I had the MCS done with aero kit in customized clear bra and added the rear bumper and headlights for $500 in the Austin area. A very fair price I felt since other vehicles I have had done have cost in the $800 + range.

 

I'll chime in!!! OOOh Oooh!!

I've had my car for one week, and I can tell that I am glad I got the bra on it. I can see impact marks all over the front of it, and would hate to think what 1/4 of them would have done to the paint.

When I ordered my car, their finance manager mentioned it, and I thought "no". I read about it on NAM, and how people were glad they did it, and buckled down and bought it. So far, I am very, VERY happy that it is on there protecting Shamus' fragile nose.

I would throw my two pence onto the fire and say...

"Get it, you will not regret it"!!

 

Well, I am not going to "sue" them....there is enough of that in this country as it is.

But I will be letting my MA know about it, and they can fix it. There was also a hair or lint ball or something under it over the left head light, which I brought to his attention when I picked the car up.

As far as I am concerned, they will be replacing the entire thing, or at least those two segments.

 

Yeah, I guess I will do it. I'll go the more economical route (with the Clear Shield brand) and hope for the best. While I would love to get the proform done by the master, I just don't have that kinda money lying around that can't be spent on more important things, so the $500 is my compromise. I'm hoping I'm doing the right thing...lol.

Now what do most installers do about the stripes? Can they just cut the clear bra material and install around the stripes?

 

Mine is actually over the stripes.....so, I hope that they don't get screwed up when he has to replace that piece.. or we know what else they will be replacing...

 

That's where I had mine done. Evidently, in the last 18 months, their prices have gone up dramatically. I paid $900 for the full monty... bumper, 18 inches of bonnet, mirror caps, door edges.

Yeah, they are not only the most reputable installer in the DC area, but they train installers all up and down the eastern seaboard. Best film, best installer.

I have their lifetime warranty tucked away in case it's every needed but so far, film looks as good as it did the day it was installed.

 

I was kidding about the lawsuit. Trust me, in my job, I see so much of it, the word suit makes me boil, unless it's attached to the word "bathing" and involves a hottie.

 

The word "suit" makes me itch.

 

...never wear one, unless someone is getting hitched!!!

 

Absolutely not--but the option is there

 

Where'd you get it done, if I may ask?

 

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...ind_Installer/

This is the web site to find a 3M Scotchgard paint protector film installed in your area. Might be worth checking out.

I had my front bumper, bonnet up past hood scoop, rear bumber, head lights and door edges covered. I think it was 600-700 dollars tax included. I had it done at Clear Bra in St Louis. Mark did a great job. Anyone priced a headlight?

 

DIY'd headlights with www.clearplex.com kit (very reasonable) and after following the instructions it took 10 minutes per light.

 

what about this site is it any good. http://www.invisiblemask.com/cgi-bin...bmodel=HARDTOP

 

So after this invisi-shield stuff is installed . You never wax your car ?????

Will this not look terrible over time. With little dings and dents in the invisishield. Is this not like your grandparents putting plastic on their new living room furniture.

Who you saving the finish for ? For the next guy when you sell it.

 

You can wax the invisishield/clearbra materials just like you wax your paint. And you don't end up with a bunch of pits/dents in the film, because it's somewhat self-healing. I've got 30,000 miles on my clearbra (a lot of it at freeway speeds), and there's no damage at all to the film. There's a grand total of two chips on the paint (both on areas where the film doesn't cover). On my wife's MINI, we waited about three months before putting the clearbra on, and I had to repair almost a dozen chips before having the film installed, so I can only imagine what my MINI would look like now if I didn't have the film on it.

And the "plastic on the living room furniture" comparison isn't really applicable, because unlike a plastic slipcover on a sofa, the clearbra isn't visible unless you're within a few feet of the car and you're looking for it. I would feel that way more about a traditional black vinyl bra, but not about the clear films.

 

Whoever has little dings and dents in their film, bought poor film. Me... I can't see a single blemish in my film.

And if they ever develop plastic slip covers for sofas that fit like a clearbra, I just might have to invest in some of those !!

 

The dealer I work at sells the complete kit for $515.
And still makes a little profit.

The plastic is cheap, the installer crutial to a good job.

The product is wonderful and offers great, invisible protection! I've had it on 2 cars - one with an aerokit, that is unusually prone to picking up paint chips, and I think it's the best thing since sliced bead was invented!

 

I just got mine done at Winners Tint in Rockville, MD and paid only $550 for bumper and lower bumper, headlights, mirrors, bonnet (including scoop) and fenders. I was told that I can treat the clear bra just as I would the paint (within reason of course, no scouring but who would scour their paint anyway?). It has a lifetime warranty and I feel better now knowing my little rock magnet is protected! It truly is clear and invisible at most angles. The very faint line that you can see up close (and because I know it is there) doesn't truly bother me anyway! But let me tell you, the rock chips were driving me crazy....

On second thought....I want to add that I am currently working with the installer to address some issues with the clear bra installation....so I in no way recommend them for now. Hopefully I can reach some sort of compromise on this.... as of right now though, I wish had not bothered and just left Ambrosia au natural.

Update: Winners Tint re-did the clear bra but it is still far from perfect. They simply lack the skill and professionalism to apply the clear bra on a Mini. They also lied about the razor blade cut marks along parts of my car right where the clear bra had been applied (gee...I wonder who did that! I sure as heck didn't bring them a brand new car with razor blade cuts!). I would not recommend anyone take their car here (maybe they do a better job at tinting but I don't trust them at this point).

 

So this invisishield is the same 3M product that people use to protect their Ipod from scratching ? I have seen that on Ipods it does work.

How much of the car have you guys protected> the window pillars and roof needed ? Or just the front bumper .

 

Probably the same stuff. As pointed out above, the film isn't what makes the cost high, it's inexpensive. It's the install process that runs some $$.

Coverage is up to you. I'd say covering the pillars is excessive. First, the risk isn't as great to them as the bumper and bonnet. Second, they're easy to replace and inexpensive if they do get dinged up.

Most people get the bumper, 18 inches of the bonnet, and the mirror caps covered. That's good coverage and will save you 99 percent of the chips you would get without the bra.

Me... I took the film off my mirror caps. Why ? Because the film was protecting the covered areas from UV rays and I could start to see a diffence in the white color of the checkered caps between the covered and uncovered areas. Plus, the mirror caps are also cheap and easy to replace if they do get dinged up.

 

Same basic stuff, although the "Invisible Shield" brand of iPod/gadget protecting film isn't made by 3M. After my experience with the 3M clearbra on our MINIs, I found out about the Invisible Shield products and love them too. So far, I have their film on three iPods and two laptops, and I'll buy their film for *any* laptop/iPod/cellphone/gadget I buy in the future.

On our cars, the place we used charged $499 and used 3M film, and for that price, you got:

Front Bumper
First 18" of the bonnet
Bonnet scoop
Grille
Mirror backs
Headlights
Foglights
Turn signals

 

I want to get this done on my 2008 MCS because I've already gotten a few chips on the front of the hood. i posted in the NJ forum and a guy recommended a place where he got it done for $650 for headlights, bumper and full hood. That's a decent price right?