I have read how stones can chip the Mini paint. For $550 I can get my car protected with a 3M vinyl shield applied at the dealership. I hear it is not really visible (no shrink wrap mcs for me, please!). What do you think? Have you done this and are you pleased or not? My MCS is 112 scheduled for production 9/26!
Thank you

 

I would highly recommend it. In fact, I just finished putting a few pieces on my MCS last night. I have IB and you can hardly even tell there's anything on the car.

$550 is a fairly decent dealership price. I've heard others quote lower prices. My dealer wanted to charge $1100 for the same thing, which is why I went the do-it-yourself route. Not bad if you've got patience.

I only wish I had known about this stuff when I bought my other car. The front end of that poor thing has so many stone chips in it, it makes me want to cry.

 

My clear bra installation

Final result

 

Got it Love it!

Smokey's first and last Bra

 

I would recommend the clear bra. If I had one it would have helped with 80% of the rock damage to my MCS. Unfortunately living in the Rockies, there are a lot of rocks and the clear bra wouldn’t have helped with the other 20% of damage to my car. I will be calling on rates to have the bonnet repainted; when I do I will also have a clear bra installed after.

Living in Southern or Northern California you don’t have to worry about it as much, if you live in the Rocky Mountain area, it is a must! I haven’t lived in other areas of the country so I can speak for them.

 

>>I have read how stones can chip the Mini paint. For $550 I can get my car protected with a 3M vinyl shield applied at the dealership. I hear it is not really visible (no shrink wrap mcs for me, please!). What do you think? Have you done this and are you pleased or not? My MCS is 112 scheduled for production 9/26!
>>Thank you

It's definitely worth it. I'm having my dealer install it today on my new MCS. I even delayed taking delivery of my new MCS for about a week to have the dealer install the clear bra. In my opinion it's worth every penny. You're Mini will always look great, no one will even notice it's there unless you point it out to them.

I did it my self on a 95 corvette I used to own. It looked great. I highly recommend it.

RaceCarDriver

 

Is there any problem with the clear bra fading or discoloring over time? How about any peeling problems near the edges. I am considering this for my MCS when I get it but would appreciate any feedback from currrent users of the clear bra/invisishield type products.

 

>>Is there any problem with the clear bra fading or discoloring over time? How about any peeling problems near the edges. I am considering this for my MCS when I get it but would appreciate any feedback from currrent users of the clear bra/invisishield type products.
>>

If it is put on correctly you should have no peeling problems. I had it on my previous car a 95 vette and I had it one for three years and drove about 50,000 miles and no problems. I took the car to a car wash at least once a week and never had any fading or peeling. Also the car was never garaged it was always outside even during the New Jersey winters.

RaceCarDriver

 

I have the clear bra on mine too and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED... some people are really against it I dont know why but I love it... it has saved me!!! it didnt save the windshield (nice little crack) but it saved the hood... One time on the freeway when my dad was driving the MINI it got blasted with rocks on the 710 freeway i can see black marks where the rocks hit the clearbra and shattered a bit but I was able to just wipe off the rock dust and it didnt damage the paint. I have pics of the bra on my car but its on MINI2.com and the site is down right now so i cant give u the link but search me on MINI2.com where are u? I got mine done for around 480 here in LA great job...

As for peeling and discolor if installed correctly shouldnt have a problem... I've had mine for about half a year and no problems... but my friend that has it on his M5 has had it for almost 3 years and also no problems.. no peeling or discoloring/yellowing

 

i too plan on getting it put on immediately by a recommended professional installer in my area. as soon as i drive my mcs off the lot, the first thing i plan to do is drive straight to the install shop at a nice leisurely pace.

 

>>Is there any problem with the clear bra fading or discoloring over time? How about any peeling problems near the edges. I am considering this for my MCS when I get it but would appreciate any feedback from currrent users of the clear bra/invisishield type products.

I'm concerned about this discoloring and shifting of the protective sheet. I've had my headlight protectors on for about 6 months and did note a little movement and a little yellowing of the clear plastic. Certainly it is protecting the glass on the headlights or the body in the case of a bra.

The question is then, how will these products hold up over time with the heat and elements that they are exposed to.
I'll be watching each week and if I find something worth mentioning I will let you know.

 

Wish I had the 3M protection on my car, didn"t think that I would need it since no other car that I had ever showed chips like the MINI. Now I willl need a paint job for the hood and the front bumper as soon as this winter is over, and this time 3M guard for sure

 

Worth every penny.....see if they can do the leading edge of your roof, as well. You also might think about car door edges, around the gas cap, and don't forget all your light lenses.

 

And don't forget the upper part of the rear bumper to protect your paint when you load or unload something from the boot!

I bought the Xpel kit for the front end, but bought the extra pieces for the roof, door pillars and rear bumper from Invinca-shield.

The roof, door pillar, and rear bumper pieces go on really easily (no funky curves to deal with). You could always order them and put them on yourself later on. So easy even a GIRL could do it!

 

Does anybody know of an installer in the Salt Lake area? Thanks

 

I have had my whole car done hood front sides, front of roof(still plan on putting a flag on) and rear bumper.

This stuff is great, I cannot recommend it enough. I TSD rally may car, rallycross, and solo II it. there are sections of the black plastic trim that are blasted pretty badly with rocks and I have had to sand them smooth again, but right besude the trim that is protected by the 3M there are not chips at all. This stuff is a must, It also helps when Iput on my racing numbers on the doors because they don't have to be perfectly clean, and I don't have to worry about the grit scratching the paint.

I got my car done my these guys:

http://www.shadowtinting.com/

Ask for Beno or Nuno, they ship out the pre cut kits too and are the main 3m supplier in Canada. They are also MINI owners, they each have a launch edition.

Colin

 

Anyone use the factory "Invisishield"? If so, what do you think?

Jason

 

hey colinarm, you say you had the whole hood and front sides done including front edge of roof and rear bumper? how much did all that cost plus install? how does it look? any pics?

also, what say all you owners about stripes and clear bra - stripes over or under clear bra? i know this has been discussed before. how about any input from the manufacturers, ie. cooperflags?

 

ok, i did a search and found iluv_mini-matt to say "we install the stripes over the clear bra...to make it easier to change the stripes". besides changing stripes though, which way does the clear bra mesh better with the stripes?

 

I had some parts of the bra on the car before I got the stripes. I tested a small piece of the stripe material to see how it would look over the bra. I found that the edge of the bra was much more noticeable when you put the stripe over it because in order to get the stripe to lay flat you end up with a small crease at the edge of the bra.

Cooper Flags told me to put the stripes over the bra, and Ryan from Autoclearguard.com told me to put the stripes under the bra. I'm going with the stripes under the bra because it simply looks better IMHO. Although you give up the ability to easily change stripes down the road unless you want to replace the hood's bra piece.

I think the majority of people I've heard from have the stripes under the bra.