An unfortunate incident happened during the installation of the X-pel paint protective film. This occurred back in January snow storm season in NW. Right after the aero kit was painted and installed, I wanted to get the X-pel ASAP to prevent rock chipping from the unforgiving sand on the road. When the installer was doing the front bumper, he pulled the fresh paint right off the bumper with the film. Supposedly, the paint hasn't cured yet.

For those who are getting invisishield or clear guard or X-pel on the freshly painted aero kit, it might be a good idea to wait until the paint cures before installing the film. :smile:

 

Thanks for the info...

 

sorry to hear about your mini. thanks for the heads up.




tony

 

I almost had to repaint the front bumper. Fortunately, I came up with an idea to disguise the blemish while dress up the bumper a little as seen in the picture.

 

Is that the little black areas on the lower lip? It's a subtle difference at least with the lighting shown.

 

>>Is that the little black areas on the lower lip? It's a subtle difference at least with the lighting shown.

Sharp eyes! :smile:

It's so subtle, no one ever asked me about it. The blemish is on the driver side, but I did both sides for balance. While I was at it, I also did the fog light black out covering, similar to the OEM flog light black out panels, part #51 11 0 151 570.

 

dave- yah, I waited 3 months before I did the X-pel. :smile: Your car looks good!

I was planning to do the same on the bumper around the foglamps..but
since I have the Xpel on there right now, not sure if I want to go over the
Xpel or just leave it a lone for the time being.

 

>>dave- yah, I waited 3 months before I did the X-pel. :smile:

Thanks for telling me now! It's a little too late!

>>I was planning to do the same on the bumper around the foglamps..but
>>since I have the Xpel on there right now, not sure if I want to go over the
>>Xpel or just leave it a lone for the time being.

I actually like the black out look. It's quite unique, especially on your IB/B. I've seen many cars with aerokit, but non with black-out panels. Instead of paying $80 for the OEM panels, the rocker panel protective kit costs around $12, available at most auto parts store. Trace the pattern on a piece of paper first and use it as a template. Since it's taped on, they 're easily removable without effecting the x-pel. Post some pictures if you decide to do it.

 

i might get some 'simulated' carbon fiber decal (not the cheezy kind)
and put it on there. should look cool. I need to find the ones that
are film based, not vinyl.

 

luckily for me i had mentioned to the body shop that i was gonna xpel the newly painted bumpers and trim. they did say that i could go ahead with the xpel install as soon as i drove off the lot, because they actually let the painted parts completely dry before fitting them back on the mini. in fact, they probably had my mini for close-to 3 weeks.

ontop of this, my xpel installer asked me if the paint had totally cured before starting to the apply the additional pieces.

glad that your front bumpers came out looking good anyways. and it definitely is a unique but subtle look.