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01-09-2019, 08:28 PM | #1 |
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Should I remove this clear bra?
This was installed by a previous owner, and I have no idea how long its been on the car or what kind it is. I'm assuming it's 5+ years though. I'm not sure how transparent they're intended to look so I thought I'd see what others think. You can definitely see a little bit of color difference but I wouldn't say it's yellowed from the sun or anything. I've read some horror stories about them being left on the car too long and then not being able to remove them. And while the car is garaged over the winter I plan to do a good polish/paint correction + CQUK, so if it's going to need to come off soon then I'd rather do it prior to working on the paint. Maybe if anyone else has some shots of their clear bra particulary on AW paint it would help with comparing the overall condition.
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Last edited by brodiem; 01-09-2019 at 08:37 PM.. Reason: Fix image attachment |
01-09-2019, 08:40 PM | #2 |
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Mine is VERY similar to yours .. I think you benefit a little from the color being white, as my space grey shows the scratches (on the clear film) worse than this.. however, I am having an absolute nightmare removing it. I suspect mine is about 6-8 years old, maybe less.. My first thought is that even if it doesn't look that bad, if it's that old, GET IT OFF NOW. The more you wait, the worse and I'm having a disaster situation.
here's the thread I posted on the other day, scroll down to see the defails. Removing clear bra https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1554229 |
01-09-2019, 08:44 PM | #3 | |
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01-09-2019, 09:18 PM | #4 | ||
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One tip! don't do what I did and attempt the feat unless you are going to finish it... I made that mistake and now I have a one sq ft jagged area driving me crazy. hopefully yours is not as bad as mine. |
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01-09-2019, 09:36 PM | #5 |
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No experience with clear bra but I left a wrap on a car for five years once and it totally ruined the paint, it was a brand new car prior to the wrap. It was parked outside for the majority of its life though and was a multi-colored wrap for a small business. If I were you I'd remove it as quickly as possible if it's 5+ and probably consult an expert to do it. It's a very tedious procedure and I'm sure they know the BKM (best known method) .
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01-09-2019, 09:38 PM | #6 | |
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I will say, I have one of the adhesive eraser wheels that was suggested in the other thread that I used when I was removing the old adhesive after removing things like the factory trunk spoiler and M trunk badge, and it works miracles compared to the failed attempts I tried first using chemicals like goo gone and a ton of scrubbing. Hopefully it works as well for removing your clear bra.
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01-09-2019, 09:42 PM | #7 | |
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When I do it I'll probably test the waters by trying to remove the smaller pieces on the front fenders, and I do have a steamer to use that seems to be suggested by most
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01-09-2019, 09:50 PM | #8 | ||
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01-09-2019, 09:53 PM | #9 | ||
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01-11-2019, 09:18 PM | #11 |
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I decided to go and start removing the film. I started with the mirrors using a heat gun thinking that if something went horribly wrong then I could just replace the mirror caps. But they came off pretty much in a single piece, then moved on to the fenders and same thing again, and without much adhesive residue at all. At this point I'm questioning whether I should have started to remove anything at all since obviously it isn't brittle and must have some life left, but at this point I decided I'm past the point of return and start on the hood. This has been much more trying - the edges are difficult because the film is wrapped all the way around to the underside of the hood, it's breaking apart in smaller pieces, and there is lots of residue left on the hood to clean up later. I only got about 1/4 done of the hood, and I'd guess it'll take another 2-3 hours at least, plus cleaning off all of the adhesive residue. So it's probably for the better to be doing this now after all..
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01-11-2019, 09:37 PM | #12 | |
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01-12-2019, 12:11 AM | #13 | |
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01-13-2019, 07:11 PM | #15 |
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Thanks for the video. The process I ended up using was very similar. I used some 3M Adhesive Remover which worked great, and rather than a credit card I used some Bondo fiberglass spreaders (they are a fair bit softer than a credit card).
In this pic you can see what it looks like with half of the hood removed: I was a bit worried at first with how significant the appearance was on the removed section compared to the paint on the upper part of the hood, but as you can see, after removing the rest and spending some time removing the adhesive, it looks pretty good: It's still being stubborn getting it back to a glass-like smoothness. I tried using a medium aggressive clay bar as well (Riccardo Blue) but it didn't help much, so back to more scraping and also some moderately aggressive scrubbing with a terry towel. It's certainly in need of a good cutting polish after this is all done.
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01-14-2019, 08:10 AM | #16 |
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I'd just take it to a certified Xpel installer and have them do the whole hood. They'll need to prep the surface before applying anyway, so just explain that the previous owner had the 18" wrap so they can concentrate on polishing the transition point.
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01-14-2019, 08:24 AM | #17 | |
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I was able to get the last of the residue off and I think it'll be close to perfect after a polish.
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01-14-2019, 07:04 PM | #18 | ||
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