Well, I'm a detailing freak, but I also drive on the highway a lot (5500 miles in the last month, although that's more than normal). Even my normal commute is about 40 miles a day, most of it at highway speeds. I'm fully convinced that even after only eight months and 17,000 miles, the front end of my MINI would look sandblasted without the clearbra. With my wife's MINI, we made the mistake of waiting about three months before having the clearbra installed, and after that short time, I had to fix seven good-sized rock chips before having the bra installed.

And you can use your favourite detailing processes on the clearbra as well. The 3M clearbra is nothing more than a polyurethane film, same as the clearcoat on your car. You can clay it, buff it, wax it, polish it, use quick-detailer on it, whatever. It's true that the surface of the clearbra will always have slightly more texture than the factory clearcoat, but if you were to stand more than three feet away from my car, I'd have to point it out to you - it's not *obvious* by any means.

 

The results are unbelievable on a clear bra as well. I clay bar'd and Zaino'd my wife's R53 by hand this past Saturday (I haven't gotten a PC polisher yet, but I'll be ordering one very soon to help with the water spots that I just couldn't get out by hand.) The car looks great, you have to be very close to see the lines from the clear bra and the clear bra shines just as much as the paint!

EDIT: I do have pictures in my Gallery of the clear bra'd R53 after being Zaino'd, as I've said, we even have the Venture Shield product on the doors. You cannot see any difference in the "shine" factor.

 

I was told by the clear bra installer that the clear bra should go over the stripes, especially if you only get the front half of the bonnet done. I'm getting the sport stripes so I'm leaning toward only getting the front part of the bonnet done with the clear bra. Most decals have at least a 7 year life. This all depends on how you clean and detail your car. I figure if the stripes go before the clear bra, all I have to do is take off the clear bra from the front half of the bonnet, take off the stripes and then just reapply both. Once I see the clear bra installer do the hood, I should be able to do it myself second time around.

Also, unless you have non-metallic paint, touching up rock chips is no walk in the park. I have been doing it for years and you will notice it every time. I have tried every touch up paint/kit out there and you will never be able to get to look "good". If the paint is as thin on the Mini as it was on the WRX, you can't even use rubbing compound without burning the paint. I told myself this time I was going to get the clear bra and that's what I'm doing. Thanks for all the info everyone.

 

as an 06' Astro Black owner with no clear bra, I would highly suggest getting one. It's the one regret I have.

 

FWIW, I've been going back and forth over this topic myself. As well in how to advise customers. Within one day of the front end of my Jet Black MCS being repainted, I got a rockchip. Actually two large ones. Fortunately for me, its going to get repainted due to some issues that may be partly to blame--but still there is a simple comparison to be made.

While the cost of painting the front end and the cost of installing Clear Bra are probably similar--around $500, with paint, you do have to leave it an an unfamiliar shop for several days while it is prepped and painted (well in my case, it's not unfamiliar since it's my shop) and deal with the inconvenience of not having a car. And should you decide to do clearbra after painting, it might be impossible to seal it while the paint is still perfect.

I'm not sure how long you need to wait for the paint to cure before doing clear bra. For instance, you need to wait atleast 30 days for the paint to cure before applying wax, but if you repaint it, and then decide to put clear bra on, I wonder if you also need to wait 30 days, and if so, it's not going to look perfect when the install is made unless you can somehow avoid getting rock chips for that amount of time before the install!

Just some things to consider.

Richard

 

Yeah I am definitely on the boat of ...have no idea if I should get it or not. I saw a Infiniti G35 in my complex the other day...sweet car...nice blue color. but it has a clearbra on the front end and its looks like crap because there is dirt on the edges of the clearbra. The information I don't know is who installed it, do they keep up the cleaning, and what kind of film is it? Was it a DIY?

This made me think twice about getting a clearbra. I have heard soo many people say its worth the money. I have heard it doesn't have that orange peel look anymore. I have also heard horror stories about this stuff.

Most of the opinions on NAM are positive for a clearbra, but I am still waivering. I'm afraid the part that is clearbra'd will not feel like the actual paint. Over a month of trying to decide....luckily we have only driven it a few times and it sits in the garage for now.

I wish someone could make a decision for me.

 

After owning my MINI for 3 years now, I'm of the opinion that I ought to have shrink-wrapped the whole car and bundled it in a blanket.


But that's just me.

 

can't you just dip the whole car in some liquid plastic? One of these days it will happen you watch.

 

Ok, pocket the money that you would use for the install of the clearbra--put it in a piggy bank. In 3 years when the front end looks a little too beat up, spend about $500 to repaint the front end and bumper. Don't worry, painted at the right shop--like my shop for example--they can make a perfect match. Then in another 3 years, paint it again.

 

ok decision has been made. No clearbra.

I think I have to make this official to the other partial owner of the car. But then again she doesn't really care...im the one doing the worrying.

Octaneguy...ill get in touch with you regarding the bundles soon.

Damn now I gotta figure out where to get the tint done...crap, more posting multiple times and people getting annoyed at some guy asking the same question over and over.

So where in SOCAL is best to get my windows tinted? And what brand and type tint is a good choice (best UV and heat protection)?

 

My MINI is almost here and i already have a 3m clear bra kit from Ebay waiting to go on. It costs 150 total but you have to have the DYI spirit! I will post pix when im done.

 

If Richard says he'll re-paint the front of your car for $500, he'll do it, but if you ever move away from SoCal, you might want to sock away a little more than $500 for a complete re-paint of the bonnet and front bumper, especially if you have bonnet stripes.

A friend of mine had hers done recently in Virginia, and it was closer to $1300. I'm not saying that she couldn't have gotten it done a little cheaper, but $500 sounds like a hell of a bargain, and one I don't think you'll be able to get very many places, at least not for quality work.

 

I did a DIY clearbra install purchased from Ebay on my 07 Cooper after I installed a stripe from Mighty-Stripes. I did the hood first. In retrospect I wish that I had done one of the bumper pieces first and most importantly I wish that I had an assistant. The bra is not perfect to my eyes but you have to get close to see the "not perfect" spots. The cost was very light and if I decide to replace it in the spring the cost is still light (less than $50.00). I think it is a good investment but not at $500+ --but, I am a cheap Scot

 

How 'bout some of that dip you put on tools to coat the handles? Mine's Chili Red--probably a *perfect* match for my MINI.

 

I'm curious to see how well Nissan's new "Scratch Guard" clearcoat works out. It's supposed to self-heal minor scratches like swirlmarks from automatic car washes and fingernail scratches.

The effect only works for about three years, though, so I'm curious how the clearcoat holds up after that. (Old scratches don't come back after three years - the finish just stops self-healing new scratches).

 

i saw an episode on modern marvels about paint and it talked about that technology... how it works is fairly simple, or at least the idea part... essentially there are "capsules" of paint that stay liquid for some time and when they are broken... by a scratch, the liquidish paint seeps out to fill the void.... i assume it only works for three years because it eventually just dries out.

 

I just got the venture shield installed on my BRG R56. You can barely tell it is there. The factory installed clear bra on my hubby's R53 is so much more visible and even that you have to stand over it to see it.

In the Northern VA area, the price for venture shield is anywhere from $600-$1,000.00. I paid just over 600 and I have NO regrets. I would highly recommend it--as long as you have it professionally installed -or- you are willing to over look a few wrinkles if you do it yourself.
Cheers,