I washed the car again today, and there are an awful lot of stone chips around the front of the hood, much more than I ever remember having on my 2003 black S or my 2007 Chili Red S, and many more than my wife's Pepper White Clubman has, even accounting for having more miles on my car. Are the metallics weaker, or have I just been less lucky with this car?

 

I don't believe metallic paints are any more prone to stone chipping than the non-metallic paints. They are harder to touch-up though because you're not likely to get the metallic flaking evenly applied in the touch up paint.

Four words for you and others: Should Have Clear Bra'd.

 

I thought about it, but because the other MINIs never had a real problem I didn't do it, that plus I didn't want to see an "edge" or have the covered section look any different than the rest of the paint. I'll live with it...

 

It's a personal choice of course but I'd much rather have a barely discernable, faint line across the bonnet than a bunch of stone chips. And I'm eliminating that on my soon to arrive next MINI... full bonnet clear bra.

Just some advice on touch up... get a Langka kit so you can make the touch ups look better. There's several threads around here on using it.

 

IDK,

I have a friend that had a gen 1 then a gen 2. He will tell you that the gen 2 paint was was more prone to chipping than his gen 1 car.

 

Isn't that just equivalent to an adequate clearcoat that can resist stone chips to a reasonable extent? Like the one I thought MINI would have put on the car at the factory?

 

Not even close. Clear coat isn't anything like a clear bra. If you want proof, look at two MINIs about the same age and same mileage, one with clear bra, one without. Then you'll see the difference. The older the two MINIs you're looking at, the more obvious it will be, of course.

Clear coat protectes from UV rays and the elements but not from stones or any other flying debris.

 

Clear Bra is the only way to go. New ones are way better and now crystal clear with no imperfections like in the past. My car is black and shows everything. Had to replace the bra on my car after someone hit me. 10 times better then the one installed 2 years ago. I do the whole hood and side quarter panels along with all wear areas. It a clear bra or need for a front respray in 3 years or less.

 

I did the Mini-recommended clear bra which is about half the bonnet (covers the hoodscoop but not past it). I have one or two very tiny chips past that that make me wish the dealer put a full cover on instead of their half-cover.

That being said, planet Earth itself attacked my car with a giant chunk of rock that impacted with enough force to leave a nickel-sized dent right on the rolled part of the bonnet where it curves to the front grill. No chips even though it broke through the bra. That same chunk left a couple tiny knicks in my windshield, so there was a lot of force behind it :(

 

My Maserati got a dent from large rock also (half hood). Took a chuck out of the bar too. Dent was an easy pop out by the detail shop and the paint was still perfect. Saved a respray.

 

Since we are on the subject, I'm thinking I should buy a hood cover for long trips.
I usually don't like those at all, especially year long, but I intend to to a few trips with the roadster... so what are the different options?

 

This is exactly what happened to me - I did the half bonnet and a couple weeks later got my first chip about two inches up from the protected part. Boo! Lesson learned - the next Mini gets the full treatment.

 

Do the dealerships install the full Clear Bra or must you use an outside vendor unattached to the MINI dealer? Sounds like a great idea.

 

My dealership is doing my full bonnet clear bra install. Top tier film (3M) and an excellent technician. Not cheap but well worth it to me. My JCW is going to end up very near $40K, why not spend another $1300 or so to keep it looking great for the many years I hope to own it ?

Between the clear bra and the way I take care of my MINIs, my JCW will still look like new when it's ten years old.

 

I've got three chips on mine, and know exactly when each one happened. They're not huge - but boy do I notice them when I'm washing the car.

 

Honestly, I wouldn't have the dealer do it if I could do it over. The place that did my window tinting has access to the same "fitted" films if you give them a few days notice and doesn't charge any extra for them (they prefer it). I could have had full bonnet, and everything else AND had my windows tinted as a package for $900 instead of $950 for just the half bonnet clear package, no tint included that i got from the dealer.

 

Sounds like a reputable outside vendor is the way to go after reviewing the comments in this thread.

Dave

 

I'm thinking of seeing if my local body shop can fix my chips then fit the half-bra. Can anyone post a nice close-up of the edge of the half-bra on a metallic paint, preferably my lightning blue?

 

Most of the techs will do touch up on a few chips before the clear bra install. If you have more than a few, they are going to tell you that you should have a re-spray and then clear bra.

And photos of the edge of the bra aren't going to show you much unless someone has a really good camera and catches it in just the right light condition, it won't show up. I can show you lots of pics of my MINIs with clear bras and some are within a few feet and you can't see the line in any of them.

 

Found one of my 06 CR Justa that you can make out the clear bra line. As you can see, it doesn't detract from the appearance.

 

Hmm wow, that's not too noticeable. I like
Can it be removed/replaced easily without leaving glue marks in the long run?
Is the paint below affected by UV any differently?

 

I never removed one. But from what I've heard, there is no issue with glue residue or paint differences. Now granted, if you polish and wax the part of the bonnet not covered but not the clear bra, you will see a difference in the paint over the years. But you polish and wax a clear bra just like the paint. And if you do, the paint under the bra will look the same as the unprotected paint even after many years.

 

It looks pretty decent actually, I'm really surprised. I'm assuming the stripes have to come off to put the bra on? As it turns out, I have a chip on the stripe as well so at least part needs to be redone anyway.

I guess the best way is for the stripes to come off, the paint chips get fixed, the bra goes on, then the stripe gets put back (maybe extending over the bumper and cut into the scoop this time).

Does that sound right?

 

Some people prefer the stripes on top of the clear bra. Benefits: you can change the stripes without removing the clear bra. And if you only get a half bonnet clear bra, the stripes will have a slightly different sheen, if you will, if the light hits them at a certain angle... the unprotected half of the stripe will not be quite as shiny.

The downside to that is, your stripes will take a beating as they do on a car that has no clear bra.

Me... doing the full bonnet to and covering the stripes. Uniform appearance of the stripes, and they get protected from stone chips.

 

This is a good example of "worst-case" showing of the seam. The sun has just barely illuminated the edge just above the wheel well on my car in this pic. most of the time it is totally invisible.

https://i.imgur.com/JKnvPQ9.jpg