Mine came from the dealer with the whole shebang, including the areas around the keyholes, edges of the doors and right around the door handles, too. Every new '05 they had on the lot had the whole package (and it was listed on the dealer add-on sticker, too, of course).

 

So my nightmare continues...(see post above). So I go to pick up my G after the CORRECT bra is supposedly installed. Notice the word "supposedly." Turns out, when they tried removing the old bra, some paint came off with it. When I bought my car, there was a tiny nick in the bumper that the dealer fixed the day before the bra was installed. Instead of just filling and buffing it, they airbrushed it. So when the bra came off, the uncured paint came off with it. So they had to air brush it again. But this time, they took the time to call the clear bra manufacturer and were told NOT to install the bra until the paint had 30 days to cure. Hmmm...this presents a dilemma. So I have to drive the car with no bra on it for 30 days to let the paint cure. Well, I can guarantee that in 30 days, there will be nicks in it from driving. So if you touch it up in 30 days, I have to wait another 30 days. Touch up again, 30 days of curing AND driving, needs touchup again before installation...lather, rinse, repeat...ad nauseum. I called a PROFESSIONAL installer here in town and he said that I should not have the bra put on. That the paint could shift and discolor is not cured. So here I am between a rock and a hard place.

AND to add insult to injury, when my car got delivered, there was a chunk missing out of the front passenger side rim. That was NOT there when I brought the car in! I was about 1/2 second away from exploding! Thankfully. the service manager instantly placed an order for a new rim for me and it should be in early next week.

I just had a bad gut feeling about this whole thing from the get go. I should have listened to my intuition.

 

i did the clearbra install myself a couple years ago on my coupe. i purchased the bumper pieces from invinca-shield.com for about $175 and purchased a roll of 3m film from vehicleprotectionfilms.com for really cheap. i used the roll for the fender pieces and hood. note, i NEVER had any experience with the clearbra or tinting. but i was able to do it with a bit of patience. i started with hood which was fairly easy. then i did the fenders by using construction paper to cut out an outline and then cutting the film using the outline. the fenders were very easy too. the hardest part is the bumper due to the many curves. this is when using a blowdryer will help tremendously. not only will it help to soften and shrink the film to conform to the car, but it will also help to evaporate the extra solution under to film so the film can adhere to the car. invinca-shield will give you EVERYTHING you need for the install (video tape instruction, squeezee, soap solution and spray bottle). DO NOT USE THE ALCOHOL SOLUTION IN THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE 3M WEBSITE!!!! the alcohol solution sucks. use the baby shampoo solution from the invinca-shield kit. it makes the job really easy.

to be honest with you, the job is very do-able for the novice. however, if you can find a professional installer that will do it for under $500, i would recommend you go with the pro. for me, it took me the entire day to complete. i even had to go back the next day to touch it up. it really only takes practice and patience. after a bit of time, you will learn the characteristics of the film and it will make the job even easier.

if you decide to do it yourself, feel free to pm me for pointers/advice. 3m film is great. i now clearbra many things around the house and on the car since i have extra film--e.g. the aluminum kick plates on our door panel, the aluminum door handles on my new 05 6mt, my brushed stainless steel cigarette holder, briefcase latches, etc....it's great stuff.

 

Ease of installation also depends on the type of "kit". Let's take Invinca-shield and Xpel for instance. IS's kit for the G35 sedan's bumper is separated into 6 pieces while the Xpel bumper is a one piece kit. Having it broken up into multiple pieces make the installation much easier. It really comes down to personal preference. Some people do not mind installing these kits themselves, while others who choose to go w/ one pc kits have someone install it for them.

The difference between multipc kits and one piece is very similar to tinting the curved rear glass of autos. Some people choose to go w/ multi-pc and join them inside at the defroster lines while others use one piece of film for the install.

Either way, the film will do its job of protecting the front end from rock chips.

 

So the pics of the M3 has film applied already? I can't even see it. Where can I find a good installer in the MD/VA area and how much would it typically cost??

 

Sorry, don't know anyone out in your area..........but yes, we redid that M3 w/ a new piece of film. The guys that did the previous install, cut through the film and damaged the paint surface. We had to spend some time wet-sanding and machine buff various areas, but in the end it came out like it was only done once - done right.......

I'm not ragging on installers who trim on the car because we do as well when it comes to custom applications. However, there are very few installers in the industry who could cut the film on the car and not cut through the paint. This is where expertise in the field plays a large role installation quality. In addition, plus, there is a positive correlation between workmanship and price. The cheaper the price, the more wary one should be when searching out an installer............and this goes the same for pretty much anything in life.