To bra or not to bra?

[jkoral]

Originally Posted by SalemChiro

If you live in the north east, call Rick Nelson of Unique Car Care in Wakefield, MA. His installers are the best around and they go above and beyond any other shop to make it perfect. Their work speaks for itself...check it out on their Facebook page.

They wrapped my entire hood, entire front quarter panels, bumper, and a-pillars. If you are standing a foot away from my car you can't tell the hood and quarter panels have film on them...every edge is tucked and wrapped around the corner.

Heard great things about them. Wish I had done the same. Daily drives on 93/128 -- I feel like I'm touching up new chips every weekend.

[RaptorKTM]

Issue is that the plastic which is the material of the clear bra is bound to turn yellow. On dark color cars id maybe consider it. On white or light color cars I feel that clear bra is not a great idea. I just had a buddy touch up 6 rock chips in his front bumper, cost him 75 bucks at a top notch body shop and you cant even see the old remains. After it gets bad he will just re paint the bumper and it will cost probably 4-500 dollars and be better then factory more then likely.

[firechicken99]

Originally Posted by RaptorKTM

Issue is that the plastic which is the material of the clear bra is bound to turn yellow. On dark color cars id maybe consider it. On white or light color cars I feel that clear bra is not a great idea. I just had a buddy touch up 6 rock chips in his front bumper, cost him 75 bucks at a top notch body shop and you cant even see the old remains. After it gets bad he will just re paint the bumper and it will cost probably 4-500 dollars and be better then factory more then likely.

It's been my experience that resprays are never asbgoodnas factory (although as I noted apparently VO isn't very strong)

[Shaunski]

Originally Posted by ianf

I have the 3M PPF. Problem is that if it gets hit by a stone it looks pretty bad as it can tear the film. The paint is ok, but the PPF looks damaged. I have already had the PPF replaced on the rear arches as the PPF was chipped.

Also normal imperfections such as watermarks etc can't be fixed on the PFF, as cant use abrasive or chemicals on it, only sealants.

where did you get your 3M PPF from? I am picking up my 1M in the next few days and after months of reading the forums I definitely want to protect my car. I heard of Ozicozi in Artarmon but they seem to have visible edges when they cover the car ( i assume because the film is thicker than say vinyl)

[Ian///M]

Originally Posted by Shaunski

where did you get your 3M PPF from? I am picking up my 1M in the next few days and after months of reading the forums I definitely want to protect my car. I heard of Ozicozi in Artarmon but they seem to have visible edges when they cover the car ( i assume because the film is thicker than say vinyl)

OziCozi meant to be the best in Sydney/AUS. I have full front-end done. You are welcome to have a look at mine if you wish?

Also if you get a quote mention this forum & referral for a better price

[Shaunski]

Originally Posted by ianf

OziCozi meant to be the best in Sydney/AUS. I have full front-end done. You are welcome to have a look at mine if you wish?

Also if you get a quote mention this forum & referral for a better price

Thanks! I will mention the forum. I'm thinking of doing all way round to cover the flares too as i heard some members had stone chips there too.

[Ian///M]

Originally Posted by Shaunski

Thanks! I will mention the forum. I'm thinking of doing all way round to cover the flares too as i heard some members had stone chips there too.

Yes, do the lower rear arches as these WILL get chipped. I have already had the film replaced there.

I did full bonnet, front bumper, half front arches, mirrors, rear lower arches....around ~$1100.

[Shaunski]

Originally Posted by ianf

Yes, do the lower rear arches as these WILL get chipped. I have already had the film replaced there.

I did full bonnet, front bumper, half front arches, mirrors, rear lower arches....around ~$1100.

Coolies! thanks for the tip, def want to meet up when it arrives. We should do a bigish one with all the Aussie 1Ms a bit like the Ace Cafe meet by Jezzer.

[YoungGuns]

Hey guys, so I got a quote back from a local guy who does the clear bras. For full hood, Bumper, Front quarter panels, rocker panels, mirror cover, headlights, rear fender, and a bit of the rear bumper where trunk closes he's charing me $1600 CDN. which is probably $1500 ish USD.

He's going to be using Venture Shield on full hood and front quarter panels, and 3m Scotchgard on the rest. I'm not sure why he's not using Venture Shield for all panels... he didn't really explain why other than the size of each sheet where Venture Shield comes in larger sizes.

Some people are telling me to go with Xpel, but the guy said it's going to be around $500 more, and he said Xpel PPF's don't have the simulated orange peel texture so it might look a bit off compared to panels that are not covered.

What do you guys think about the price? He seems very experienced, has done this since 2004 and done a lot of Bimmers for local BMW dealerships... recently finished a job on an Aventador. So based on that I'm thinking he's pretty good.

[bdaddylo]

Did he give you a reason why he wants to use Venture Shield? I've been told Scotchguard is a better product by my installer.

[YoungGuns]

Well not in particular, he only said that he would use Ventureshield for full hood and side fenders and the rest in scotchgard because of the size of the sheets. I just got another two quotes and they're $1000 and $1400 CDN respectively. What do you guys think of the price? Is $1600 too steep?

[firechicken99]

My installer also advised for ventureshield because the 3M sheets would have only covered half the hood....

Sounds good. if you want to consider saving a couple of dollars, its really not necessary to wrap your whole front quarter panels. Is it really likely that a rock will fly up and hit the edge of the panel facing backwards? No, for this reason I had them put a slightly slanted piece which covered the panel about half way back/over teh wheel well. In other words I covered the "front facing" part.


And depending on your area thats about right. I spent approx 1600 USD and didnt wrap the full corner panel or rear bumper strip you mentioned.

[YoungGuns]

Originally Posted by ianf

Yes, do the lower rear arches as these WILL get chipped. I have already had the film replaced there.

I did full bonnet, front bumper, half front arches, mirrors, rear lower arches....around ~$1100.

ianf, the rear lower arches - what's the design and size of that piece? My installer and I were discussing the shape of it and we're still tossing ideas around coz I think no matter what you do the seam lines would still show. So if that's the case might as well make it look good lol.

Also, do you guys think covering rocker panels is necessary?

[YoungGuns]

Originally Posted by firechicken99

My installer also advised for ventureshield because the 3M sheets would have only covered half the hood....

Sounds good. if you want to consider saving a couple of dollars, its really not necessary to wrap your whole front quarter panels. Is it really likely that a rock will fly up and hit the edge of the panel facing backwards? No, for this reason I had them put a slightly slanted piece which covered the panel about half way back/over teh wheel well. In other words I covered the "front facing" part.


And depending on your area thats about right. I spent approx 1600 USD and didnt wrap the full corner panel or rear bumper strip you mentioned.

Firechicken! love ur name btw lol. So if covering partial quarter panels... doesn't that mean you'd see a seam line where the film is cut off?

[YoungGuns]

Originally Posted by Rikx1M

I drove 500 tension filled miles until all the parts of my Xpel PPF arrived....since then its got 3000 miles and no worries. PPF is clear as glass on my VO 1M and I cant recommend it enough...cleans easy no scratches or tears and we have driven up to 165mph and it didn't peel back or melt

Git er done!

Rikx1m in your experience what's so good about the Xpel? My installer was saying it's the best out there but would cost $500 more and the film is completely smooth, so it's unlike 3m scotchgard and venture shield coz both of these have simulated orange peel texture to them so that the panels covered wouldn't look too different under light. So his recommendation was that I just go with venture shield.

[Ian///M]

Originally Posted by YoungGuns

ianf, the rear lower arches - what's the design and size of that piece? My installer and I were discussing the shape of it and we're still tossing ideas around coz I think no matter what you do the seam lines would still show. So if that's the case might as well make it look good lol.

Also, do you guys think covering rocker panels is necessary?

In photo it is hard to see the edges, but yellow arrows mark them.

[YoungGuns]

Originally Posted by ianf

In photo it is hard to see the edges, but yellow arrows mark them.

Oh yah I'm going to get that part done coz I think there's a pre cut pattern on Xpel that my installer would be getting. Is that part pretty visible? I'm assuming not unless you're like 5 feet from it and the lighting?

I was thinking about wrapping the part behind the rear tires close to the bottom trim of the tires too. ya?

[v1k0d3n]

I got the same thing done. It was HARD to find the right angle to make the line show up in this photo, but you can see the line none-the-less (after playing with the flash a bit). Your shop should be able to download the xpel kit (which is the best cut template/fitment IMO). It includes the rear arches.

[///M1]

Do these come precut, or is installer cutting them on your car? I'd be sweating bullets if the latter.

[ayao]

The Xpel templates are cut prior to installing on the vehicle.

[YoungGuns]

Originally Posted by ///M1

Do these come precut, or is installer cutting them on your car? I'd be sweating bullets if the latter.

Most of the panels that I was referring to would be pre cut, with the exception of the front quarter panels and the part that I'm considering putting in behind the rear wheel. The front quarter panel he said he didn't want to use the template from Xpel as he cant wrap the clear bra around the edges and he'll be doing the cuts along the gaps between panels so that'll be okay, it's the back quarter panel strip behind the wheels that he'll be doing custom with no template - that's the part that i'd be sweating some major ass bullets AND he was saying no guarantee's - but the good thing is he'd only be scoring the material......

[firechicken99]

Originally Posted by YoungGuns

..... that's the part that i'd be sweating some major ass bullets AND he was saying no guarantee's - but the good thing is he'd only be scoring the material......

I wish i remember where it was but there is a long and drawn out thread about this.... Long story short an experienced installer (I think hes in NJ but could be wrong) was at a car show where a naysayer said cutting the material on the paint couldnt be done, so the installer laid a strip on the roof a mint black porsche or something and cut out the dudes initials in vinyl, had him remove it, and watched the look on his face when there were no marks on the paint

If your installer knows what hes doing its really not a big deal like everyone makes it out to be.

On another note, my wrap work was COMPLETELY custom cut and hand done, no templates. Couldnt be happier. Im not saying the xpel templates are no good, but theyre not mandatory