Protective bra coating

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I've done Xpel Ultimate on a couple cars and have been pretty happy with it.

 

Did a lot of research and had various films on cars for the past 10 yrs. Currently XPEL Ultimate is the most durable, best looking film on the market and that's what I'm having installed this spring on my 430. My installer swears by it.
Alberto

 

XPEL is a fantastic product - it is also much easier & faster to remove when it comes time for a refresh.

 

We've tested and installed the X-Pel Ultimate for almost two years after installing other films for over 11 years. It's on my personal car and I have put it through the ringer. It is the real deal. As always, the installer is the key. Just to give you an idea, so far we've wrapped 12 Aventadors in full with the X-Pel film with no issues.

Matt

 

Let me know if you are ever coming out to Hawaii. I think I could round up at least 2 430's and my 360 that would like the eXpel treatment.

 

Another vote here for XPEL, the self-healing film is no gimmick.

-Kody-

 

Any thoughts on whether to cover the full hood or just halfway up - the car in mind is a 458?

 

if you don't want to see a line across your hood,then the full hood treatment would be your choice
those edges have always bothered me,so I sprung for the full hood on my 458
your choice...

 

full front or nothing!!!! the nose on the 458 will get rock chips all the way up if its driven! If its not driven, dont film it!

No matter what anyone tells you, the half front or "standard kits" are ALWAYS visible!

Full front or nothing is my vote. I have detailed cars for a long time now and every car that i do that has a standard front kit job looks decent, but not as good as the other half of the hood/fenders!

XPEL ultimate is the only way to go IMO!!!

plan on replacing every 3 years as well if its on a driver. The longer its on the car, the harder it will be to remove. I removed a clear bra standard kit on a CTSV from just 6 years in the sun and it took us (two people) 6 hours to remove since it became very brittle (3m kit - cheaper film back then). Also removed a corvette film job that had a standard kit and it took us 25 total hours because it broke off into 1/4" pieces the whole way through (15 years old on the car in vegas heat outside every day for the first 10 years). Removed a Ferrari California film job in 15 min from film that was on the car for just 2 years and cared for...super easy as it should be.

 

Thanks for the advice - I was not aware that it was a good idea to replace every 3 years - makes sense. Do you recommend any special products to apply periodically to the clear bra?

 

Todd at Esoteric put 22ple over the XPEL Ultimate on my front end -along with the rest of the car. I think it makes the whole car shine the same and you can't tell where the bra is and isn't.
+1 on applicator being the most important part of the process. Very happy with both products.

 

I'm not sure about replacing every three years. Unless you put a lot of miles on your car and the clear bra gets pounded constantly, there's no need to replace it. On a seasonal car, I would leave it on for at least 5 years, if not longer. That's speaking from experience. I had my first clear bra installed about 11 years ago on a Corvette and had the hood piece replaced about a year ago. The film came off without any major issues. The car doesn't get driven much, about 3k miles/year on average so the clear bra is still in great shape. Btw, anyone looking for a quality installer in the Ohio/pa region, I've been using Block A Chip. for the past 11 years or so and I'm looking forward to having them protect my f430 this Spring.

 

Can somebody post the average cost of wrapping the front of the car? Thanks.

 

I was quoted close to $3,000 for front fender/bumper/grill/hood (edge-wrapped) with X-pel Ultimate from a certified installer ($6,200 full car) for a new Bentley GT convertible. I paid a local installer $1,600 to do the 1/2 front/windshield surround/mirrors with X-pel Ult. using the kit (not edge-wrapped). I am not satisfied with the kit as there is too much exposed paint margin around the edges of the fender/hood for my taste but I got what I paid for. I was told by the X-pel factory rep that my quotes from the certified installer were a bit on the high side but I did not want to drive the car to Houston or San Antonio and leave it for several days to get the job done. Later this year I will likely drop it off in Houston to a certified installer to have the whole car done. I agree with the above posts that the 1/2 wrap will show the edge of the material more than many advertisers claim. Also make sure the paint is near flawless for the best result, have it installed only in warm conditions and if the installer says "the bubbles will flatten out once the car is exposed to direct sunshine for a while" don't believe them. My experience...YMMV

 

Holy moly, that is expensive. I can have my local body shop repaint the car for $3k. Thanks for posting.

 

3k is insanely cheap for a paint job, nothing close to high quality.

ballpark 2K for a full front and 800 Pm me, I have recommendations

 

my "pre-owned" 458 spider came with half the hood done. I have decided to go with the full cowl for my new Audi 4S.

Do the whole hood. No question.

Best

 

Who makes X-Pel Ultimate?

 

These guys are the best. They have wrapped all of my cars including the daily drivers and I could not be happier.

 

X-Pel does. That is the company's name. They're based in San Antonio, TX.

 

Xpel ultimate Is the only way to go. I've tried most of them and it's the clearest and toughest. Litterally just got home from taking delivery on my 2014 italia to the shop to do the car. 3 days and 3600 to do the front hood,bumper, fenders, mirrors and rocker panels with the entire back bumper. These guys take it to the local exotic body shop and drop the bumper and even remove the shields so they don't have to cut the film around and guarantee no seams at all with full wrap around. (Truly important as seams collect dust and grime) did the rear bumper which added 650 to the cost because ferrari adds only a 1/2 inch strip of film behind the back tire and to add more film would add a seam and I hate seams.

I did the same with my Panamera GTS which in 14 months has gotten 14,000 miles and still looks perfect. I had the 3m film on my gallardo as xpel was not readily available and it starts to yellow a bit (car was white so it was noticeable)

Last thing I'll add is there is a new film for the front window called ClearPlex Windshield Protection Film. It was unreal and totally clear. Owner showed me a demo and literary protects the glass from a hand held BB gun, while the uncovered glass had the glassic rock ding.

 

I've installed plenty of Xpel, Suntek(their self healing film) as well as 3m/Venture through the years.

Suntek's self-healing film looks just as good as Xpel, functions the same and I like the adhesive much more.

Xpel was the first to offer/promote the self-healing films. But don't think their film is necessarily the best at that function because of that. Suntek as well as Xpel's films work exactly as advertised.

I would say my preference is more based on how the film installs. But for the owner, that is important. A film that has better stretching and lifting abilities means a better installation.

As long as the installation looks good, both Suntek and Xpel films are excellent. With Xpel costing about 30% more.

One other thing. The warranties offered by the manufacturer are against manufacturer defects, not wear and tear from use.