I've been considering getting one of these, I don't have any paint chips on my hood ( yet). What do you guys think of the 3M or xpel.com clear strips for the hood? Anyone have one of them? If so do they work well and will it cause the paint to fade or swirl? Thanks for any input.

 

I had a xpel clear bra installed on the front bumper and front of the hood. I highly recommend it. It's completely eliminated additional chips where it's covered (although I've gotten a few chips a few inches past where it covers ).

Within the 1st 3000 miles or so, I had already 9 chips... so I quickly got this installed. I haven't noticed any fade or swirl yet.

 

I have the 3M Version. If I'm not mistaken there is a difference between 3M and Xpel. It may be coverage i.e. mirrors, rear trunk. I went with the full 3m Kit it covers not only the entire front nose but the mirrors, door handle cups, rear top bumper, and door edges. Its great. I too have had some chips beyond the protection but I highly recommend it. Take a look at my homepage and tell me what you think.

 

hey cwerdna, has your clear bra begun to look hazy? I really want something to protect the front , but i don't know that i would like the look of a hood protector on the max Thanks.

 

I had my Ultrashield (3M) installed 2 weeks after buying the car (now has 20K on it). No fading, cracking, etc. I have some chips where the bra doesn't cover but none where it is. Great investment. Get a good installer, though. This is not an easy DIY if you don't know what you are doing. You could waste very expensive material. Get the 8mil for everything but the headlights and fogs. They use the 40mil.

 

Wow, you really can't even see it on your car. I hope mine looks like that even though it's white. But $600 . I just want to have the front of the hood done, hopefully it won't be more than $100-200. Did you have it put on at the dealership or somewhere else or did you do it yourself? Thanks for the input guys.

 

BiggD23: I bought the hood kit from www.xpel.com and installed it myself. The film has been a lifesaver and nobody notices it is there unless I point it out. For less than $200 you can do the hood piece yourself which is not too hard. The bumper piece would be difficult. Xpel has a free instllation video they will send you upon request and I highly recommend it before attempting the install.

 

I bought the 3M hood kit from invincashield and installed it myself. It comes with a video. Very easy to do on the Maxima due the the hood design. Looks good. On the other hand I installed the bumper protection and it was a pain in the butt. Looks good from a distance but crappy up close. That I would not recommend trying yourself.

 

My experience with this 3M product has been very good, so far. It is not at all noticable against the sterling mist color of my 2k3.

Urge you to consider letting a pro install it since the pieces covering the bumper are large and complicated.

My cost for the whole front end was $400.

Go to this web page for specific details and drawings of exactly what each piece covers.

http://www.invinca-shield.com/main.htm

 

I have the 3M gaurd on my front bumper. Got it on there after about 2K miles. Since then there has been no fading, cracking, or swirl marks. It it not really noticeable at all unless I point it out to someone. I didn't get the hood protector, although after repainting the hood due to the amount of rock chips I wish I had.

The front bumper protector is NOT a DIY job. It's a very difficult install and like somoene else mentioned previously you can end up ruining the material in the process.

The hood piece is a pretty easy DIY job. It just lays flat about 2 inches up from the front of the hood. There are no sharp curved areas like on the front bumper so it's easy to get it on without any bubbling.

I would recommend getting both...and maybe even the side view mirror protectors as well. The headlamps and foglamps protectors are not really necessary unless you find yourself doing off road with large rocks (doubtful). I got the headlamp and foglamp protectors, but after a while they had a star shaped crack or bubbling so I took them all off.

Hope this helps.

 

I have the 3M ScotchCal on my 2K2 with almost 30k on the car. I have experienced no cracking or discoloration. The material has definitely saved the paint on the front of my car from being chiped. A few thoughts for you:

The ScotchCal comes in various widths and, unfortunately, most companies (like Expel) use the 12" width. I didn't like this because the rise up the hood seemed too low to me. Instead, I found a company called Armourfend who custom measured and fabricated a "kit" for my 2K2 Maxima with, I believe, a 24" width. As a result of having the kit made with the wider material, the entire front section of my hood is covered. I feel this gives me much better protection than Expel would have.

Next, I recommend that in addition to the hood and front bumper that you also cover the follow key areas: headlights and foglights, door handle cups, fender flares and front facing side view mirror surfaces. In addition, I have noticed extensive paint chipping on my vehicle just in front of the rear fender, at the bottom of the car, where the OEM "ground effects" form a kind of cup (a lot of road debris must get thrown towards the rear of the car and get caught in that one spot). I would recommend having a custom piece fabricated for that part of the car since it will certainly be an issue for you if you have an SE with OEM ground effects.

Good luck!

 

Don't worry about cracking or hazing. You can polish and wax it too.
I have been told that some places will apply it custom right off the roll, doing what ever coverage you want. Whats nice about this is the edges will look better in the curves of the front end and the can do a wrap around in certain places. I found out about this well after I got mine done I would look around and see what you can find. This is also cheaper as there are no cut sheets and they can get a better price on the roll wholesale.

 

Having rolled edges, particularly around the perimeter of the hood is a must have - it looks better and it protects better too.

 

I had an area rep do it. He came in from Indy and installed it with some help. It took about 4 hours total. It was the first 2k2 Max they had done. If I did it over I would just do the "metal" parts of the car. Chips in plastic suck but at least they wont rust! Hood could be a DIY job. It's similar to tint film but they use heat to stretch it instead of shrink it. Hope this helps.

 

When I had my ScothCal installed no heat was used. The material is fairly stretchy at normal temperatures.

 

Does anyone know if the clear bra can be removed afer it has been on for say 3 or 4 years?

 

I've heard that after a few years, they pull that baby off and its was like it came out of the showroom.

I have it on my car an NOOO regrets whatsoever. I paid alot for the installation, but think about it this way. Its not going to guarantee you any paint chips, but it will give you a better piece of mind. I still have to do my rear bumper and probably the 'lower lip' right before the gound effects go on. also, thinking about 1/2 way up from the bottom of the door to the middle. SHEEIIITT... why not do the whole car?!? LOL. But it is worth the investment!!