Clear Bra - Yellowing

[Malek@MRF]

You would rather repaint the bumper, hood and fenders and blend into the doors than getting a clear bra?

[bvhbmw]

3M now owns Ventureshield. The only 3M approved product to use on it is 3M Performance Finish, a silicone based wax. The recommend using only soap and water to clean it.

[Templar]

Originally Posted by Malekreza11

You would rather repaint the bumper, hood and fenders and blend into the doors than getting a clear bra?

Who said anything about repainting all that?

I have owned the car for a year now, driven it all over on many different types of roads, and have maybe two or three spots that currently need a dab of touch up paint. As long as you don't drive behind salt trucks or other giant rock trucks, I think you'll be fine. I have used the touch up paint before and it works just fine, can't even tell there was anything wrong on the bumper.

But if you want to drive behind tractor trailers with no mudflaps and get rock chips all over your car, be my guest...

I'm not driving an Alpine Yellow car. It's easy to say when you don't have a white car, your yellowing is probably not noticable at all. My car will show it immediately.

[Malek@MRF]

Originally Posted by Templar

Who said anything about repainting all that?

I have owned the car for a year now, driven it all over on many different types of roads, and have maybe two or three spots that currently need a dab of touch up paint. As long as you don't drive behind salt trucks or other giant rock trucks, I think you'll be fine. I have used the touch up paint before and it works just fine, can't even tell there was anything wrong on the bumper.

But if you want to drive behind tractor trailers with no mudflaps and get rock chips all over your car, be my guest...

I'm not driving an Alpine Yellow car. It's easy to say when you don't have a white car, your yellowing is probably not noticable at all. My car will show it immediately.

I have owned a 2008 Alpine White 335i Coupe with Venture on it, and a 2009 Alpine White 335i with Venture on it. Neither ever yellowed. If the film is cared for properly, it will not yellow.

My buddy also owned Crimson Red 335i Coupe with venture on it, and his film was not cared for, and it was discolored and looked pretty bad and was yellowing.

-Malek

[Templar]

Originally Posted by Malekreza11

I have owned a 2008 Alpine White 335i Coupe with Venture on it, and a 2009 Alpine White 335i with Venture on it. Neither ever yellowed. If the film is cared for properly, it will not yellow.

My buddy also owned Crimson Red 335i Coupe with venture on it, and his film was not cared for, and it was discolored and looked pretty bad and was yellowing.

-Malek

Either way you have to take special care of either the bumper (by using touch up paint, properly detailing it, etc) or the bra (whatever methods those are). Doesn't seem any different to me, just different ways of dealing with a different possible problem.

[Malek@MRF]

Originally Posted by Templar

Either way you have to take special care of either the bumper (by using touch up paint, properly detailing it, etc) or the bra (whatever methods those are). Doesn't seem any different to me, just different ways of dealing with a different possible problem.

This is not correct. Touch up paint will always show where the paint was touched up, even if you wetsand and buff, it is still noticeable, especially when it starts to accumulate.

A clear bra doesn't ever chip unless something very large or sharp hits it.

Ventureshield is a recoverable film, meaning almost all defects can usually be remedied with a simple heat gun, and thats for a film that has aged a while.

There is no question that a Clear bra is the proper solution, not touching up the paint.

I will post pictures of BOTH of my Alpine white 335i coupes to show you that even after a year on each one, both daily driven cars, the film did not yellow one bit.

2008 BMW 335i... After 11.5 months..









-Malek

[Templar]

My touch up paint does not show. No one notices it but me because I remember every spot I've ever touched up (maybe 4 small chips since I've owned the car), and even if I point it out to friends they can barely tell anything even happened. Most of them say, "Are you sure that's the right spot?"

I understand each of us will defend to the death our choice, especially since you spent so much money on yours. And when I replace the bumper with a euro bumper one day, maybe I will clear bra it. I think the majority of people who have claimed their bras yellowed have had it for much longer than a year, but I'd have to do research on the topic to find those posts.

The truth is, the bras can and do yellow. Whether it will happen sooner or later is up to you.

[bvhbmw]

If the film has been cared for correctly and installed by an authorized installer that installer should replace yellowed film under warranty.

[Templar]

Originally Posted by bvhbmw

If the film has been cared for correctly and installed by an authorized installer that installer should replace yellowed film under warranty.

That's the key. If they replace it under warranty when it yellows, then no problems.

But I have searched for and read posts here saying that people have paid for re-wraps at 3-4 years. If the film starts to yellow at 6 years and you're out of the warranty timeframe, you're going to pay for another wrap? Is the cost difference that much from getting your bumper repainted at around the same time? I honestly don't think it is. If you're worried about resale value, that's a totally different story. I could see wrapping it. I am keeping my car though.

I would rather spend the money in modifications to improve the way the car drives than worry about a few rock chips that, when repaired the right way with touch up paint, are not noticeable to anyone else. Again, personal preference.

[htp autoworks]

Originally Posted by Templar

That's the key. If they replace it under warranty when it yellows, then no problems.

But I have searched for and read posts here saying that people have paid for re-wraps at 3-4 years. If the film starts to yellow at 6 years and you're out of the warranty timeframe, you're going to pay for another wrap? Is the cost difference that much from getting your bumper repainted at around the same time? I honestly don't think it is. If you're worried about resale value, that's a totally different story. I could see wrapping it. I am keeping my car though.

I would rather spend the money in modifications to improve the way the car drives than worry about a few rock chips that, when repaired the right way with touch up paint, are not noticeable to anyone else. Again, personal preference.

You need to look at some photos of others cars on here. I have seen some with hundreds of chips. That is not something you can touch up. And if you do try it at some point your paint is going to look terrible. Bottom line is some people appreciate their cars while others dont. People that do want to keep it looking new as long as possible. After all your buying a car in that already has great performance. Why let it go apprerance wise???

[Z K]

Definitely go with the clear bra. Sure you can get the front repainted but why have it look like crap until then? It's not just the paint, your headlights get chipped up as well. Are you going to replace the headlights too?

Also, you can be the most careful driver but you can not avoid chips. The ones you can touch up are larger chips. There's probably dozens of smaller chips.

I've had the clear bra replaced before and when you remove it, the original paint underneath is pristine showroom condition even after 4 years and 60k miles of driving!

[sawzall]

While we may disagree on how to maintain a clear bra, one thing all of us agree upon is that it really does save your car in the long run. My clear bra saved me around $1500 in repair bills when a bolt hit my hood. The bra took the brunt, and the scratch was easily polished out. Without a clear bra, it would have been ugly - definitely a full repaint of the hood. Replacing the hood took a couple days with no downtime, just imagine how long a body shop would need your car for over and above the cost in order to fix a bad scratch.

As for its appearance, mine is over a year old, my car is AW, and there is no yellowing. You can see the faintest colour difference when you're right up close, but otherwise, it looks great. As long as you maintain your clear bra somehow, it should hold up pretty well.

[Malek@MRF]

Originally Posted by Templar

My touch up paint does not show. No one notices it but me because I remember every spot I've ever touched up (maybe 4 small chips since I've owned the car), and even if I point it out to friends they can barely tell anything even happened. Most of them say, "Are you sure that's the right spot?"

I understand each of us will defend to the death our choice, especially since you spent so much money on yours. And when I replace the bumper with a euro bumper one day, maybe I will clear bra it. I think the majority of people who have claimed their bras yellowed have had it for much longer than a year, but I'd have to do research on the topic to find those posts.

The truth is, the bras can and do yellow. Whether it will happen sooner or later is up to you.

My point wasn't to defend my purchase, as it makes no difference to me as it's not a lot of money, it's for my own piece of mind.

The film is under warranty like someone else mentioned, and if properly cared for, will not yellow. If the films you see are yellowing, someone is not taking care of it the right way. The same way if paint is not cared for, it will begin to look dull and fade. Yes, paint is more resilient against time, but if not cared for, will not look as good as new.

I see some 2010 or 2011 M3's sometimes that look as bad as a car from 2002-2003, and sometimes I see much older cars look like its only a year or two old. It really depends on how its cared for, where the car is parked, who is doing the care on the car and film and what products are being used.

From a personal view, anytime I see a car that has been touched up, I can see it from a few feet away rather quickly. I am very good at spotting defects, knowing what panels have been refinished or not and so on. Again, this is one of those things that it depends on who you are asking to judge the condition of the car.