Has anybody done "clear bra" to their cars? Would you recommend it? What should I expect to pay to have it installed?

 

I got mine done at the dealer. I don't know if I'd recommend it or not, honestly. You can see the line if you are looking right at the hood. I had the front bumper, hood, lights, mirror caps (not the whole mirror cap, it's like a patch on it), and door edges for $895. Flyer53 had his done cheaper. Dealers will negotiate. Originally I was quoted about $1300 or so. I shopped around. One installer quoted me $895. I called another installer who I found does the dealer installs. They wouldn't do directly (which I totally respect). I told them about the pricing, and they said that the dealer was supposed to offer a "winter special." I called the dealer about that, and I think they then quoted $1050. When I told them about the $895 from the other installer, they agreed to match the price. I actually hate that kind of gaming, but a few calls saved me a good amount of money.

I still wonder whether it's worth that much to put a few stickers on the car, but honestly, if it has a lifetime warranty, and it does alleviate all that chipping, it could be worth it. Many people wish they did it who didn't.

 

No regrets on my clear bra... I had mine installed by a local guy who also tinted my windows. My clear bra is on the hood, mirrors, side window rails, head/fog lights, and top of the front roof. My car still looks new with no chips at all.

I'd highly reccomend a clear bra. If/when I ever go to sell my Mini (taboo to even say such a thing) the paint will look as new as the day I bought it.

 

I had it done through the dealerships recomendation...but it was a 3rd party who came in and did it. Originally quoted mid 700's for the front bumper, headlights and about 1/3 or more up the hood. I had them skip the mirror caps as mine are chrome based and thought that they would not look as good covered. Obviously the lines of the material can be seen as it lies against the paint..but not an eye sore and compared to the benefit's of the protection is well worth it and as Cosmic mentioned it is a lifetime warrenty...so down the road it can always be re-applied if theres an issue.
Bottom line is that I payed $695. and the dealer had them do all the edges of the 4 doors @ no charge to me... sweet! If you decide to have it done yourself...just do some research..as I understand theres more than one product thats being used..and all are not the same. Good luck and enjoy the ride

 

If this gets installed and I decide to put new stripes on our CM and remove the old one am I screwed?

 

I've been on the fence about getting this as well. Does the paint really chip that easily? My current car is 11 years old, and the paint still looks fine, with very few chips. It's more streamlined than the Countryman, but still.

 

Personally I think it's a crap shoot. We had our MCS for almost 5 years and didn't get any paint chips. I had a VW passat and it got a chip from a big rock within the first 3 years I owned it. Wasn't even on the highway when it happened. Other than that I have never had any problems with major chips of the paint. It's just a guessing game in my mind.

 

I'm having it done -- probably right at this moment. I wouldn't have considered it until I recently noticed our Lexus IS (that I don't drive too often) have about 15-20 paint chips on the front. It will cost us more than the cost of a clear bra to get it repaired.

Make sure you get a product with a long warranty -- preferably lifetime. Also, use a good installer. I didn't like the line on the bonnet that others have mentioned so I had them do the whole bonnet. You may also want to consider having the sill at the bottom of the boot door done as well. I take delivery tomorrow and will try to post pictures.

 

We have clear bra on our CM, I have it on my 07 too.

It saves the paint from chipping. Some folks say to put stripes under the clear bra, I have seen it both ways.

Ours will go over the clear bra, stripes are cheaper to replace than the clear bra.

And this way, we can change them every 2 to 3 years.

I went third-party and got a good deal, usual cost is around $550-$650 for quality lifetime material and work in our area.

Don

 

did it, love it, $600 cash for specialty guy thru dealer...

 

We are going the road rash route. The clear plastic can't cover everything and is cheesy looking up close. The one noticable chip in 6,000 miles so far is right at the top edge of the scoop - the mask would not cover that edge anyway. I do use touch-up paint on my rigs so chips are at least the same color.



Depends on how you drive too - Tailgaters will get a lot of rash. My son's 2005 Mazda 3 will always have all this road sand under the edges of the hood whenever I helped him change his oil, even though we vacuum it off everytime. Never seen anything like it, I asked him how close does he follow semis. Ever ride a morocycle or scooter - you won't believe how much sand is kicked up close to a dual wheel truck on clean looking roads. Needless to say, he follows too close....

 

I installed it on my Electric Blue '04 Cooper S. You can't really tell it's there unless you really look close. I had a few paint chips before I installed it, none afterwards. If you do a lot of freeway driving I would highly recommended it. There is a lot of crap on the road that can be picked at freeway speeds. With the Cooper sitting so low it is a likely target for any thing getting pick'd up.

 

I appreciate an opinion, but I beg to differ clear bras look cheesy. The whole front of my MCS covered, including lights, pillars, and front roof line.

 

$30K plus for a car = Clear Bra

 

If this picture of my R53 with 80k miles doesn't sell you on a clear bra, nothing will. Needless to say, we got the clear bra on my wife's Clubman. Click for full size [~3MB].

 

We got a 3M bra on our car.

About $900 from the dealer.

Time will tell!

 

Question for those who have clear bras on their CM: was your installer able to apply it to the entire hood? Mine said he couldn't so I was forced to settle for partial coverage (covers about 40% of the hood). According to him, applying it to the entire hood would have resulted in an unacceptable amount of imperfections. He's highly recommended by a friend in the auto industry, so I trusted his judgment. One more point: since the CM is so new, 3M does not sell a template for our cars so my installer needed to use a standard sheet and fit it to the contours of the CM, which is a lot harder to do.

 

I'm also having the 3M clear bra being put on today. My CM just arrived and I will be picking it up tomorrow. The dealer uses a 3rd party and the cost was $695 with a guarantee.

I think it will be well worth it especially if you drive in winter-conditions. They sand and salt the roads like crazy here. And I'm talking rock salt. When things dry out and a good wind whips through, it feels like the car is getting sand-blasted.

I don't know if I should start a separate topic, but did anyone else go for an extended warranty? I usually wouldn't but being a first model year and the cost being fully refundable (if you don't use it before it kicks in at 3 years or 50K), I decided to go for it. I still feel uneasy about it though...

 

I've already got a giant divot in my clear bra!

 

Mine covers the entire hood. It looks great. No imperfections. My installer used nano fusion film -- not 3M

 

Was it done at the dealer?

 

The dealer put me in touch with the installer but that's about it.

 

As posted earlier in the thread...was applied at the dealership through a third party who has been doing there mini's for a few years now. I would say it's about 40% up the hood. I did not think it was necessary to go much farther but did not inquire about it either. I believe your right though in regards there is no template for the CM yet. I know it needs to be super clean...obviously no dust, hairs, fingerprints etc....mine looks perfect. Might have varied a little on the headlights but looks fine and I'm a pretty meticulous guy
Much better job and material than my 07 MCS .

 

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I took delivery of my CM on Saturday and I have to say I'm very happy with bra. Like Flyer53s', it goes about 40% up the hood and they laser-cut the material to exactly exclude the bonnet stripes. Pretty neat.