To CLEARBRA or Not to CLEARBRA>>>>

[foosh]

Originally Posted by markymarc1979

Just my 2 cents. For the same price as a clear bra you can repaint the front of your car 2 or 3 times.

Are you telling me I can get a quality paint job on hood, front bumper, rockers and mirrors for $250-$400?

[inmotion]

I don't know about having a vehicle painted 2-3xs. I had my F430 front bumper repainted and that costed me a tick over $2000. The M3 was slightly less as it was in a fender bender and that ran me $800 to repaint the fron bumper since the new bumper didn't come prepainted.

[M3 vert]

Originally Posted by foosh

I've had the 3M product on a number of vehicles (C6 Z06, Lotus Elise, Audi RS4 and even my diesel pusher, Class A RV) for years, and love it. Those who have noted that installation is essential by a very experienced professional are dead on.

As for care, you just treat it properly like the rest of the car, which involves regular washing with a car wash product, and keeping a protective coating like wax on it. It will last years if properly installed and cared for. I certainly wouldn't use abrasives or harsh chemicals on it.

If it is a daily-driven car with a lot of exposure, it is certainly worth the price. After 3-4 years, it is easily removable, and the most vulnerable parts of the car will be pristine. The cost of a quality respray is significantly higher.

I can only speak for the 3M product, and other similar products may not be of the same quality or durability.

+ 1 I agree, whenever you look at the color after its washed, gives you the new feeling.

Here in toronto you get too much crap flying around on the highways and especially for AW, its worth it!

If it gets yellow, I can get another one!

At least my paint stays original and I dont have to explain why I repainted half of my hood and bumper when selling

[bigjae1976]

I've had a clearbra on my car for about 18 months still looks great. Whatever you do, don't clay near the edges!

The installer told me if you get dirt accumulation that you can use a steamer to clean it up.

If you anyone is in the Austin area, Sun Tint on Koenig Blvd is a pretty good place. The owner is really cool about doing some maintenance work on his installs like steaming the edges as an example.

[rzm3]

If I had the money, I would clear bra every inch of my car. Reasons:

1) BMW paint is way to soft. You will get swirl marks just by sliding your finger over the paint.
2) Clear bra can prevent minor to medium scratches. No aftermarket paint job can ever match OEM paint. PERIOD. Repainted panels also reduces the value of your car.
3) If it yellows... so what? Get it redone under warranty. Most brands offer at least 5 years. Some even offer life-time!

Finally, unless you have the job done by experts like Premier, use installers with pre-cut kits. There are a lot of installers that offer bulk film cutting, but most of them WILL CREATE CUTS ON YOUR PAINT! Bulk film cutting takes a lot of experience and skills...

This is from my 6 clear bra jobs done in the past 3 years. GL!

[davem3fan]

I got one on my AW car back in the spring.

I'm pleased with the protection and not too worried about the potential yellowing.

I talked my way into a discount, so that took some of the sting out of it.

[M3Kernow]

If your going to do it, just make sure you go with very reputable company. A good job is worth spending the extra money. A bad clear bra job is noticeable, a good job is not!

[wmo168]

Originally Posted by markymarc1979

Just my 2 cents. For the same price as a clear bra you can repaint the front of your car 2 or 3 times.

Repainting will lower the price of your car.

Think about it, same car with repainted bumper and hood or with a yellow clear bra, which one carmax will give better value when you get apprasial.

[M3 vert]

Originally Posted by wmo168

Repainting will lower the price of your car.

Think about it, same car with repainted bumper and hood or with a yellow clear bra, which one carmax will give better value when you get apprasial.

Exactly!

[bigjae1976]

I look at my 330 now...really would rather have a yellowed clear bra than the 100s of rock chips on my hood.

[Premier Protective Films]

Originally Posted by rldzhao

If I had the money, I would clear bra every inch of my car. Reasons:

1) BMW paint is way to soft. You will get swirl marks just by sliding your finger over the paint.
2) Clear bra can prevent minor to medium scratches. No aftermarket paint job can ever match OEM paint. PERIOD. Repainted panels also reduces the value of your car.
3) If it yellows... so what? Get it redone under warranty. Most brands offer at least 5 years. Some even offer life-time!

Finally, unless you have the job done by experts like Premier, use installers with pre-cut kits. There are a lot of installers that offer bulk film cutting, but most of them WILL CREATE CUTS ON YOUR PAINT! Bulk film cutting takes a lot of experience and skills...

This is from my 6 clear bra jobs done in the past 3 years. GL!

Thank you very much. Yes, for custom installations, it is crucial to have someone very experienced to perform the installation. There are some general guidelines in finding someone with much experience:

1. do not rely solely on pricing. Companies or installers that cannot compete on the quality side choose to go with price competition instead to gain work experience.
2. look at the work in person if possible
3. inquire on the length of time business has been around and do some research on the internet forums.

Below here, we have a Mercedes that was hacked to the primer by another company. Installer claimed it was a "custom" installation, so the customer chose to go with this company since "Premier" and company B also perform custom work. Other than pricing, another factor that influenced his decision to use this company was that he was mobile.

Needless to say, customer was very unhappy with the mobile installers work. Came to us to have us replace the film. The application was plagued with dirt, dust, and air bubbles. Immediately upon removal of film, there were razor cuts galore on the paint. Some deep to the primer.

[Premier Protective Films]

Here are close up shots of the damage to the bumper by the "custom" installer.

[Premier Protective Films]

Took us 2 hours to polish and wetsand as much as possible to minimize those issues.

Here are some pictures of the work completed by our team

[quality_sound]

I want to know who's been "detailing", and I use the term loosely, that car. If the owner cared enough to clear bra it you'd think he'd take more care with the rest of the paint as well. It looks like it was washed with a Brillo pad.

Your work really cleaned up the front end though and the work looks great.

[inmotion]

wow, great work again Premier. I guess this customer of yours have learned the hard way that you get what you pay for.

[johnL]

If you are going to get this done at all, you've got to get it done right. The team at Premier are the only ones I'd let touch my cars when it comes to clear bra work. The difference in quality from Premier's work and all the other clear bras I've seen is night and day. Just look at the caliber of cars they work on and it explains it all.

[M3 vert]

Originally Posted by Premier Protective Films

Took us 2 hours to polish and wetsand as much as possible to minimize those issues.

Here are some pictures of the work completed by our team

CLK 55/63 AMG or perhaps CLK 500/550 with AMG Sport Packg?

[gemini330zhp]

I would clear bra!!!!!!! Thank god I put a clear bra on my car. A month ago at work I saw a big spot of BIRD CRAP on my hood!!!!!! It was on the Clear Bra area. I was so happy because that I know my paint is good under it. What a relief. It would have been horrible if there was a big etch of bird crap on unprotected paint.

[Envious Eric]

question...

so when the painted parts are clear bra'd only on the front end, and the rest of the car gets polishes 2-4 times a year, is is even possible to have the paint match at that point? kind of like ghosting of emblems (cant remove them 3 years later, etc.)

so in that aspect, you STILL have to have the car repainted to match, but even more so as its not just two fenders and a hood, but rather a trunk lid, a bumper, two doors, and a roof that needs the painting...or am I a little off? I would think the front fenders and the hood and bumper would be less as there is the addition of surface area when you have to do the rear end and doors....no?

[inmotion]

Originally Posted by Envious Eric

question...

so when the painted parts are clear bra'd only on the front end, and the rest of the car gets polishes 2-4 times a year, is is even possible to have the paint match at that point? kind of like ghosting of emblems (cant remove them 3 years later, etc.)

so in that aspect, you STILL have to have the car repainted to match, but even more so as its not just two fenders and a hood, but rather a trunk lid, a bumper, two doors, and a roof that needs the painting...or am I a little off? I would think the front fenders and the hood and bumper would be less as there is the addition of surface area when you have to do the rear end and doors....no?

I've never had this problem. On my wife's SUV, it gets washed and polished the most out of all of my cars because it is driven daily. We recently had to have the clear bra replaced due to a mishap and the paint looked fine on both ends. To say that the entire car needs to get repainted because of putting on the plastic is a bit out there.

[Premier Protective Films]

Originally Posted by quality_sound

I want to know who's been "detailing", and I use the term loosely, that car. If the owner cared enough to clear bra it you'd think he'd take more care with the rest of the paint as well. It looks like it was washed with a Brillo pad.

Your work really cleaned up the front end though and the work looks great.

Excellent eye there! The car was previously "detailed" by a company in Orange County. Fortunately, we were able to polish the paint and clean it up before we put our installation on the car.

[AMJ_77]

Originally Posted by inmotion

I've never had this problem. On my wife's SUV, it gets washed and polished the most out of all of my cars because it is driven daily. We recently had to have the clear bra replaced due to a mishap and the paint looked fine on both ends. To say that the entire car needs to get repainted because of putting on the plastic is a bit out there.

Man you have like a 2 million dollar garage! Wowsers! How the hell do you decide what to drive each day?