Flyboy

I’ve started looking into the 3M Scotchcal film to protect my enroute S4. To that end I’ve tried to gather some information from the distributors of that product. Here are my thoughts and findings.

(Company/Guarantee/Material/Thickness/Headlight Thickness/Pre-cut)

X-Pel/4yrs/3M/8mil/40mil/yes/

ClearBra/3yrs/ /12mil/20or40mil/no/

StonGard/3yrs*/ /9mil/80mil/yes/ *headlight only w/ fullbody kit or $15

ChipGuard/3yrs/3M/8mil/20mil/yes/

InvincaShield/?/ /?/?/yes/

ArmourFend/3yrs/ /?/?/?/

X-pel and Clear Bra provided the quickest, most thorough, and interested responses to my inquiry. Both win major points in my mind for customer service. Based upon posts to this forum, and the lack of response I experienced, I don’t think the people at Invincashield realize they are losing customers to their ample competition. I also did not receive a response to my inquiry post at ArmourFend’s web site.

It’s interesting to note that even though X-pel offers the thinnest material they offer the longest protection guarantee. I deduced from that that 8 mil is sufficiently thick.

Clearbra is custom fit to each car whereas X-pel is pre-cut. I like the custom fit idea though they have no place nearby for me to get the work done. I would have to rely on the skill of a window tinting shop.

ChipGuard’s guarantee only applies if they do the work in their shop, located in Toronto, Canada.

StonGard’s headlight guarantee comes free if you also get a body kit, otherwise it is $15. Their email response had several misspelled words and appeared to have been typed rather quickly, I didn’t feel they really wanted me as a customer. "Sign of poor customer service?"

Conclusion: Since they all sell the same 3M material I think the choice boils down to who offers the best customer support and guarantee. Custom fit or precut? That seems to be an individual preference thing. I’m going to go with either X-pel or Clear Bra.

Anyone have any personal experiences they’d like to share?<p>2001 S4
(scheduled arrival Sep)
6 spd
Santorin Blue
Silver Alcantara

BrianN

bumper. Although after a Chicagoland winter it has not been an issue. I would prefer more coverage, however. Hood film has one 2mm round perforation from road debris impact. Paint underneath appears fine. Perhaps thicker would be better.
The thick Xpel clear headlight protective cover film is great!

stikman

I went with X-pel because I had no one in my area to install any type of clear bra. They sent me a video without me even requesting one. It went through the whole installation on a BMW Z3. After watching the video I decided to give it a try. I'm very happy with the results. It's not absolutely perfect but if I had been a little more patient I think it would have been. It helps to have a second pair of hands. What I liked most is that it is installed like a decal. You wet everything down so you can slide the bra around till you have it lined up and them start squeegying(sp) the liquid out to make it stick. Good luck.

ioline

For protection purposes it is obvious that the thicker the film is the better it will protect. I own a vinyl sign shop and use some 3M materials. I've seen some of these kits in person but have yet to work with installation of them. There are 2 different manufacturing methods (cast and calendared) used to create adhesive backed, pressure sensitive vinyl. Cast vinyl is the best for long term adhesion but is usually only 2mil thick. Calendared vinyl is stretched into shape in its manufacture process and will shrink much more quickly than cast vinyl. BUT, calendared vinyl is typically at least 2.5mil thick and the stuff I usually use is 3mil. So, the only problem I can see with these kits is shrinkage.
Anyway, assuming you find out shrinkage isn't a problem, I would get the thickest film possible in a precut kit. It would be very difficult to custom cut by hand.
Try posting a message on the www.letterhead.com forums. It is a huge community of sign makers, many of which are very experienced in applying vinyl graphics. Some are even experts at "bus wraps." If they can wrap a city bus in vinyl I'm sure you can find someone to apply it to your car.

Good luck.

PS A friend of mine had a kit (don't know what brand) profrssionally installed on his M Coupe by a shop in Long Island, NY. Looked great the week after he got it but it is now peeling on some edges some 5 months later. They are redoing the bad pieces under warranty.

ioline

Do these kits come thermoformed to compensate for compound curves? or did you use a heat gun to form it yourself?