3M paint protector/invisible bra?
 

Has anyone used those invisible bras for their car? is it worth it? I contemplated getting one but I hate seeing that line on my car and when they get really dirty, its noticeable (not so invisible I guess).. but my car is a daily driver and I drive the freeway alot (which tons of rocks and flying debris)..is it worth it?

I have one and it is worth every penny in my books.
Mind you if things hit too hard or are too big then they will cut right through it but as a DD in winter with all sorts of salt being thrown around I think it does wonders. You soon don't even notice the line and when it is clean it is almost invisible (unless you are truly anal and then you will probably see it all the time).

totally worth it!

get ready tho to spend a nice amount for an install!

i regret not going with it when i got my car, the dealer even asked me if i wanted to and said no....

Front bumper, hood, and fenders are a must IMO

also to, depending on how old your car is, most places with do a single or two step polish, once the Bra is applied, any imperfections with be there until you remove the bra, which could also add to the price

I would do it before you get to many stone chips. I am personally kicking myself for not doing it seeing as I have sooo many stone chips from only 25k miles from rural and highway driving. The paint on these cars is so thin and crappy. I will probably end up repainting the whole front in 3 to 4 years

This. I am in the same boat.

That's also the issue, i bought mine used so there are already chips :/ They aren't very visible though, I only get bothered when I am detailing my car. Should I get it painted first? and how long the they last?

I would fill them with touch up paint and get the paint polished to remove swirls before putting a clear bra over the whole front end, hood and fenders.

I had my BRZ fully filmed except for the roof and trunk lid. When I can afford it I will cover them, too. Yes, the entire front, entire hood, entire side, and rear bumper.

It gets costly when you do large pieces. The largest being the entire side of the car as it uses one giant piece the height of the door and the length from behind the rear wheel to the front of the door.

But considering my car is a Galaxy Blue which is now a discontinued color, keeping it looking fresh is my top priority. The very same day I bought my car I had the entire front bumper covered. Essentially the paint on the front bumper has never been exposed to air since in my possession. The hood is still flawless as it was the 2nd thing I had done, and there are no scratches or imperfections in the paint as a result.

Your best bet is to get it repainted, then wait a few days to cure then have it filmed, if you care about appearance. Any chips pre-existing in the paint will still show under the film and if you're OCD enough it'll drive you nuts with the bumpiness.

PPF should last for as long as you have the car, or a big enough rock tears a gash in the film, that happened to me where something big enough hit the film and tore a hole in it about 1/2" around. I feared the worst, having to repaint it but when I had the film replaced, I discovered that there was no damage AT ALL! I was shocked to say the least. The film cost about $350 to replace, a fully repainted front bumper with install is more like $800.

If you have any questions about film, feel free to ask, I know pretty much everything considering I spent well over $2000 for my car. Lol

-RyanG

$800 for bumper repaint seems pretty high I had my rear bumper repainted for a little over 400 and reinstalled

Well mine was also a bumper replace too and the quote was for a little over $1000, insurance covered it but the paint was for about that much. They might have priced it differently for insurance purposes. I just didn't pay that much.

-RyanG

I do have a question about when it comes to detailing. My car had a clear bra along with the side mirrors, around the door seals and handles installed from the dealer. Outside of regular washing I haven't put much into polishing or waxing. I about to drop some money on some equipment and supplies to do this. However, do I just avoid those areas that have the clear coat all together?

If you get the full hood and fenders done then there is no line to see.
I've had mine on for a year now and it still looks like new. I have 2 small cuts in the bumper I assume from some larger stones on the highway. I have numerous very small stone chips in my windshield but no marks on my paint. I'm sure there would be white spots all over it if I didn't have the PPF. I think it was worth every penny I spent.
Keep a good sealant like Reload or Opti-Seal on it, don't use a carnauba wax.

Polishing kind of depends on what kind of film it is. Some are OK to polish while others are not. Don't use a carnauba wax, only use a sealant. Check out Autogeek, there are some good threads on that forum about caring for PPF.

No. You don't have to avoid them.

Clear bra or paint protection film will benefit from waxing but not as much as waxing paint does. You don't need to polish unless there's some scuffing. If you're going to polish the whole car, you might as well polish the film as well. If you are going to use a buffer tool, be careful around the edges as the spinning action may roll the film edges.

Otherwise you can use a clay bar, polish, wax, and sealant as you would on any other part of the car. There are even polishes and waxes specifically formulated for clear bra material that restores the film better, but I personally haven't seen a difference in it with my usage.

-RyanG

Coincidentally I searched 2 nights ago for pre-cut and install yourself and I found it. Ignore the turbo choice
I used to install vinyl on signs and was easy by yourself on a flat surface but definately need a helper with this.
The install kit is worth the money too. A friends FR-S bumper had some nice stone chips only after a few months.
$160 is a bargain IMHO.

http://www.invisiblemask.com/cgi-bin...ON&model=FR-S#

also they have this 3M Carbon Fiber film, it looks very realistic

http://www.invisiblemask.com/carbonfiber.htm

Have you already bought and installed the pre-cut kit? I'm curious to see it.

If not, I would recommend staying away from it to be honest. There's a few reasons why.

By default, that website sells you the cheapest version of PPF on the market, the Ventureshield by 3M. Granted they do also sell the Scotchguard which is better, but from best to worst film, the brands are as such: XPEL, Suntek, 3M Scotchguard, 3M Ventureshield. This is known on basically any forum that talks about PPF, and I know it first hand as well.

Second, getting pre-cut film like this has the edges of it cut smaller to allow room for error by an non-professional installer. They know a normal person's lack of experience will not make the film fit exactly right so the shape is cut just slightly smaller than the piece it's covering. Why's this important? Because you'll install it and notice quickly you have coverage gaps on the edges of the piece, and if you have your hood covered and front bumper covered, the gap between the two edges combined could be almost 1/2", but having it professionally installed from an exact cut of the piece, the gap will be almost non-existent, or in my case, I requested my installer to wrap the film OVER the edges, most of my film has no edge to it.

Third, the quality. Again you're buying something cheap, don't expect it to hold up well, it'll protect against the small stuff, sure but not bigger stuff, and it'll show the damage more and not repair itself either. Cheap stuff is cheap.

My opinion from experience.

-RyanG

I haven't purchased it I was looking around for it. The choice of the Scotchguard or VentureShield. I have to investigate more. Thank
s for the good points!

The clear bra protection is worth it if you care about the outer cosmetic looks of the car. You'll see the difference 3 years down the road.
I wouldn't recommend the 3M though, find someone that can wrap around the edges. That's where my rock chips are and quite a few.
I've had a rock go through the 3M though.

@vividracing knows what's he's talking about. Check out my thread http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58449

I now removed the film and wrapped the whole car in Xpel stealth to change the look if the car a little and protect it all.

http://i399.photobucket.com/albums/p...psgyws41ul.jpg

If you don't tailgate other cars (read: leave at least 2 lengths), you should be fine with just the front bumper. I've got 45k miles on my BRZ with no Clear Bra and all of my rock chips are at the bottom of the front bumper fit some next to the fog light vents. Hood is fine and fenders/mirrors are fine.

You're lucky so far but just cause it hasn't happened doesn't mean it won't or can't! :) It only takes 1 rock to mess up your hood. Your front bumper has taken hits but still it's showing the damage.

The front bumper alone is fine for most, but remember the car is such a low profile already and the engine body shape is tilted down to the front, it's very easy for a rock to fly just high enough to hit. Unlike a truck with a huge front end where the bumper takes 99% of the hits, the FRS/BRZ front bumper takes like 70% and the hood takes 30% (fake maths).

If I had to do it again, I would get the front bumper, entire hood, entire fenders, mirrors and the rear lower quarter label. I've found the most rock chips there.

The worthiness of it is entirely subjective based on the person - I have the XPEL Ultimate shield on my front bumper, and I think it was absolutely worth it. Although I'm not happy with the place I dealt with that installed it, and there are some flaws in the application (some 'rippling', and I'm not fond of the cut-out around the headlights), I wouldn't think twice again about having it done.

After only four months of driving as safely, and conscientious as possible with regards to trying to avoid rock chips, my front bumper was completely annihilated - it made me so sad looking at it in the sunlight, as I didn't have the money available to get it done when I first purchased my car.

I ended up getting my front bumper re-painted by my dealership because they scraped up the bottom of it forward-parking it well over a curb after service, and I got the shield put on as soon as I could right after.

I consider myself an extremely picky individual with cosmetics in regards to my car, and I can't even tell the shield is on there unless I get right up to the car and look for the lines; the XPEL Ultimate shield is incredibly thin and clear, and everyone that I've pointed out having a clear bra to is completely shocked, and depending on the lighting conditions and their eyesight, sometimes they can't even see the seam when I point it out to them.

I still have two or three chips on my front bumper just from driving to get it installed - the highways here are very small, and always a cluster**** of semi trucks, pick-ups carrying all manner of uncovered yard debris, soil, and rock in back, and they lay gravel all over the roads here during the winter.

This poor little car is so low, that just about any normal size vehicle, or larger is going to be liable to toss rocks, etc at the bumper, and hood - even if you do your best to maintain a good gap (which again is difficult here since the highways are always a cluster****, and we have people that cruise in the left lane).

I used my tax return to get it, so I was able to justify it at the time, but I don't have any regrets. If you care about your car a lot, and maintaining it as much as possible, then I think it's something that would be worth it for you. Look into a high-quality brand like Xpel, or similar, and the shield will be very thin, and you won't even be able to tell that it's installed unless you get right up to the car and look for it.

Here are a few images of my car - like I said I'm extremely picky, and I can't tell for the life of me that there is anything installed on the front; it also makes cleaning the inevitable bug splats, bird dropping, etc very easy, and it has saved my car from significant damage a few times when a random plastic bottle, aluminum can, or larger sticks that I've had no way of seeing have gotten kicked up from the car in front of me and hit my bumper.

http://i.imgur.com/swH0CWh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/wCdYiQF.jpg

That looks great! I've noticed after washing the car today that rock chips are on the bottom bumper. I've been thinking about getting it reprinted...but I am leaning more toward getting this invisible bra. Does anyone know about any shops in Jersey or Philly that does this type of work??