Paint protection

[BAGTGG]

New forum member ~ new Smartcar owner (2009 Brabus/Black/Coupe). nterested in protecting the front of our car from rock chips, etc. Has any forum member had a "clear bra" paint protection kit installed? It protects the front of the car with an invisible urethane film. Product goes by various names (X-Pel is one name) all made by 3M. We have it on our XC90 Volvo and getting ready to have it installed on our 335 BMW. Called a local company this afternoon - he stated that they have the kit for the 'regualr' Smartcar but not the Brabus edition - but stated he would come to our home and possibly make a pattern to make a kit to fit the car. This invisible bra protect the entire frontal paint area of our Volvo from all sorts of road chips, insects, etc, etc.

[JPaul]

Why not first check the respective prices?
Is a bra really cheaper than the plastic panels (yours are black, the less expensive ones)?
Would a headlight protective film be enough?
IMHO, of course.
And welcome to the Forum!

[Jared]

I've had the clear bra films on a number of vehicles. If the vehicle is parked outside often, make sure you replace the film after the warranty expires (3 years?). After that period of time the material will develop stress cracks and it becomes very difficult to remove as it no longer can be removed as a continuous sheet.

If the vehicle is garaged often, the films will last much longer.

In regards to cost vs panels, anything painted will experience rockchips. My understanding is that white is the underlying color of all smart panels (at least that's what the salesfolk were saying). These polycarb films do a very good job of preventing rockchips.

[jwight]

For 08 car colors:

3 of them are Molded In Color (MIC) the White, Black, and Yellow...
3 of them are painted with water based paint, The Blue metallic, the Red metallic and the Silver.....
all 6 colors are Clear coated with water based paint

Haven't kept up with the 09 colors.

[JPaul]

Originally Posted by jwight

...
Haven't kept up with the 09 colors.

As posted, corrected for 09:
3 of them are Molded In Color (MIC) the White, Black, and Rally Red...
3 of them are painted with water based paint, The Blue metallic, the Grey metallic and the Silver.....
all 6 colors are Clear coated with water based paint.

[stew7962]

I've always put X-pel's clear bra on all my other cars. I was going to do the Smart but after pricing the x-pel kit and also a few others I decided just replacing the front panel would actually be cheaper if this one gets chipped up. If I get the smart repainted in the future like I plan then I will probably clear bra it but stock is not worth it.

[Suze]

I've had the 3M "clear bra" on my smart since Feb 08. I think its a great product and well worth it.

Sure, you could replace a hood panel for less than the cost of the clear bra, but are you going to replace the hood every time you get a chip? And the clear bra covers the bumper and front part of the front fenders, too.

I've already been saved one pretty good sized scrape to my bumper. The clear bra was damaged, but not the panel. The damaged portion of the clear bar was replaced under warranty.

IMO this car attracts chips of all kinds. I just went through windshield rock chip fixes and then had to replace the windshield when a chip grew into a crack.

I wish they had a clear bra product for the windshield!


BTW, BAGTGG - I was my dealer last night and they had a brabus that is scheduled to get the clear bra installed today, so somebody must already have the template.

[jediknight36]

From what I understand, the painted pannels are black MIC withthe metalic painted over and a clear coat. I wouldn't mind finding what 200 ft looked like in a car from a rock truck. I have a huge crack in my 06 matrix windshield because of one of those trucks.

[SylenThunder]

I got something similar on mine from the dealer, except that they didn't do the hood.. just the lowre dor panels/sides, and all of the skirts. Got a chip on the hood and wish I had it on that too. They also make a nice one that goes on the windshield and headlamp housings to prevent chips there as well. Expensive though. I think it was around $150 for the headlamps (although they did have some cool tint designs you could get), and $400 or so for the windshield. Supposed to be able to take a 1" rock at a couple hundred miles an hour without damage.

[foyfarlow]

is that stuff really worth it i got qouted 450.00 for the front end.
and to have to replace every 3 years? the guy said if gargaed should get 7 years out of it. what yall think? if its decent i may get a requote for all the panels