Clear Bra Opinions?

Just got a sweet deal. Through a friend, I had the tech that normally does the Porsche and Ferrari dealerships work on clear bras do a few of my vehicles. The '00 996 '00 C5 Vette '07 Benz gl450 In my garage, custom cut 3M material, 20 year guarantee... $1,100.00 Total.. The price at the dealer for just the 996 was $950.0 Score! The only trouble I have heard is that you end up with a line of was along the clear bra. What's the overall opinion on these??

I always said I'd never get one. Rather have chips than saran wrap on the front of my car and all that. But the previous owner of my C2 had put one on, and having it changed my mind. It's undetectable other than up close, obviously, accepts wax very well and doesn't shine appreciably differently from the rest of the hood, and it really seems to absorb a lot of punishment. If your car is more than a Sunday driver, you wouldn't be a fool to do it, IMHO.

I've had my fair share of cars, and in the last 10 years they've all had a clear mask. I stay away from the 3M though. Venture Shield is much less noticeable.

The newer generation of 3M is much more permeable and clearer w/ clear-coat built in. I'd now stay away from venture (having tried both in two different cars). Venture films become discolered VERY quickly. I have 3M 3rd Gen on my 4S. I had Venture on my E46 M3. I had to clean it all the time with Plexus to prevent any MORE yellowing. $1100 for three vehicles is an AWESOME deal. I paid nearly that for my 4S coverage...full custom bumper (folded edges..no edges), custom fenders, full rocker panel all the way to rear fender flare (1-piece) including door sills, custom hood (rolled side edges), lights, mirrors, door cups, and a-pillar.

I'm pretty happy with the whole setup.. especially after shelling out $3,000 last year to have the hood, and front fascia of my vette repainted.

Eek.. yeah people say "just repaint it instead of having a line across the hood." Unless you're bringing your car to Maaco, cost of painting will still be >> cost of clear bra for a 1-time application.

Why would they cut it by hand? Real installers have laser cutters with templates for the cars already pre-defined.

???

You lost me with your "Dream on" post...and what's with the post above?? Most installers have laser cutting printers that cut out the template of the bumpers and hoods on a large sheet of film. Doing rolled edges are custom job, which is similar to what I have on my 4S and 750. Clear-bra is the way to go, custom or kit (pre-cut).

For some reason the "pre-cut" ones never work right. This guy does the pcar dealership here as well as the Ferrari dealership. None of the use the pre cut. He won't even put those on...

I agree... Those precut ones get stretched and become too skewed.

??? As long as I'm happy with what??? I think you think I'm arguing with you about something... Read my posts, I'm agreeing with you... if you can read English, that is.

Sorry, I misunderstood your post. My mistake.

I'm in the Cleveland area, looking into clear bra options/installers for my black '99 C2. I've used my friend (the search option) but have not found a specific answer to my questions: Considering I have a small amount of minor rock chips already, should I have the car detailed first before installing a clear bra? How visible will pre-existing chips under the film actually be? Ah the wonders of a black car... Who is good in the Cleveland area? I'm leaning toward the custom job (non pre-cut). I just slapped in some bumper plugs. Does the film go over the plugs, or do the plugs go through the film? Thanks for reading. Liceman

Precut application is what most installers perform. Custom installations would look better, but that would depend on the installer. Whichever you go with, choose the company with the most experience regardless of precut or custom. If you have pre-existing chips, if it's large enough the film may enhance it. Take it to an installer to have them assess whether or not the chips would be enhanced.

I'm having my C4S front bumper resprayed this spring, and I'm considering a clear bra after that is done. Unfortunately, it isn't easy to find a good installer in a small town. I may have to go to Chicago or Indianapolis. I think I may get a traditional car bra and mirror bras for this winter.

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Just a quick note, avoid leaving the leather bra on the vehicle for an extended period in direct sunlight. The traditional leather bra will block 100% of UV rays, which would create 2-tone fading of the paint.

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Thanks.

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Dont' forget, after the paint, you have to wait at least 1 month for the volatiles to evaporate before applying any film. Ask the car dealers, they usually have a clear bra person they rely on. Some installers are mobile and will come to you. Leather car bras suck. You have to take them off in the rain. If any grit gets under the bra it will mar the paint.

For all my future cars, I would have the 3M clear bra installed. My only gripe is that if you get bugs on it, you will have to clean the bugs off immediately - otherwise, they will stain the clear bra. But I would rather have that than paint chips...

Another pro-clear bra review. The dealer's installer used 3M on the partial hood coverage. The installer did not want to try the bumper with the 3M. Another installer wanted to add a seam across the bumper for the 3M original product. Then I found our local premier installer, who really likes Ventureshield* because it is more flexible, and he did the bumpers and the headlights. Personally I like the Ventureshield better, but both are great products. Going on 3 years and still looks very nice. Just a few very minor scratches here and there. *PS: Both are really 3M now, as 3M purchased Ventureshield

Thanks for the tips everyone. I'll be looking into going forward with the bra.

As mentioned before, look for quality first. If pricing plays too much into the decision, it is better off to get it repainted because an inexperienced installer can do more damage than good. Case in point, here is a Mercedes in which the customer decided to use a mobile installer due to pricing. The film was bubbling, lifting and had much debris in under the film. This particular installer also ended up putting razor cuts all over the paint

Here are the shots of our work after replacing the previous installer's clear bra

Hi Premier---great work!!! A question for you. How did you get the cut-lines out of the paint?

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Hello and thank you. We spent some 30-45 minutes polishing the paint. In the end, we were able to only get out 75% of the razor cuts. The rest remains because they're primer deep. Customer chose to apply film over it than repaint.

Premier, Do you offer service in the Cleveland, OH area? If not, is there anyone you'd trust in the area? thanks