So I have been on the fence about a clear-bra installation for my new 2008 Cooper S but after driving the car for a few weeks I decided that I needed to pull the trigger and have it installed. Is it just me, or does the vertical front end of this car attract impacts like a magnet?

Anyway, my big holdup was the vinyl stripes on the hood and the fact that they would be only partially covered by the urethane film. Several folks reported that when installing clearbra in the traditional manner - namely, one big sheet crossing the hood from (and the stripes) left to right with a seam running across the middle of the hood - there was a potential for several problems. The first was the visible seam crossing the raised vinyl stripes and the second was the uncovered portion of the vinyl stripes near the top of the hood to fade faster than the covered portion. Especially on black stripes.

I was worried that in this scenario, my stripes would fade irregularly and need to be replaced in 3 years after my car bakes in the sun and that would mean also removing the clearbra.

Well, my installer (who has done several of my other cars and just rocks) looked at it for a few minutes and then said that he had a solution. The entire racing stripe would be covered, and then he would cut the traditional hood kit into 3 pieces and put the seams vertically along the racing stripes. It looks awesome!

I put a little orange on the photo to show basically how this works, and posted because I've never heard any other installer do this for a MINI.

I also asked him to do ALL of the chrome in the front which he did. Headlight rings, radiator trim, headlight washer. From 3 feet away its totally invisible and now everything on the front that could get a chip is covered.

 

Is it all one solid piece or is it broken into sections like the picture? I know it is cut into pieces but do they overlap? Also did you do the lower bumper (where the fog lights are)?

 

Cool- location and $$?

 

We are having it installed on Molly before she comes home. Dealer installed cost $895 well wort it IMHO!! My husband and I are able to carpool so Molly will be garaged 85-90% of the time as my husband parks in a garage at work. And of course at home she will be garaged, he has even agreed to clean out his toys for her...AAAaaahhh

 

So it is the complete MINI Cooper kit which includes the entire front end (bumper, lower skirt, headlights, and hood) but he also did all the chrome trim which is not part of the kit.

The big innovation, though was covering the entire racing stripes from front to back and splitting the hood piece into 3 sections with the seams running along the edges of the racing stripes. The pieces don't overlap but with the seams running along the stripes the seams are invisible.

The cost was $850 which I thought was a bargain considering all the hand cutting. I had it done at Autoshield in Rancho Cordova, California.

 

Oh, boy, are you tempting fate by saying this! FWIW, we've got 2 fairly large dents in the silver colored strip right below the windshield. It was courtesy of a gravel storm thrown up by a fellow doing us the favor of driving on the shoulder to "help" us pass--old Texas custom, but totally unnecessary in this case, W-A-Y out in the boonies on a straight road. I would rather have had the windshield break--it's insured.

 

they well kits that are cut for the stripes. I did the install myself for the whopping price of 130. took me like 3 hours though. Overall, it looks ok but not perfect. I will probably eventually redo it but its fairly cheap so im not concerned.

 

If I want to do it myself, any links where I can get the stock(Clear Bra)?

 

I would recommend doing this yourself if you do your own root canals. I did this on my last car and it was painful at best.

Any of the large suppliers of clear front end protection can get you in contact with a quality supplier.

FWIW it took me two days to install this on my last car.

 

People not staying in their lane and drifting kills me.

If you pull the trigger get ahold of who ever does it for mini of the woodlands. Fantastic job on my car.

 

I had one put on my used MCS a few weeks ago. I asked him how much to do the whole car. $1200. Not bad really. I am still thinking about it.

Give her a nice wash, clay, then wax and let him clear bra the whole thing.

 

I would say wash and clay. They strip the paint of all wax and sealers before applying the clear bra so it is imperative to wax the car upon return. You can wax the bra as well but be sure to tape the edges with blue painters tape to avoid wax build up on the edge. When you are removing the wax some of it will fill the area originally covered with tape.

 

 

Completely agree - it is a lot of work if you know what you are doing and REALLY tough if you're doing it for the first time. The flat surfaces aren't too bad but the curves are killers.

The other reason to have it installed is the warranty. 3M warrants the film for 5 years if you go to a certified installer. Its not warranted at all if you self install....

 

I did the headlights and that was okay. The fogs did not work out and I did it twice....still don't have a solution for them