thanks kathy!!

 

Clear Armor does tint, but I don't know what they charge.

I paid $850. It included the front bumper (including fog lamps and parking lamps), the bonnet (about halfway up), headlamps, mirror caps, around the gas flap, the door edges, and the rear hatch step.

 

Very welcome, Ghosthound. Think I'm gonna call them tomorrow for a quote on doing my car.

Kathy

 

They use Ventureshield.

 

Aerotect sells the kit, you can go to their website and give them a call and someone there will assist you.

 

Aerotect gave me a quote of $475 for the bumper, 18" up hood (extra $50 for 24" worth it?) and mirror caps. This is the Ventureshield stuff. This product is comparable to the 3M I have seen mentioned multiple times? A little over $500 for 24" up the hood and the bumper and mirror caps sounds pretty good. Anyone else recommend the Aerotect place in LA?

If for any reason I do not get the clear bra, how much would a repaint cost for the bonnet and front bumper?

 

A friend of mine recently had her bonnet and front bumper repainted (no mechanical/structural damage - just a repaint), and it was about $1200 (including new vinyl bonnet stripes) for a beautiful job by a local Mercedes body shop. (the body shop at our local MINI dealer has an ongoing history of "issues", so she went with the M-B shop on the advice of some other MINI owners that had work done there.

 

Has anyone actually had an installer do the entire hood? That was suggested to me today by a VentureShield installer and it was a lot more $$$ than just the standard part-way up the hood install. I know it gets rid of the lines but I'm not sure I want the entire paint covered by the stuff.

Learned something new today. The same installer told me that about a month ago it was announced that 3M purchased VentureShield. So it will be interesting what happens with that down the road.


Kathy

 

mmm clearbra is sounding better and better. Thanks for the reply

 

Had a clear bra on my 06 STi. Paid 550 for headlights, front bumper, half hood and fenders. Did get some chips thru it but it did help alot. The bad part of the bra is it can get stained by bird crap or berries. It can take a few weeks for the sun to bleach it out. Also when waxing it can be a pain to get all the wax out of the line where the bra ends. I found a new product that is paint applied and cost the same as a clear bra. ArmorCoat Its total invisable and just as strong as a clear bra. This is what im getting on my cooper. With this product you could do your whole car SWEET!!

 

Very interesting..... Any others get this done? It looks as though its a relatively new product. I'd be curious to hear if anyone else had a successful install and is completely happy with it.

 

Yes, I had my entire hood covered with VentureShield back in early May. I've been quite pleased with it. Cost just under $800 in Portland for the front, mirrors, door edges and boot deck. My recollection was that it was only about $200 more than the half hood covering.

I would question that. I can't find any business journal announcements of a sale and the VentureShield website still shows its tests claiming their product was much better than 3Ms. I'm not saying it didn't happen, but I'm skeptical at this point.

 

Found this interesting article, where they actually attempted to damage the film while it was on the car.
While the 3M film protected the vehicle, the removal of the damaged film did create some blemishes. What was more telling for me was the long shot clearly showing the lines which may or may not bug some owners.

 

Hi Sowellman, glad you like the way the hood looks totally covered. I'm still thinking about it since I have time as Pigwidgin slowly floats this way. The pricing you got is really similar to what Clearbra of Oregon quoted me. As far as the buyout goes, maybe the installer was seeing something that hasn't been made public yet. Time will eventually tell of course if it happens or not.

Kathy

 

They look like little scuffs, which would probably clay or buff right out. Pretty impressive, actually, when you consider what the damage may have been otherwise.

 

Kathy,

I'm glad to hear that's the price Clearbra of Oregon quoted for you. Since that's the place I had mine installed at. Al and his son worked on mine and did a great job.

Their shop in Hillsboro isn't far from Rasmussen's location in downtown Portland. You might be able to arrange for them to install the clearbra the same day, if you end up deciding to go that route. I was very pleased with their service.

 

Hi Sowellman --

I talked to Al about how to do the pick up from Rasmussen and have them do the car later. I might just pick up the car on Saturday, hang out with friends that weekend, and have him do it on Monday. We'll see. Glad you were pleased with the job they did and their service. Only convinces me more to have them be the ones to do it.

Kathy

 

The visible edge lines in that article are much, much worse than any I've ever seen, either in pictures or in person. (Both the long shots under natural light, and the close-up shots under artificial light).

That article's from 2004, so it's possible that the film 3M used then is different from what they're using now.

 

I believe they switched to a thinner, less visible film around 2005 IIRC. In our local group, one of the guys has the older style (2003), and it's a lot more noticeable.

 

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Cab, who is cruising the birth canal as we speak. Among the host of aftermarket choices I've been toying with I consider this the most important thing to get done ASAP. I'm not familiar with Ventureshield, and was going to go 3M only because I've had great success with it on other vehicles. My big question is what to cover? First is whether to go minimum hood (18”) or more. The trade is protection vs. having to remove/replace it for a future bonnet stripe. Next, from another thread I am thinking full bumper & both head and fog lights. Here’s where it gets more questionable. Do the areas behind the tires (A-panels?) need it? How about anywhere on the doors? My old accord got gashed pretty good behind the tires over time. One good suggestion was to put a strip along the edge of the door in case it opens into something.

 

(.Y.)

 

I drive my MCS through winters where the city mixes a ton of rocks in with the (minimal) salt. Most of these stones are big enough to get lodged in the threads of my winter tires. I have the front bumper and bonnet done (about the first 18" or so), and haven't really had any problems with the rest of the car.

I'm seeing some impact of the rear wheel trim, but that's black plastic anyway and can be replaced easily if needed. I had 3M on the leading edge of the wing mirrors, but it was fairly noticable and didn't sit properly; I took it off, since I figure that new mirror caps are easy enough to come by. Thought about covering the lights, but am weary of creating glare with the Xenons.

PS I've got my bonnet stripes on top of the 3M, as recommended by others here on NAM. The shop agreed, since the edges are a lot easier to work with and clean that way, and I can easily change my stripes.

 

Thanks Ferroequine, lots of great information there. I'm in Denver, CO, sand and rock on the road capital of the country. Coming from the east coast, it was quite a shock to move to the land of cracked windshields.

I didn't know you could put bonnet stripes on top of a clear bra. Do your stripes cross over the clear bra seam. Any issues with this? Based on your comment I will look into going full bonnet coverage if it's not to much.

I was on the fence about the lights, but am told by NAMers that there is no noticable issues. Considering the cost to replace the Xenons, I'm going to try it. I can always remove/replace it if there are problems overtime.

 

If I am getting the black bonett stripes (does the dealer install or is it installed at the VDC?) from my order can I have them installed after I get the clear bra installed? Is it worth the extra effort to get the stripes installed after the clearbra? This is a big concern of mine now... comments?

 

I would really try to have the stripes installed over the clearbra, since the service life of the bra is probably longer than that of the stripes. Plus, you might want to change out the stripes at some point.

The stripes uses to all be dealer-installed, but I think that's changed with the R56. It might be worthwhile to ask your dealer if you can cancel the stripes from your order and have them installed later, even if it costs a little more.