Vehicle wrap SqFt calculator or estimate for E92 M3 build

[r3zon8]

Im shopping out pricing to wrap my car in the next 30-60 days and I personally like to do my research and homework on what is involved in the process from both a material and labor standpoint.

Material:
I see the 3M material can be purchased online; but i need to know how much material i need. How much SqFt to be exact. My idiots approach is to take the dimensions of the car from bmw and build a box around it. this should leave ALOT of extra material but its the only way I can think of to guesstimate how much the shop will need. I assume the bottom(powertrain), top(CF roof), and mirrors(CF mirror covers) will not be wrapped.

Using BMW's dimensions of a E92 M3 Coupe(in mm): LxWxH:4615x1976x1424
drivers side:
4615mmx1424mm == 182inx57in == 15ftx5ft == 60sqft

passenger side: same as driver side
drivers side:
4615mmx1424mm == 182inx57in == 15ftx5ft == 60sqft

rear:
1976mmx1424mm == 78inx56in == 6.5ftx5ft == 35sqft

front: same as rear except for hood so I x1.5 the height to be safe
1976mmx1424mm == 78inx85in == 6.5ftx7ft == 46sqft

That gives me: 201 sqft


Labor:
This is the tricky one. How much of the material is consumed(adhesion prep, surface cleaner) during the install and how much is tools(heatgun, squegees)?
All shops will estimate 1 day of work. How can I put a number on it?

Im not here to lowball any shop for their hard earned work, but I also like to make informed decisions, especially financial ones.

can anyone chime in and share their experience in wrapping their vehicle?

[Amirsm3]

A 5'x60' would suffice. Maybe less since you're not gonna do the roof. You'll definitely have some extra, but you gotta remember, those dimensions don't account for the contours and the body lines. That adds to the surface area.

What other materials that get consumed depend on the shop's procedure. I'm sure some of the pro's will chime in eventually.

[RaceTruk]

square feet doesnt matter, as you are needing to price out a whole roll since the shop will have to purchase the roll specifically in the color you want.
needing more than half a roll financially you still would buy a whole roll
with any extra they have its not like they can wrap another car.
if its glossy black, matte black, or carbon, they can use excess for a roof, but that doesnt really change anything.

[Amirsm3]

Originally Posted by RaceTruk

square feet doesnt matter, as you are needing to price out a whole roll since the shop will have to purchase the roll specifically in the color you want.
needing more than half a roll financially you still would buy a whole roll
with any extra they have its not like they can wrap another car.
if its glossy black, matte black, or carbon, they can use excess for a roof, but that doesnt really change anything.

I think he was gonna order his own roll and then bring it to a shop. I could be wrong, but that's what I gathered from his post.

[r3zon8]

Originally Posted by Amirsm3

I think he was gonna order his own roll and then bring it to a shop. I could be wrong, but that's what I gathered from his post.

That is correct, I would purchase a roll on my own and provide it to the shop doing the installation.

On the few calls I've had today with local installers; most are opposed and are not willing to provide only installation services citing warranty issues. 3 vendors ive spoken have quoted $3000-$3500 for material+labor. Seeing how a 5x60ft roll runs about $550 conservatively, the labor seems high to me.

[vastano]

I used 5'x60' to wrap my e90 and have about 5'x5' left over, I didnt wrap the roof either.

Buy it from metromods.com or their ebay store, theyre the cheapest I found.

[s85e90]

FYI most shops won't want to touch "your" purchased wrap as they don't know who/where it came from or it's manufacture date. Also they prob won't warranty the work.

IMO just call and shop around.

[r3zon8]

Originally Posted by vastano

I used 5'x60' to wrap my e90 and have about 5'x5' left over, I didnt wrap the roof either.

Buy it from metromods.com or their ebay store, theyre the cheapest I found.

Hi, what color was your wrap? can you post some pics?

[LazyBear15]

I personally think shops wont do it if you bring your own cause they also upcharge the roll to basically make money off that AND labor. BS if you ask me. Too bad ur not in SoCal or else I could have recommend a great guy for the job.

[SeanE92]

Originally Posted by LazyBear15

I personally think shops wont do it if you bring your own cause they also upcharge the roll to basically make money off that AND labor. BS if you ask me. Too bad ur not in SoCal or else I could have recommend a great guy for the job.

You can still recommend a guy so other people can see

[fitchesbass]

From my own experience of doing it myself on another car, the prep time and re-assembly time is by far the most time consuming part (at least for me).

If you think the labor is expensive, why not DIY? It takes some practice, but after a panel or two you'll get the hang of handling the material.

[vastano]

Originally Posted by r3zon8

Hi, what color was your wrap? can you post some pics?

Satin pearl white.

Here's pics:
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=889048

[LazyBear15]

Originally Posted by SeanE92

You can still recommend a guy so other people can see

I don't know the guys shop name, and I'm not sure if I should just put his cellphone on blast, but I'd be happy to share name and number if anyone wants to PM me.

[r3zon8]

I found a knowledgeable/competitive priced installer who quoted 535 material and 1500 for labor. Seems they just moved to the area from Texas and wanted the work so I dropped the car off yesterday.

An M5 was rolling off as I came in a satin blue color; inspecting the work on that car made me much more comfortable with handing over the keys.

To help bring down the price I offered to remove/install trim and certain pieces from the vehicle to help speed things along. In all honestly I prefer to do the small things on my own and I just 'feel' I'll do a better job handling and caring for the parts myself. Also agreed to a small 2x6 logo of the name on the rear glass for 90 days.

attached are two pics as I left her..will post after pics soon.

[Amirsm3]

Niiiiice, can't wait to see the results!!

[Frigon_50]

Yeah 3M vehicle wraps can be easily bought online and these sheets are quite good. Well, I didn’t do installation on my own so don’t know anything. I had got that installed by professionals at a local shop. You can find more details at their website Silvertipgraphics.com.

[eduardomi]

Originally Posted by r3zon8

I found a knowledgeable/competitive priced installer who quoted 535 material and 1500 for labor. Seems they just moved to the area from Texas and wanted the work so I dropped the car off yesterday.

An M5 was rolling off as I came in a satin blue color; inspecting the work on that car made me much more comfortable with handing over the keys.

To help bring down the price I offered to remove/install trim and certain pieces from the vehicle to help speed things along. In all honestly I prefer to do the small things on my own and I just 'feel' I'll do a better job handling and caring for the parts myself. Also agreed to a small 2x6 logo of the name on the rear glass for 90 days.

attached are two pics as I left her..will post after pics soon.

Whats the name of the shop?

[M3ANMACHINE]

Originally Posted by r3zon8

I found a knowledgeable/competitive priced installer who quoted 535 material and 1500 for labor. Seems they just moved to the area from Texas and wanted the work so I dropped the car off yesterday.

An M5 was rolling off as I came in a satin blue color; inspecting the work on that car made me much more comfortable with handing over the keys.

To help bring down the price I offered to remove/install trim and certain pieces from the vehicle to help speed things along. In all honestly I prefer to do the small things on my own and I just 'feel' I'll do a better job handling and caring for the parts myself. Also agreed to a small 2x6 logo of the name on the rear glass for 90 days.

attached are two pics as I left her..will post after pics soon.

Nice deal! Win-Win!