How thick is paint protection film, by the makers’ own numbers?
About 6.6 to 9.6 mils for the films whose makers publish a figure, which is roughly 0.17 to 0.24 mm. Most of that is the polyurethane body; the clear top coat and the adhesive are thin layers either side of it.
| Film | Clear coat | Polyurethane body | Adhesive | Total, without the release liner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XPEL Ultimate Plus 7 (sold for interior painted surfaces) | 0.50 mil | 5.0 mil | 1.1 mil | 6.6 mil (168 µm), ±10% |
| XPEL Ultimate Plus | 0.50 mil | 6.0 mil | 1.1 mil | 7.6 mil (193 µm), ±10% |
| 3M Scotchgard Pro Series 4.0 | Not listed separately | 6.0 mil of film, adhesive not counted | Not listed separately | 8.0 mil (0.20 mm) with adhesive |
| XPEL Ultimate Plus 10 | 0.50 mil | 8.0 mil | 1.1 mil | 9.6 mil (244 µm), ±10% |
| LLumar Platinum Gloss, Matte, Extra | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
Sources: XPEL’s data sheets for Ultimate Plus 7, Ultimate Plus and Ultimate Plus 10, and 3M’s Pro Series bulletin. The table compares the films’ published thickness and nothing else.
What is a mil?
A mil is a thousandth of an inch, which is 25.4 microns or 0.0254 mm. It’s the unit North American film makers use, and it has nothing to do with millimetres despite the name.
The conversions that come up most with PPF:
| Mils | Microns | Millimetres |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25.4 | 0.025 |
| 6 | 152 | 0.15 |
| 8 | 203 | 0.20 |
| 10 | 254 | 0.25 |
So an 8 mil film is a fifth of a millimetre. That’s thin enough to follow a bumper’s curves and thick enough to take a stone strike that would chip bare paint, which is the job the film is designed for.
Why won’t you find a thickness for LLumar Platinum?
Because LLumar doesn’t publish one, and neither do we. Its Platinum pages give finish, top coat and warranty, not a thickness.
The only thickness claim LLumar makes is relative. On its Platinum Extra page it calls that film “our Thickest Paint Protection Film” and “thicker than traditional PPF”, aimed at “track racing, gravel roads, or harsh weather.” Platinum Extra carries the same 10-year limited warranty as Platinum Gloss. It isn’t part of the shop’s published packages, so if your driving fits that description, ask about it by name when you book.
Any mil figure you see quoted for LLumar Platinum didn’t come from LLumar’s product pages. When a shop compares films by thickness, ask where its number came from.
Is thicker PPF always better?
Not automatically. Makers match thickness to the job: XPEL sells a thinner film for interior painted surfaces and calls its 9.6 mil film “ultra-thick”, which tells you thick film is a choice for harder use, not a standard everyone needs.
Both of XPEL’s exterior films are tested against flying gravel to the same SAE J400 gravelometer standard and report “no detrimental effect”. Ultimate Plus is tested with 4.73 litres of gravel at 70 PSI and −29 °C; Ultimate Plus 10 with three pints at 70 psi and −20 °F. Both films pass it. LLumar, for its part, aims its thickest film at track days, gravel and harsh weather, which is where extra material earns its keep.
What thickness can’t do is replace coverage. A thick film on a partial hood still leaves the rest of the hood bare. How film absorbs stones, and how much speed matters, is explained in does PPF stop rock chips.
How do you compare thickness figures between quotes?
Make sure the numbers measure the same layers. Data sheets don’t all count the same way, and a film can look thicker on paper just because more layers were added up.
- With or without adhesive? 3M gives both: 6.0 mils without, 8.0 with.
- With or without the release liner? XPEL’s totals are “without release liner”; the liner itself is another 3.0 mil and comes off before the film touches the car.
- With or without a cap sheet? 3M lists a 2.0 mil polyester cap sheet on some versions of its film.
- Same product line? A maker’s interior film and its heavy-duty film can differ by several mils.
If one quote names a film’s thickness and another doesn’t, the film line and its warranty are still the fairer comparison. LLumar and XPEL film are set side by side in LLumar PPF vs XPEL PPF, and the gap between film and a coating is covered in PPF vs ceramic coating.
Choosing the right film weight for your driving
Every package here is built on standard LLumar Platinum Gloss, with the partial front at $850 and up, the full front at $1,550 and up, and a 10-year LLumar warranty on the film. For gravel or track use, the Track Package ($1,900 and up) stretches the coverage to the windshield pillars, part of the roof and the sills, and that’s the job to ask about Platinum Extra for.
Film is cut by software from a pattern for your model rather than trimmed on the car, and the paint gets a decontamination wash, plus polishing if it needs it, beforehand. Tell us how and where you drive in the quote form, or see the four packages on the paint protection film page.