Stongard, Armourfend

Reading the old posts it seems many owners have had good results installing these protective products. Does anybody have any bad experience? Can you install this on a brand new car before the paint is fully cured. Is there a difference between different brands? My C4S is coming in October and I am thinking about options, and I don't want to be a total garage queen. Tks

I had a combination of X-pel and Stongard on my 2002 M3. They are the same 3-M film with different cuts. Stongard has better coverage but X-pel is cheaper. I prefer the Stongard because it wraps around edges in most places, like the hood for instance, and thus has less visible lines for wax to get stuck in. It also looks better that way. But some installers prefer to work with X-pel because the Stongard really requires a bit more finesse. I think Armorfend has good coverage like Stongard but I'm not sure of the price. The only bad experience I had with the film on my M3 was on the bumper where a large rock had hit. The bumper is made of a plastic material which is soft enough that the rock made a small indentation in it. The film protected the paint but the film itself was damaged in that location. From then on it appeared that there was about a 1/4 inch bubble in the film in a couple of locations where the rock indented the bumper, because the film was no longer adhered to the bumper there. Granted, it looks better than a bunch of paint missing from the bumper, and if it really bothered me I could have had the film removed and replaced with a new piece. After a few months I found it helpful to go over the film with some bug cleaner and then some cleaner wax to bring back the luster. The film is a fairly soft plastic so things tend to stick to it a bit, and cleaner wax freshens it back up. Of course I wouldn't use the cleaner wax on the paint, only on the film. The only other drawback I can think of is the extra detailing time required to get the wax out of the edge of the film. I used either a soft toothbrush or a rag wrapped around the tip of my finger so I could get my finger nail in the edge and drag it along to remove the wax. The installer that does the installation is very important. You'll want to find one that's done many, many cars, especially ones like yours if possible. It is a bit of an art to get the application right. Yes, you can install it on a brand new car. In fact, you really want to have it installed as soon as possible, before any contaminants get into the paint. Cheers, Ken

I've been reading all previous post regarding these products, as I am very interested in them as well. Reading the above post seems to indicate that stone hits that would mar the paint DO mar the film or cause a bubble. When you are ready to sell the car, do you then just peel off the film to expose the pristine paint underneath? Is there a difference in the paint between the covered and n0n-covered areas? Or do you just leave the film on? Or do you replace the film?

In my experience the film did get marred, but only on the bumper, where the underlying material is plastic and relatively soft, and only when hit with a serious road-boulder- one big enough to dent the plastic bumper underneath the film. On the sheet metal hood, there were no such problems. The metal underneath is rigid enough to stand up to a good rock impact and in that case the film is left unscathed. The film can be removed before selling a vehicle to expose the pristine paint underneath. Some adhesive residue may be left behind, but that can be removed with an alcohol solution as I understand it. There should be no difference in the paint underneath the film except for the fact that it has been protected from rocks, acid rain, metallic debris, etc and thus may look better than the rest of the paint. The film could be replaced if so desired. Ken

Thanks, Ken.

I am a huge fan of Stongard. I wanted to note that when bubbling occurs, it's warranteed and you can get replaced easily. When I first had it installed, there was one spot that bubbled a little. Before having it redone, I got a hyperdermic needle from the drug store and used it to suck the air out. It has not been a problem since! On my seal gray, it's almost invisible too. I love the product!