Hi All,

Our new Mini just landed in California on the 19th so we are waiting for it to make its way to Colorado.

I've called the guy that I have tint and put clear bras on my cars and he suggests skipping the lower bra and only doing the hood, fenders, and mirrors.

This is what he wrote: "As far as the clear bra goes, we can install on the hood, fenders, and mirrors, however, we do not install the material on the bumper or lower fascia, OR the headlights. After 3M stopped recommending the install on the headlights, and after having a few crack due to heat trapping, we stopped. Also, the clear bra material is designed for metal surfaces of your vehicle."

Since he's not making any money by NOT installing something I think I should believe him.

I'm open to recommendations.

Thanks,

Mark

 

It is worth it, that is if you care about rock chips on your new car.

I have it on my '05 MCS since new and the front end still looks pristine. Well worth it.

 

Both of our MINIs have clear bras on the hood and the bumper, as well as on the foglamps and headlights (Xenon). In the few months that we had my wife's car prior to having the clear bra installed, she picked up about a dozen rock chips that I had to repair, and they were on the bumper as well as the hood.

Our installer used the 8 mil 3M film, including over the lights. He did say that they had had problems in the past with the thicker 3M headlamp protectors (30 mil, I think?), but that he had no problems with the thinner film. He also said that the Xenons produce less heat at the lens than conventional headlamps. I know that we haven't had any bubbling/blistering/discolouration problems on our cars, and no chips on any part of the car that had film applied to it. He did recommend against putting film on the MINI driving lights, though, so I took his suggestion on that one.

As for the film only being recommended for the metal parts of the car, I find that hard to believe. The film is very flexible, and as far as adhesion goes, it only knows that it's being applied to paint - it doesn't know what's *under* the paint. Our installer usually puts film on the hood scoop, mirror backs and grille slats as well and has never had any adhesion/cracking problems. We didn't have the film installed on any of those parts, though, only because on our cars, all of those parts are either chrome or carbon fiber.

 

What he said ^.

Have the entire front end done, from the bottom of the fascia to 18 inches up the bonnet (with the exception of the chromed pieces). You won't regret it.

If your installer doesn't put the material on the fascia or bumper, find a new installer. What does he think... rocks and debris won't hit below the bonnet ? :impatient

Personally, I would bet it's a case of being lazy. The fascia and bumper are very tough to do because of all the odd angles and tricky spots.

 

Yeah but I bet clearbra installations will be much easier in the new R56 bonnet because it sits higher and flatter. Remember?

No more sexy curves....

 

Yes - it is DEFINITELY worth it to have the clear bra installed anywhere and everywhere you can.....you'll be glad you did it...

Donna

 

And here's 3M's own FAQ page regarding their film:

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...Consumer/FAQs/

It's fine for any painted surface, as well as chrome. They do say not to apply it to lights, but their reason is a legal one - they don't say that the film is unsuitable for lights.

 

Well... as far as the chrome surfaces go, I'm sure it would adhere fine and protect the surface as advertised. However, as my installer explained to me, the film is 99.8 percent distortion free. Which, if my education doesn't fail me , means it has a distortion factor of 0.2 percent. That's not noticeable on painted surfaces or even clear surfaces such as headlights. But it would be noticeable on chrome. And what's the point of having chrome if it's not REALLY shiny ??

 

Oh - I agree. That's why we didn't get any of the chrome parts covered when we had our cars done. That's also why I didn't get any of my carbon fiber parts covered - I didn't want the film to interfere with the 3-D "depth" of the carbon fiber weave.

 

i have never seen a car with this clear bra. does it look good? can you tell a difference color or shine of the car compared to other areas of the car? pics would be nice if someone could post them.
thanks

 

If my car's under the right kind of light (particularly flourescent), and the light is hitting it at the right angle, you can see the seams, other than that, it's pretty much invisible from more than a few feet away. I've only had one person notice the clear bra without me pointing it out first.

Of course, if the car's dirty, the seam is more visible.

Here are two pictures:



Ignore the green spots on the hood in the second picture - those are artifacts from my camera lens. The film is completely covering the bumper and the first 18" of the bonnet. The headlamps and foglamps are also covered.

 

must you disparage in every thread?





Clear bra is worth it!

 

You beat me to it.

How much does it cost?

Is the MINI unusually susceptible to picking up rock and stones? I've got 130K miles on my Accord and the front end looks great. Maybe I was just lucky?

dean.

 

The 3M product or the other manufacturer/retailer is cheap. It's the Install that is expensive. Look in the R53 forum there is much discussion about pricing -- it should be about the same for the new model.
Be nice while you are there and don't dis the older models for no good reason.

 

I would say lucky. rocks hitting the bonnet (especially the front part) are pretty common.

I saw a MINI yesterday that was only a couple months old.. Looked like he drove behind a gravel truck in a tornado. Literally about 20 tiny chips.

 

Hey r-scott, do you ever have a problem with your engine running on the hot side ? The reason I ask: I'd like to have three badges on my grille but it's not recommended due to possible overheating. They say the same thing about running lights... if you have them, they don't recommend having a grille badge due to possible overheating. Do you notice any difference in your engine temp ?

 

It was worth every penny to have it done on mine.

 

So, I took your advice and did a search on the R53 forum. I snuck in and out very quietly and don't think I upset anyone while I was there.

Now I am confused because I found nearly as many anti-clearbra posts as pro-clearbra posts. Some said they got chips right through the clearbra and some did not like how visible the seam was on a dark car. Like a lot of things around here, there was a lot of agreeing to disagree.

I guess I'll have to see it first before I can decide.

The common number quoted was about $600.

dean.

 

There's as many opinions on clearbras as there are manufacturers of the materials and installers. In reading the threads before I had mine done, I found those who have the good stuff (3M brand film) and a professionally trained installer, are very happy with their clearbra.

Of course, I paid a good chunk of change ($900) for mine to be done. So the adage "you get what you pay for" may well apply here. Over six months with it and not so much as a knick in mine. And in the two month BEFORE I got it installed, two dings because I travel a secondary road frequented by dump trucks.

 

I think it depends on the color of your car. Mine's BRG and I skipped the lower clear bra because any chips that are there are already invisible. You can feel them, but they don't show. The ones in the hood showed like crazy and the clear bra has helped, altho some chips still get thru. It seems like the stuff I have (not 3M) is not as effective in cooler temps (<40F). But I say if you have a dark car, you can skip the lower bra.

 

I think it depends on where you drive. I drive 110 miles round trip on my daily commute, all on the interstate. At those speeds and with all the truckers, pings on the windshield and on the hood are a given. On the other hand, if I only drove in the city, I would probably never need the protection. Needless to say, since I can't avoid gravel trucks, I'm getting the clear bra. However, I am paying between 300-400 installed through the dealer.

 

Here's the price for materials from one bra manufacturer:

http://www.xpel.com/products/configu...&submodel=1914

Installation isn't too hard as long as you've already installed several of these. Otherwise ...

 

MINI says that one badge is okay with the MINI driving lights, so I wouldn't expect any issues. I do remember the directions suggesting not two have TWO grille badges with the driving lights, though. I've had no problems with overheating around town, on the freeway, or during autocross events.

In reality, I've never heard of anyone having overheating problems as a result of too many grille badges, but I guess it *could* happen in an extreme case.

 

You were all very helpful.

Mark

 

You're welcome, Mark.

So... what did you decide, or have you not yet ?