Hi everyone, how much should I expect to pay for a "full nose" clear bra installation - full bonnet, bumper, and lights? I am tired of dealing with pretty but "soft" paint on my previous 3 MINIs.

I am picking up my JCW Clubman next month and want basically everything forward of the windshield to be protected.

The dealer has an installer come for $600 which protects up most of the bonnet but not the whole thing. I am not sure at this time what else he does for the $$$ but I don't care too much about the door handles or mirrors.

I am going to do the A-pillars, front of roof, and rear bumper myself. Thanks!

 

Here in St.Louis, the dealer charges close to $700, but you can go straight to the installer and get it done for about $450. This includes the front bumper, bonnet. Door handles, door edges, rear bumper, cost us another $75.

Mark

 

600 sounds pretty good, i think?

if you have the patience i think you can install it yourself. i did my
aero bumper 5yrs ago and it was cake. just need patience.

 

FWIW, my car has the "standard" coverage on the bonnet (first foot or so) and I've had ZERO chips on the rest of the bonnet in the first 46,000 miles. And the part that IS covered has gotten numerous rock impacts, with no chips. So, IMHO, that's all the coverage the bonnet needs, at least in my area here (BTW, I don't tailgate big rock throwing trucks or sand spreaders when I can help it... )

I paid $700 through my dealer for Xpel bonnet, bumper, lights, mirror caps, door edges and rocker panel stone guards.

Gotta redo my new aero bumper after the paint cures...

 

I thought I scored a good deal from the installer here - $650 for the front that goes about 1/3 up the bonnet. Dealer charges about $750-775 for him to do it.

I do actually have a couple chips in the top of the bonnet that isn't covered, but not enough that I'd still have it covered.

 

I paid $579 for 24" bonnet, bumper, mirror caps, lights, fog lights, A-pillar and roof line. I believe full hood coverage added a couple of hundred $$.

 

You guys/gals are getting good prices.
I wanted a clear bra but the only local person who does them only wants to do them for the dealers (no MINI dealer in Chattanooga) and wanted $900. Unless it was harder than he though then it would be additional cost.
I declined at that price and the chance it would be more at his will.

 

Hi everyone, thank you for the replies to my thread . I have not taken delivery of my JCW Clubman yet, but the dealer has already had the car clear bra'ed for me.

They negotiated a price of $750 for the ENTIRE front end. They would have charged $1000 for the job, but I am a repeat customer so they gave me a break. The guy did the front bumper, foglights, headlights, bonnet scoop, and complete bonnet all the way up to the base of the windshield. Looks to be a pretty good job upon inspection.

Today when I am back over there I will see if he did the mirrors too, but I believe he did

 

Sounds like a pretty good deal! Especially since because the dealer did it for you, they will warranty the work. A lot of times when you manage to get a reasonable price for film install, they won't warranty the work. I paid considerably more than that, because I went to a quality place with a lifetime warranty. Nice that you were able to get what you wanted at a decent cost!

 

There is a place in maryland that I know will do a 3m full clear bra for $450.

 

The place in MD - do you have a name?

I'm getting my aero kit and front bonnet repainted ($800 – local BMW preferred paint shop) on Monday. Anyone have an idea of how long I need to wait for the new paint to be ready for a clear bra?

 

Gotta wait 30 days or risk several things:

1.) paint drying to a different color that doesn't match the rest of the car
2.) potential issues during application on paint that isn't fully dry. Paint feels dry to the touch during the first day of spraying, but isn't fully dry below that surface. I've seen paint liquefy by polishing and heating up just a few days old paint. Installer doesn't want liability of paint lifting if he applies the film and has to remove it to reposition it.

 

Unless your car is gonna be garaged for the whole time... get some touch-up paint and be ready to touch it up after the cure time is done and right before the clearbra install... I had about 20 chips on my aerobumper after 3-4 weeks of cure time... the thing is a chip magnet....

I used Langka, with ScratchX to buff the haze out that Langka leaves... and it looked *perfect* when done... I don't think OG is a big Langka fan, but I'm a true believer.

 

Actually over all the blending products on the market, I use Langka as well. It does require technique for the best results. Even for the wetsanding of touchup paint, Langka is great for removing excess paint.

 

Wow! What's the name of the installer? Next time I go up there I may have to get this done!