Well, I decided to see what kind of quotes I could get myself, and using Yelp, the closest ones are 1-1.5 hrs away from me. I called 3 different places for coverage on the following with 3M film:
-full hood
-side mirrors
-front bumper
-headlights
-door edges (one place offered this with their kit)

Prices: Dealership still checking price for full hood but he ones I called
-1st one quoted $1,100
-2nd one quoted $1,050
-3rd one quoted $1,300

Partial hood dropped price significantly, respectively
-$600 (dealer)
-1st $700
-2nd $750
-3rd forgot to ask

I am waiting for my MA to get a quote for full hood coverage, hoping it will be $1,000 or better at this point.

Any fellow NAMers here able to recommend a place that does a great install and fair price in the Bay Area? Thanks in advance!

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I can't provide you with help on your specific question, but I had the 3M clear bra installed on my 2010 Cabrio S 4 years ago. I had only the half hood and front bumper done for a cost of $500 (2010 price), and the installer came to my house and did it in my garage. I live near a gravel road, and had a gravel drive.

After 4 years, and 32K miles on rural roads with gravel shoulders, I had no paint chips or dings anywhere on my MINI. I did have two places on the bumper where the 3M film had been damaged (small puncture/tear).

While I'm a fan of the 3M clear bra, IMO >98% of any stones that may get thrown towards you are going to hit you in front (bumper, grille, or bottom 1/3 of your hood). The significant extra cost to do the mirrors (which are costly due to the time needed to deal with the curvature of the mirrors) doesn't seem worth it. And I never understood covering the front lights (covering your DOT front lights are technically illegal anyway)....I never had a headlight chipped or broken in 35+ years of driving.

You may want to save some $ by just doing the partial hood and find some other mods to spend the savings on.

 

Likewise, I can't help you with a California installer, but I do have a couple of things for you to consider. The reason I have the mirrors done is the hard-headed bugs aound here, which are just as harmful to paint as gravel - plus the leftover bug jerky can stain the paint. I agree with only doing the partial hood; I've had four cars done, and so far haven't had a chip beyond where the 1/3 clear bra ends on the hood. I'm also a true believer in having the top surface of the rear bumper done; it adds about $60 to the package.

FWIW, the best installer around here switched from 3M to Xpel about a year ago - says the material is better. The warranty is better too.

 

Thank you guys for both of your input! After reading your suggestions, I decided to closely inspect my current R56 parked in the garage and here is what I found after 38,8XX miles in 19 months of DD:
-Most of the paint chips are on the lower part of the hood like you said; however, I do have a small scratch past that part that most people probably wouldn't notice unless closely inspected. (I believe this was actually caused by myself when I placed a flashlight on top of it once and it fell on it side--lesson learned)
-For some reason, I have water spots on all over my hood but on my hood only. I am guessing this is from rain water and probably from the hood being hot during driving and drying the water beads out after it's parked? I don't really know but I got some machine polish on order to remove them soon.
-Fog lights appear to be okay, just dirty.
-The front bumper has some paint chips but far less than the lower hood. It's mostly bug debris.
-My driver side headlights has some bug debris, but the passenger headlight also has one chip and a series of scratches.
-Side mirrors have bug debris, no chips or scratches
-I have one scratch mark on the top of the back bumper, but that was actually the the dealer when I bought it as it sat in the lot for several months before I bought it.

I have touched up all the paint chips, but it just doesn't look that great afterwards. I am thinking that a full hood bra will help prevent the water spots on the hood for my JCW. However, this makes me wonder if the clear bra film can develop water spots as well?

Also, my JCW will have hood stripes, and as someone has mentioned, it would end up fading the uncovered stripe and/or possibly get damaged from road debris. From what I read, it seems the consensus with hood stripes and clear bras is to cover them fully if you already have them on the car.

So after inspection, I think I'm still going to get the following done:
-full hood over the stripes
-front bumper
-headlights
-side mirrors (while my R56 doesn't have chips or scratches, my other cars have them here and i've probably just been lucky so far)
-top of back bumper (only because I've gotten 2 of the 3 shops to add it for free; I have not asked the 3rd shop if they would do it)

Like everything else in California, it seems the cost of clear bras are on that list compared to the rest of the country. lol.

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