Where can you buy the VentureShield film online? I have only been able to find 3M film...

 

A few vendors are on eBay.

 

I have a full hood clear bra on mine. No lines to see. Wouldn't be without it. It was less expensive for a "Clear Bra" dealer to do a full bra than the dealer to do a partial, and no lines.

 

I can't believed it. The cost for installing (parts/labor) a clear bra at Niello Sacramento is $1,350! However, I saw in their website that the parts cost only $150, which means labor is over $1,000!

Tharkun, do you have a recommendation? Tracy is close to Sacramento.

 

Four years ago when I got my first cooper, Rasmussen the dealer here in Portland charged about $850 for a partial bra. I believe that they used a 3M product. Three weeks ago I paid $750 for a full bra at Clear Bra of Oregon. They use a VentureShield product which is supposed to be stronger and reported not to yellow. Several people in my club up here recommended it. I did a google search for VentureShield and got some hits where companies use it both here and in the UK, but I didn't see a site for the manufacturer.

Clear Bra of Oregon sells the material and sends it out if you are adventuresome and want to install it yourself. Doing it yourself seems like a recipie for disaster to me. Maybe a road trip would be worthwhile.

 

Send a PM to wondermini, she found an installer in the Sac area and I "think" it was in the $850 range.

 

I'm all for saving money when it is logical. I have seen several posts about the DIY and glad they are happy doing it. But for me it makes no sense to try and DIY to save the cost of the install, if you screw it up and need to buy the material again there goes some of the savings. Also you will not have any warranty coverage no matter which brand you use.

 

Anybody in the San diego area have luck with a place that installs clear bra? I am still contemplating getting it done. I think its worth it but I am not sure. Will it interfere with any permacoat or even the bonnet?

 

When you remove the clear bra - do you do it in private?

 

Al does a great job there. Several customers have found him through NAM, me included.

 

Not to dredge this topic up, but I'm contemplating a new Cooper S in the not to distant future and I was a little worried about minor chips in the paint. I sometimes visit my folks in central oregon and they have this neat thing where they gravel the roads in the winter. It will totally rock your paint.

Figured being the perfectionist freak I am, a bunch of little scratches in the paint will drive me crazy. I checked around the web and through several different boards I found that there's a rev 3 of the 3M invisishield (the board I was on had a 3M employee cheering on their new rev 3 product), also read up a little on ventureshield.

My real question is: Is there a reputable vendor in the bay area that you could take your car to for this treatment. Looks like several different boards recommend Omega Tintwerks. Gonna give them a call tomorrow, does anyone on the forum have an opinion about anyone else in this area?

And thank you for posting your comments about this stuff, I removed my "invisishield" option from my Mini creator, I'll just deal with a vendor in the area.

 

well based on the fact that you can buy 3M full frontal (bumper, hood, mirrors) kits for the cooper for $150... you could screw up several times before you negate the cost savings from a self install...

I intend to go this route as paying 700 dollars for someone to put this on just seems outrageous. When i install i will try to remember to take many pix and post them up in hopes to help any potential DIY's out there!

 

We can get the 3m installed at the dealer in KC for $450 (less a BMWCCA discount).

 

For the DIY folks out there, getting the film to stick to the area around the fog lights on a MCS is a bit tricky. It requires lots of stretching. (A heat gun might help)

 

For me its probably worth the extra money to get a professional to do it right the first time. Also, I want to find a place that will do the tinting of the car at the same time the clear bra is installed. This will save some money and it will be done in one shot.

Anybody have a shop in San Diego, CA that will do this?

 

If you live in So. Cal check out Aerotect. I strongly recommend them as they are very professional and price was fair as they did my whole front end (bumper, whole hood and mirrors).

 

I had mine done at Clear Armor in San Carlos. They were a bit more than other installers, but they were incredibly professional and the installation and warranty are top-notch.

I recently got a chip through the clear bra (very rare), and they removed the old film AND my stripes, touched up the chip, and applied new film and stripes - all at no cost to me, and all done with a smile.

I was very comfortable with them, and I can't imagine I would have gotten that level of service elsewhere.

 

Minihon and MLWagner79: do either one tint the mini as well? They both sound great for the clear bra, but it would be the best if I could get it done at the same time. Thanks

 

MLWagner: How much did you pay for the job done and what did you have done??
Thanks

 

Don't really remember how much it cost but we had the dealer or whoever the dealer was using install the clear bra before pickup. A few weeks ago I noticed that somebody had scuffed the passenger mirror and left some paint and a mark on the the clear bra that wouldn't come off. I had to bring the mini in for the secret compartment recall and asked to have the clear bra people look at the mirror, they replaced the plastic on the mirror at no charge.

I was quite pleased!

 

450 sounds reasonable... and i would be willing to pay that but it seems like everywhere in sacramento is charging around 800 bucks... and at that price im more than willing to give it a shot.

 

Just read through this entire thread because I'm trying to decide whether to go with Venture Shield and think that's probably what I'm going to do. I understand that certain folks don't like the stuff and others like to try their own hand at installing it. I would have to say that i have had a clear bra product (most likely 3M) on 3 cars and probably at least 3 motorcycles over the past several years. And my husband has done it on a couple of his motorcycles and at least 1 car, maybe 2. (Yeah, we change vehicles a fair bit. ) The only yellowing that I've had issues with were on the headlights and so I'm not sure if I would do those again. A few of these vehicles we've had for over 5 years. I hear Venture Shield doesn't have quite the issues with it, so I might try it again on the lights. I do agree with those who said not only the product used but the installer makes a huge difference. I'm sad because the local guy who used to do it near me appears to have gone out of business with no forwarding address. So I'm about to try a new installer.

Kathy

 

Are there any others in So Cal besides Aerotect? And what film do they use there? 3M?

 

hmm.. after reading about ventureshield... it looks like the way to go... problem is, i cant find places that sell the kit by itself...

 

If you want to install it yourself, take a look at this:
http://www.clearbraoregon.com/page/page/2737763.htm

Kathy