I can definitely recommend applying a coating to your car. Either a ceramic or glass coating, both will protect the paint and will make regular 'maintenance' (i.e. handwashing) a lot more convenient. I used to be a detailer for a car dealer as a part-time job during college, and I think these coatings are really a game-changer. Instead of waxing the car every month, just apply a coating 1x and maintain it with a coating maintenance product after every hand-wash and your cash will look perfect.
Applying a coating is something anyone can do, there are plenty of how-to's on youtube and with a new car it's not too labor-intensive either, since the paint is already in perfect condition. In terms of products, I've used Gyeon and Soft99 qjutsu as coatings and Gyeon cure as coating maintance.

 

I would PPF at least the front end, then apply at home a ceramic wax. Both my cars still look brand new after 2/3 years, the PPF is a bit expensive $2000 for the hood, front, fenders and mirror caps, but worth it, and the wax is $30-50 every 6 months plus elbow grease.

 

I experience rock chips in the lower part of the hood and top of the front fender and would consider it there. The ‘ceramic coating’ stuff is a small hydrophobic layer that mostly makes the car easier to clean and will have a miniscule protection against surface scratches but not really. For cars with inferior paint like Teslas they recommend a two component solution which also gives it more strength and durability.
I’m torn between thinking it’s snake oil and useful. Polishing and paint restoration is hard manual work, but just simply applying this stuff seems so easy I don’t get why they charge so much for it.

 

I had some PPF and a ceramic coating applied to my current car when it was new. The first thing they did was to polish the paint job to proper shape. And it certainly was needed even for a brand new car. The paint from factory (after dealer preparation) was very disappointing. It did not have holograms, but it had several spots with either dust or a small fly in the paint, and in general it seemed like they didn't spray enough paint or clearcoat to get an even surface. If you have painted a car even once, you know what the "orange peel" type surface looks like.
After polishing and coating, the car finally looked like a new car should look like. It cost a few hundred euros, but was well worth it, because of the polishing done before coating.

 

Not specifically an i4 question - except specific for my Dravit Grey i4 on order.

What type of exterior detailing would you recommend? So far I have just used regular waxing whether I have done it myself or have someone more professional do it for me. My dealer recommends using ceramic coating but I have no experience in this so I don't really know the pros/cons on this compared to regular periodic waxing, except my dealer makes some more money of course.

Any experience or recommendations on what to go for in this forum?

I definitely recommend getting some kind of coating - it makes a huge difference, both in shine, durability and how easy it is to clean the car. On my last two cars I've tried Ditec Ceramic Ultra, which is a several layer ceramic coating. To be quite fair I didn't find the difference to be huge, mostly that you get longer warranty. I'll probably go for one of the more standard coatings this time and renew it more often (at least here the Ceramic stuff i signficantly more expensive).

 

I agree 100% with @Inception that the ceramic wax is not protection against rock chips & stuff, that's why I got the PPF for the front end where rocks and gravel are most likely to hit. As I said, money well spent. For the rest of the car, I also agree you should not spend a lot, I think most of those waxes are fairly equivalent, so I just use the wax I buy on Amazon, easy to apply, looks great and beads water for a long time. Not sure it's available in Europe, it's US made. I needed a bottle and a half on the first application for my wife's Audi Q3 and a bottle for my Fiat, but for the 6 months refresher, a bottle is plenty for both of them. I coat over the PPF as well, the manufacturer recommends it.
Looks like there is a stupid rule in this forum that you can't even share a link to a product you use, so here's a picture, just search Amazon for "Ethos Ceramic Wax".

 

What did it cost you to PPF the front end? I’ve never done it before, but I might do it this time around.

 

Big fan of PPF here!! I had Xpel PPF applied to both my MINI GP and i3 REx.

I paid about $700 to have my i3 done (prior to delivery). He wrapped my hood, bumper, headlights, fog lights, A pillars, mirror caps, and the trapezoidal painted surfaces that sit below the doors. The front end of my car looks (practically) brand new after 8 years and 135,000 miles. With the highways and construction projects around here, there are always dump trucks spewing rocks and the PPF really does a good job of protecting the paint. I wax the whole car EXCEPT for the areas with PPF, however, I use detailing spray to keep the Xpel clean.

zainostore.com

 

Mike, any reason you don’t wax the PPF treated areas?