I'm about to receive my 04 TL, Anthracite Ebony Nav Aspec next friday and was considering having a clear bra (XPEL) installed on the car (since the rock chip factor where i live is extremely high).

I just got off the phone with my dealer and he talked about it with the GM who stated he would never put a clear bra on his car because it intensifies the amount of UV light hitting the bra portion, thereby causing damage to the paint, possibly within 1-2 years.

Anyone heard anything about this "UV INTENSIFICATION" factor?

 

There are people that have put clear bra's on their cars and had them on for years that have never had any issues with it. Go get it.

 

The Xpel kit uses 3M coating with "UV protectants" to protect the paint from UV rays. Directly from the 3M site:

I'm not sure what these protectants are, anyone in the plastics industry care to comment?

 

HT3, another thing to consider.

I have aspec and an Xpel clear bra. One thing I want to mention is the fact that the Xpel bumper piece will NOT fit the aspec lip spoiler.

The way my dealer, the installer and I resolved this is I inspected the car and took delivery without the lip spoiler installed. The clear bra installer took the car and the aspec lip spoiler (not on yet), installed the entire clear bra and custom did the Aspec lip. Returned everything to the dealer, who then installed the lip spoiler. Now everything is covered by the 3M/Xpel clearbra.

 

how could it possibly increase UV? It's not a lens or anything.

 

Although I don't use a clear bra I guess you would have to weigh the stone chip damage factor against any possible marks that the clear bra might leave. I've used standard bra's in the past, and they always seem to leave some traces behind after using them for years. My last car had a line on the paint where the bra ended, but ultimately the paint still looked better without having hundreds of stone chips on the hood and bumper. Here in Pennsylvania, PADOT never cleans the highways from the stone chips dumped during the winter, and it's horrible with damage to paint jobs. You'll start geting them from the first day you buy a new car and it never ends!

 

If you get it, keep it clean. Bug goo will stain it.

 

Usually, people are concerned that the unprotected paint will fade faster than the area protected by the clear bra. In any case, it doesn't happen.

Neither does the clear bra leave marks on the paint like a regular bra that is loose and moves against the surface.

A clear bra is semi-permanently affixed to the paint almost like an additional, thick, clear coat. It is urethane 8 mils thick. You can hardly see it unless you have your nose right up against it. It doesn't change the look of the car. It is removable without damage to the paint.

Ferraris, G35s, and a few other cars have some areas protected with clear bra from the factory. Our local Lamborghini dealer will not deliver a new car without it.

The film was developed by 3M in Desert Storm to protect the helicopter blades from being eroded by the sand they were exposed to. Today, it is used extensively in the production of aircraft.

Negatives? There are a few dust particles that were trapped under my bumper piece. I can see them when I am cleaning/waxing the car up close. Others have never noticed them. I can live with them considering I will never have stone chips there.

Cleaning? Just the same as the painted surfaces. Use the same wax/polymer sealant as the car or Plexis. The film is usually guaranteed for the life of the car.

 

It's too bad that we can't get this stuff applied over the entire car. I have Rock Blocker which is he same thing I believe. So far it has done a great job at doing what it is supposed to.

I had a small bumper to bumper (~1 to 2 mph) and there were no paint scratches. It only left two faint license plate indentations in my front bumper that have since gone away.

 

Thanks for the input to all of you. The whole UV intensification sounded a little off to me from the start. I figured someone would've covered this in a topic.


Aspector, that's an awesome tip. The Aspec kit should be arriving today or early next week, i'll call to see what I can work out as far as installation of the clear bra the way you mentioned. Thanks!

ht3

 

xpditor - Does the clear bra make it easier to clean the bugs off??? (i.e. is there less adhesion)?

 

Yes, for sure. That's a major advantage to the clear bra. If you keep it waxed, bugs come right off.

We have two threads running with the same topic: CLEAR BRA.

Since this is the shorter of the two, I'm going to close it and refer you to the other thread:

Click Here For Similar Thread

That way, we won't have to repeat ourselves asking and answering the same questions.

To continue this discussion, just click on the above link.