Badge Swap Prior to Paint Protection Film

[Chad86]

I assume I have to complete my badge swaps prior to getting the car covered in protection film? Is the paint really that easy to chip and mess up, or should I just forget it and just get the opticoat or whatever and switch the badges later when I get a chance. Car arriving at dealer soon...

[Burrcold]

Switch badges later, no big deal.

[Chad86]

Thanks for all your posts. You seem to know your info.



How long have you been an owner?

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by Chad86

Thanks for all your posts. You seem to know your info.



How long have you been an owner?

No problem at all. I've owned mine since November 2012. Still loving every moment if it!

[Turbo95eg6]

Take deep breaths OP, stop stressing and relax. In the first week you'll cause imperfections to the car no matter how well you take care of it, more likely in the first wash. I promise. It's just a car, enjoy it.

[kALMIGHTY]

I got the best version of pain protection film at the time, which was Xpel Ultimate and it came in a pre-cut kit, so on the bumper part, there was actually a cut out for the badge area. So it's really not going to matter. They're most likely going to cut around the badge so you can swap it anytime.
If you are planning on getting Opti-Coat, get it BEFORE the paint protection film. You want your paint to be corrected and covered before the paint protection film locks it in. Or else all the areas that are covered in paint protection film will be un-opti-coated and the rest of your car will be opti-coated and it'll look weird if you decide to take the film off.

I did Opti-Coat and then Xpel Ultimate on top.

In the picture, you can see an outline around the badge for the cutout in the Xpel Ultimate film.

[GhostShield]

Remove your badges so the installer can lay the film under the badge so you don't see a cut out oval around the badge. Then just sticky tape the badge back on top of the clear bra.

[Chad86]

Thanks! Is it very difficult to remove without wrecking the paint?

[GhostShield]

Thing that sucks is there's pins that go through the front bumper then there's metal clips on the inside that prevent the emblem from just lifting off the bumper. Use fishing line to saw carefully through the sticky tape. Be careful. Heat the emblem with a hair dryer or heat gun prior to sawing the adhesive.
How to deal with the metal clip things I mentioned is up to you. I don't think they are reusable so I just broke my posts and clips completely off the emblem. And since you have new emblems it really shouldn't matter at all if you break them off.
To access it with plyers remove all the 10mm bolts on the black gasket piece at the top of the bumper under the hood. Hope that helps.

[GhostShield]

Then i just reapplied gnarly sticky tape we get from Home Depot and lined my emblem back up and smashed it down. No issues at all. The paint on these cars is very soft so when your sawing through the adhesive keep good tension on the line and keep the ends your holding up off the paint.