[mdtmem]

Originally Posted by GBMW6612

did you go full hood or just a bikini ?

I have done bikini on my E60 535i that I sold, my GL, & now my X3 & have been very happy with them. Gives me piece of mind on road trips.

[empirevalley]

I picked up my 2012 X3 last week and had a 3M clear mask installed yesterday. I had an 18" mask applied to the hood, along with mask on the front fenders (that aligns with the hood mask), the side view mirrors, and the front of the car except for the black bumper. It took 2 hours at a shop that's installed a 3M mask on my 2009 E92, and previous cars. It's well worth the cost, especially since CDOT applies "sand" to the roads in winter - the "sand" is really a mixture of some sand and a lot of small rocks which will ding the paint in no time.

For what it's worth, you can get a 3M kit cut specifically for your car from vendors on the Internet. YouTube videos make the installation look easy - it's not. One of my neighbors tried to install a kit on his Porsche - it worked fine on flat surfaces but ended up wrinkled and bubbled on the curved surfaces.

[LEDZEP]

Originally Posted by lbjgh

I use Turtle Wax ICE Synthetic Liquid Polish... works great even on the black plastic with no white residue.

I use this also. Does a nice job shining and keeping it slippery, and also will not deposit any residue at the seams.

Originally Posted by sard

Wax is a big no no for clear bra. Carnauba wax is natural therefor it will yellow the bra. The clearbra installer sold me his own "special" clear bra sealant, but wouldn't disclose any information about it to me or where I could get more of it other than through him......

I disagree. I had a clear bra on my E90 for 5 years and kept it waxed, no issues (that was 3M film). Most yellowing problems are due to the adhesive, not the film, actually. Your installer is handing you a line of BS so he can sell you some overpriced product, IMHO.

[egal]

Originally Posted by lbjgh

I've had the clear bra on my car for 7-1/2 years and it has saved a lot of damage. It has not yellowed either. I would highly recommend it on any new car.

I heard you are supposed to swap this stuff every few years though. Could you comment/speculate why someone would recommend that?

[lbjgh]

Donno. I can only speculate they may not have been referring to the 3M product which is excellent.

Below is a picture showing the 3M clear bra after 7-1/2 years and 215,000 kms of service .

I will have the clear bra installed on my next car!

p.s. yes the car is filthy due to the winter salt and slush. After an application of Turtle wax ice polish and you wouldn't be able to see the the clear bra 10' from the car.

Originally Posted by engelbert

I heard you are supposed to swap this stuff every few years though. Could you comment/speculate why someone would recommend that?

[egal]

Yes, it surely does look great!. Thanks for the pics.


I'd also consider trying to have it applied to the lower portions of the doors where rocks kick up depending on your tires/packages.

[Chuck76]

Recently I took my car in for a clear bra install at Premier in Fremont, http://premiermobilegroup.com/. They are in the Bay Area and do a lot of clear bra installs for top end exotics. This is my third visit to get my X3 M sport cleared. Previous cars was my 09 Z4 and 00 ViperGTS.

Btw my Z4 and Viper still has null rock chips. One thing I can say is that you can get paint protection film for really cheap, but to install it is an art. These guys are really good. People don't realize how difficult it is to install on a white car, because of contaminants. It a race to get it on the car as quick as possible on a pre-clean surface. They do an excellent job.

I have a single pic here, but got the full hood, wheel wells, bumper, side sills, door cups, rear view mirrors, fenders, headlights, fog lights done.

[Polo08816]

What did you guys end up paying?