - I'll make it every 6 months, it won't cost much compared to the initial application.

I might also do the interior as well after 6-12 months (nappa looks great but is a scratching magnet)... for demo purposes I was shown a piece of cloth you use to wipe glasses/displays/etc. center of which had the same treatment my car had, and corners - didn't. The detailer poured some water on top - and it basically stayed as a big drop on the coated part, rolling back and forth as we moved the cloth around (the rest of the cloth was obviously soaking wet ))

Originally Posted by opasha

Some people are just so messed up . In that moment, I wish I was driving this just so I could scare them off the road :

I'm with you 100%. To be honest - I can't remember ANY smokers that I know to use in-car ashtrays... I guess people who actually care about others/etc. are just a dieing breed these days.

[opasha]

Originally Posted by Armen383

I did full body as only full body makes sense when you pay that much, 6-layers of 9H (after the treatment is done another 1 or 2 additional layers of a different chemical from the same supplier are applied, basically as a finishing touch for hydrophobic effect/etc.). Mine cost me EUR 1,100 and literally took 5 days to apply with 2 guys working on the car; plus the detailer insisted the car is kept in the shop for another 72 hours to completely "dry out" (technically you need the car to be put under special lamps to help this process go through, or... you can just leave it under the sun - pretty much the same layer-bonding effect)).
The price is that high mainly because: 1) it's all manual labor to apply the 9H, no polishing machines are used; 2) F15 is a big car... it took somewhat 2.5 bottles instead of the usual 1-1.5; 3) in all honesty - Nano Shine (the company behind this solution) charges a lot for the solution itself + it's only available to licensed pro detailers (i.e. no retail market), and that comes with a price as well - which you technically pay for as well. But in the end of the day... I'm happy with the result and that's all that matters; I am generally very skeptical about stuff that promises good results and costs 200$ or so

My detailer told me to come for a free "inspection/maintenance if needed" after two months. The manufacturer recommends to maintain (i.e. refresh one layer of the coating) every 12 months, but with the "professionals" washing the cars these days - I'll make it every 6 months, it won't cost much compared to the initial application.

I might also do the interior as well after 6-12 months (nappa looks great but is a scratching magnet)... for demo purposes I was shown a piece of cloth you use to wipe glasses/displays/etc. center of which had the same treatment my car had, and corners - didn't. The detailer poured some water on top - and it basically stayed as a big drop on the coated part, rolling back and forth as we moved the cloth around (the rest of the cloth was obviously soaking wet ))



I'm with you 100%. To be honest - I can't remember ANY smokers that I know to use in-car ashtrays... I guess people who actually care about others/etc. are just a dieing breed these days.

Again, thank you for the detailed feedback, my friend! That was really helpful. I'm sold on this coating as the price does not seem bad at all compared to Opticoat Pro, which costs around the same but has less body coverage for the price; I prefer to have my whole car covered like you if I'm doing something like this. I definitely want to keep my car looking new and protect it because the Mineral White is metallic just like yours. Today, I just looked at my front bumper and literally saw insect bodies and their blood from smashing into the bumper because of the strong LED fog lights. Also, bird droppings! The other day, a bird laid a big one on my windshield and after a touch free car wash and a few wiper fluid rinses, the clear stain from the dropping is still there! I can only imagine how bad that is for the paint; I've read about people having to use special chemicals just to get such things out of their paint because of how bad it can damage or stain. The hydrophobic coating would definitely seem like it would be helpful for something like this.

I agree with you 100% about caring/good people being a dying breed these days.

Thank you Armen383 .

[Armen383]

Just a bit under 300km left till the break-in period is over. Overall impressions about the car are good; got some minor things to be taken care of as with any car, but nothing (fingers crossed) major.

Once the Black Beauty hits 2000km, I'm going to slowly go for higher RPM (up to 5k) and speeds (above the 140 run-in limit) for another 100-300 km and onto the oil change. I know it's not a requirement, but I just feel it's the right thing to do after the break-in is complete. Same as changing the oil every 10.000 km rather than at 30.000 km as BMW suggests.

And of course, I couldn't help it and ordered AC Schnitzer Overall, very pleased with the e-mail communication from their side (as opposed to Hartge ), props go to Oliver @ export sales. P.S. Germany to Cyprus in less than 24 hours over a third country, DHL - you never cease to surprise me



Full review of before-after ACS will follow once the oil is changed, the box is installed and I unleash the beast inside the Black Beauty

[Armen383]

With T minus 1 before the ACS installation and just over 2000 km on the odometer, I decided to give it a rip during a nice early morning, Sunday journey to the oldest and my favorite men's only monastery in Cyprus - Stavrovouni. Leaping ahead - I am truly crazy about cars, so bear that in mind when you read further below So...

On the highway I cruised nicely as usual in comfort mode. Black Beauty was a real lady with me, caring and pacifying. Right until I approached the serpentine and put her in Sport mode.

A small excursus to give you an idea of the road - here's a google maps location - the road is generally narrow, with some straight lines and lots, lots of hairpin bends - some that you can approach aggressively, others - not so much, making even 20 km/h a real challenge. The road is always running up the hill since the mountain the monastery is located at used to be the top peak in Cyprus (GG to monks in the old days who climbed it every other week).

Anyhow, once the Sport mode was activated the Black Beauty suddenly underwent a drastic change. What used to be a lady in an evening dress became a BDSM-fanatic bitch in latex. She was pulling me towards her, into the bends, screaming: "Come on, show me what you've got!" And I did or at least I thought I did - pushed her to the extreme, tires squealing and brakes burning when I went from 110 km/h straight onto the 10 km/h bend and then rinse and repeat X times. Although it was just 25C outside and the aircon was at 23C in the cabin, I was sweating. But it seemed like she wasn't. It's as if she grabbed me and screamed: "Come on you pussy! Is that all you've got?! Give me more! MORE!". She was delivering what seemed to be immense power and every time I was going hard on gas or the brakes, she grinned... first like a Cheshire cat, then with pure delight and then... 10 minutes later it was pure joy and accomplishment.

It is these moments when I can forgive BMW anything. All the crap with their quality vs. the Japanese cars, all the noises and rattles, all the crappy dealerships, everything. All that is forgiven when a 2-tonne SAV drives like that. When you're one with your car. With your lady. With your BDSM bitch.

P.S. After the prayer and some me time for both of us, we went home. I tried a few kick-downs from 100+ km/h and up to ... well, lots of km/h more she was just pulling as if there's no limit. Hopefully in a weeks time I'll post a review of past-ACS ride on a different road around "mount Olympus".

[opasha]

That's some major sexual personification right there, lol. Thank you for the review. That ACS upgrade sounds like it really transformed the car. 430hp on the powerful diesel sounds like a heart pounding experience on such roads. Did the exhaust notes change as well as you felt the increased power? I'm glad you ended up satisfied, my friend. Looks like ACS is not just for show .

[42pilot]

Originally Posted by Armen383

The Black Beauty had her first car wash after the 6-layer Nano ceramic 9H treatment. Pretty impressed by the results... granted the car war relatively clean (just one rainy day and dozens of insects killed on a few long highway runs), but still - no shampoo/soap used in the process.

For those interested - here's the actual video of the car wash, shows the hydrophobic effect quite well.

OMG - makes my skin crawl to watch someone pressure wash a vehicle. Forcing water at +500 psi into areas never meant to take that type of pressure will screw with things like body joint sealing, electronics (think very expensive HID lighting), door seals, glued-on or double sided taped badges and so on. Then to top it off, spray the jet directing into the front of the car into the intercooler and radiator, bending all those soft heat-disapating vanes.

But that's just me.

Cool product, but a couple cups of water would have convinced me.

[Armen383]

Originally Posted by opasha

That's some major sexual personification right there, lol. Thank you for the review. That ACS upgrade sounds like it really transformed the car. 430hp on the powerful diesel sounds like a heart pounding experience on such roads. Did the exhaust notes change as well as you felt the increased power? I'm glad you ended up satisfied, my friend. Looks like ACS is not just for show .

Haha opasha, that was a pre-ACS experience The installation is due today.

[opasha]

Originally Posted by Armen383

Haha opasha, that was a pre-ACS experience The installation is due today.

Lol, yeah I totally misread the first line thinking you had it for a day already. Let me know how it goes .

[Terp335]

Originally Posted by 42pilot

OMG - makes my skin crawl to watch someone pressure wash a vehicle. Forcing water at +500 psi into areas never meant to take that type of pressure will screw with things like body joint sealing, electronics (think very expensive HID lighting), door seals, glued-on or double sided taped badges and so on. Then to top it off, spray the jet directing into the front of the car into the intercooler and radiator, bending all those soft heat-disapating vanes.

But that's just me.

Cool product, but a couple cups of water would have convinced me.

+1

Seems like pressure washing like that would surely cause water to get in places it wasn't meant too.

[Armen383]

What are other options compared to manual wash with pressure washing machines? I believe going through an automated car was is not an option (since you'll have pressure wash plus some old rug rubbing against your new paint).

What else? A hose and a bucket? Maybe in US, but not in a country that's actually an island, has very little rain with completely empty dams and up until last year had so few desalination plants, that government imposed fines on those who tried washing their cars at their home instead of a car wash, sprayed their porch from a hose with water running like crazy (excessive use), etc.

Besides... take a non-treated car. Now imagine a bird shits on it. Now add 40C+ degrees under the sun and leave it like that for a few days. Now try to scrape that off w/o pressure... Those pressure guns at the car washes have limited pressure and unless you go absolutely nuts I doubt the car will fall apart. At least with >10 years of my personal experience with various car washes - no paint was ever chipped, badges removed or radiators damaged

[Armen383]

Installation of AC Schnitzer tune is complete. Instead of 3.5 hours it took the dealership guy 2 days and they charged me for 6 labor-hours (that included oil+filter change though), so the total cost of installation was 500+ EUR. The biggest problem was properly laying out the wiring loom.

First impressions - WOW. Even in comfort 0-100 gives you a completely different feel (to stress - you get the feeling, not X seconds less in 0-100 time) - much better throttle response, and you don't even have to floor the pedal to get it. 100 to 200 is a completely different story as well. The truck goes as if there's no stopping it and at some point (about 200 km/h) you start thinking: "Holy crap, there probably goes my driving license". Can't wait for weekend to give in a proper rip on a serpentine.

Overall FIRST impressions - I know the tune costs shitloads even compared to Hartge (others are just times cheaper), but holy crap does it deliver!

P.S. MPG wise - need to do some further testing after the trip comp reset, will report later on.

[Jenya B]

Originally Posted by Armen383

With T minus 1 before the ACS installation and just over 2000 km on the odometer, I decided to give it a rip during a nice early morning, Sunday journey to the oldest and my favorite men's only monastery in Cyprus - Stavrovouni. Leaping ahead - I am truly crazy about cars, so bear that in mind when you read further below So...

On the highway I cruised nicely as usual in comfort mode. Black Beauty was a real lady with me, caring and pacifying. Right until I approached the serpentine and put her in Sport mode.

A small excursus to give you an idea of the road - here's a google maps location - the road is generally narrow, with some straight lines and lots, lots of hairpin bends - some that you can approach aggressively, others - not so much, making even 20 km/h a real challenge. The road is always running up the hill since the mountain the monastery is located at used to be the top peak in Cyprus (GG to monks in the old days who climbed it every other week).

Anyhow, once the Sport mode was activated the Black Beauty suddenly underwent a drastic change. What used to be a lady in an evening dress became a BDSM-fanatic bitch in latex. She was pulling me towards her, into the bends, screaming: "Come on, show me what you've got!" And I did or at least I thought I did - pushed her to the extreme, tires squealing and brakes burning when I went from 110 km/h straight onto the 10 km/h bend and then rinse and repeat X times. Although it was just 25C outside and the aircon was at 23C in the cabin, I was sweating. But it seemed like she wasn't. It's as if she grabbed me and screamed: "Come on you pussy! Is that all you've got?! Give me more! MORE!". She was delivering what seemed to be immense power and every time I was going hard on gas or the brakes, she grinned... first like a Cheshire cat, then with pure delight and then... 10 minutes later it was pure joy and accomplishment.

It is these moments when I can forgive BMW anything. All the crap with their quality vs. the Japanese cars, all the noises and rattles, all the crappy dealerships, everything. All that is forgiven when a 2-tonne SAV drives like that. When you're one with your car. With your lady. With your BDSM bitch.

P.S. After the prayer and some me time for both of us, we went home. I tried a few kick-downs from 100+ km/h and up to ... well, lots of km/h more she was just pulling as if there's no limit. Hopefully in a weeks time I'll post a review of past-ACS ride on a different road around "mount Olympus".

iSoLaTeD is it you ?

[Armen383]

Originally Posted by Jenya B

iSoLaTeD is it you ?

Hello comrade, Eugene YYZ.

[Jenya B]

Originally Posted by Armen383

Hello comrade, Eugene YYZ.

[Armen383]

Originally Posted by Armen383

P.S. MPG wise - need to do some further testing after the trip comp reset, will report later on.

MPG is currently in the area of 15.8 l/km (compared to 12.7 l/km stock) - will see how it develops throughout the next months as I plan to take more road trips on the highway/mountains/twisty roads.

On a separate note: there's a nice article on the ACS M50d vs. TA Cayenne in the latest Auto Bild magazine. For those who can read in German - here's the full article with pictures, for others - here's the English translation.

All in all - way to go ACS, way to go! At least I know I have 0 regrets on money well spent

[1230vani]

Originally Posted by opasha

Again, thank you for the detailed feedback, my friend! That was really helpful. I'm sold on this coating as the price does not seem bad at all compared to Opticoat Pro, which costs around the same but has less body coverage for the price; I prefer to have my whole car covered like you if I'm doing something like this. I definitely want to keep my car looking new and protect it because the Mineral White is metallic just like yours. Today, I just looked at my front bumper and literally saw insect bodies and their blood from smashing into the bumper because of the strong LED fog lights. Also, bird droppings! The other day, a bird laid a big one on my windshield and after a touch free car wash and a few wiper fluid rinses, the clear stain from the dropping is still there! I can only imagine how bad that is for the paint; I've read about people having to use special chemicals just to get such things out of their paint because of how bad it can damage or stain. The hydrophobic coating would definitely seem like it would be helpful for something like this.

I agree with you 100% about caring/good people being a dying breed these days.

Thank you Armen383 .

Try using coke drink for some of the stuff, you would be surprised what that thing can clean

[sssmokie]

Originally Posted by Armen383

MPG is currently in the area of 15.8 l/km (compared to 12.7 l/km stock) - will see how it develops throughout the next months as I plan to take more road trips on the highway/mountains/twisty roads.

On a separate note: there's a nice article on the ACS M50d vs. TA Cayenne in the latest Auto Bild magazine. For those who can read in German - here's the full article with pictures, for others - here's the English translation.

All in all - way to go ACS, way to go! At least I know I have 0 regrets on money well spent

Great car and thanks for the feedback Armen383! Let's hope the effect on the life of the turbos and transmission won't be as dramatic, as the one on the performance I will also look forward for some medium/long term feedback on the 9H. My car is due to arrive in the beginning of January, so i wanna know if its worth it

btw, what is the warranty that ACS give you?

Also, any comments on exhaust note on the M50D? I know diesels are not known for good sound, but as it is an M performance model, they might ve done something special?

[OuKEnFoLdMX]

is there AC Schnitzer tune for f15 x35i?