3M Clear Protection film - verification of a terrible install

[beowulf80]

Hey all, just had the 3M film installed on my IBM 2SS. I had them do the front fascia, and the mirrors. Intention is to protect against rock chips. I did expect that they would have to use 2-3 pieces to do the whole clip. Install time was ~6 hours. I did not have a chance to inspect the car while I was there, when I came in it was pouring rain. I had heard that the installer was very reputible, so I was not worried at all.


However, as you can see in picures below they used many, many more than 2-3 pieces. I expect the piece count to be 17 seperate cuts. There is a 1/4" to 1/2" open seam at every bend of the sheetmetal, they did not wrap it over any of the corners. On the passenger mirror the gap between the film is closer to 3/4". I am dubious of its function of protecting against rock chips, not to mention the nightmare this is would be to wax.

Total cost was $400 plus taxes.

It is my intention to expresss my displeasure to the Ziebart who installed this and see what they will offer, but I wanted to be sure I'm not being unreasonable in my assumptions. For those of you who have had this done, is this typical for an install? Pics below. Sorry for the poor quality, had to use the flash for the seams to show up, washes out the paint color and messes up the focus.

[Camaro_Corvette]

Yeah, not looking too fancy there.

[beowulf80]

And before anyone rags on me, yes the car is dirty; note the fact I just drove it through an hour of rain / puddles, bugs, etc.

[angelicsowner]

I'm dealing with the same thing here in CO...except yours looks better than mine...





Maybe its the color? LOL

[beowulf80]

I'm dealing with the same thing here in CO...except yours looks better than mine... I'm dealing with the same thing here in CO...except yours looks better than mine...Maybe its the color? LOL

I don't know, Your seams look better than mine. That said, that wrinkling...ouch. I think we both got screwed.

[SSOOCH]

Clear bra is dumb! IMO of course.

[sav1]

screw the bra.. Well, maybe in Co. with your nasty winters.. but hell, my bumber gets beat up, ill re paint it in 3 years.

[PsyDoc]

I realize that using multiple pieces of material might be necessary given the various curvature points of a particular vehicle, but for $400 I'd expect a much better install job. The cut pieces look like they were made by someone who just finished a quadruple espresso or something. Did they cut the pieces on the car? If so, then I do not care how "careful" someone is as that razor blade will eventually hit paint.

[beowulf80]

Judging from how large and inconsistant the gaps are, I doubt they were cut on the car. Especially the mirrors, they aren't even close.

[htp autoworks]

I am an installer and I can tell you that both installs are terrible. $400 is very cheap... but that said I would not be happy with that on my car even if it was free. Beowolf80, my advice is to take it back and have them remove ALL of the film. It looks like some of the seems are off and uneven... which could be a sign it was cut, meaning your paint may be cut. Clearly whoever did youre car is an amature and should not be doing installs. Angelics youres looks realy bad too. I have never seen that many work marks in film in such a small area. Another sign of an amature installer. I would also have that removed and go somewhere else. Both of you should get full refunds and both of you should check your paint after all the film is removed to make sure you do not have any cuts in your paint.

Having a good clear bra installation done will cost you more than $400. A resonable pricewould be around $750-800 since a good quality film will cost $300+ alone. Also the lower bumper should be 1 piece, the upper bumper (in front of the hood) should be 1 piece. 17 pieces is insane... in fact that is so crazy I would like to get with you to get your photos so that I can share them with some other clear bra installers. Send me a PM and I will see if I can help you guys find a good installer in your area.

As for he two guys that do not agree with getting a clear bra, go ahead. Pay 30+ grand for a nice car, let it get chipped up, and watch the resale value of your cars plummet when you get it repainted. Good luck with matching the paint as well... not easy to do.

[hot ss]

400 bucks is not much. and neither is that install. my teenagers do a better job of paint film. go get your money back and source a real installer. dont go by word of mouth. view jobs done. any good installer will have several cars, plus his own to show you, on any given day. sorry about your luck, but the film will still do its job where there is coverage. the shoddy gaps tho... yeesh. i have one word.
CRAPMANSHIP

[angelicsowner]

I paid $600 for mine :(

[jsmith]

I paid $700 and I really do think that the IBM and Black paints will show every imperfection that the lighter colors would not.
I posted a few pics of my Camaro, with the 3M CLEARBRA installed about 7 weeks ago on this site. Since then I had my installer come back to work a few bubbles and "Silvering" out of the film. My gaps are all less then 1/8" and the total pieces used were 6 for the whole front end and mirrors. Hope this helps.
If my car was one of the lighter colors I would not have noticed 90% of the imperfections. But most people do not even notice the Bra until I point it out to them.

[Li0nel1234]

bleh...

those look terrible... I would get my money back...