Advice for New Owners - Get XPEL or Any Kind of Clear Bra Right out the Dealership!

[spham]

Hey All,

Its been almost 2.5 months with my M4 and I have to say, I wish I shelled out the cash and just got the clear bra at the beginning. Maybe it's my driving habits but man... a lot of rocks have hit the car while driving. 30+ big and small chips and even one super tiny ass dent. I should've bought a Civic for my first brand new car honestly..... lol jk nah.

When I first got the car, I was thinking "I don't need no clear bra, how many rocks can I possibly hit". Well driving on the freeway at 80+ MPH almost guarantees you rocks to hit your car. I really wish I got a clear bra when I first got my car because now I have to pay extra cash to fix the chips which is just sanding and filling them with touch up paint which means its not factory smooth. This car has definitely taken a lot of money from me in terms of cosmetics haha

Especially necessary if you plan to own 4+ years.

Just heads up from a naive owner now a little wiser

[KevinGS]

Originally Posted by spham

Hey All,

Its been almost 2.5 months with my M4 and I have to say, I wish I shelled out the cash and just got the clear bra at the beginning. Maybe it's my driving habits but man... a lot of rocks have hit the car while driving. 30+ big and small chips and even one super tiny ass dent. I should've bought a Civic for my first brand new car honestly..... lol jk nah.

When I first got the car, I was thinking "I don't need no clear bra, how many rocks can I possibly hit". Well driving on the freeway at 80+ MPH almost guarantees you rocks to hit your car. I really wish I got a clear bra when I first got my car because now I have to pay extra cash to fix the chips which is just sanding and filling them with touch up paint which means its not factory smooth. This car has definitely taken a lot of money from me in terms of cosmetics haha

Especially necessary if you plan to own 4+ years.

Just heads up from a naive owner now a little wiser

Yes. a no-brainer.

This car begs to be driven hard, so 80 mph+ is nothing when you can climb to 130 mph really quickly.

Bugs and rock chips are impossible to avoid, so just spend the money and have it done. It's the best first mod everyone should do....unless you drive like a grandma.

[te37]

Xpel out of the gate! This car is prone to rock chips and dings by nature lol Don't forget to add more clear bra on the rear right in front of the rear tires, I know the factory puts some PPF there but it doesn't go high enough up on the fender.

[CityLife]

Originally Posted by te37

Xpel out of the gate! This car is prone to rock chips and dings by nature lol Don't forget to add more clear bra on the rear right in front of the rear tires, I know the factory puts some PPF there but it doesn't go high enough up on the fender.

What car is that? It looks like the interior is that of a 3 series with the color and the head restraints having a gap? M3 conversion?

[te37]

Originally Posted by CityLife

What car is that? It looks like the interior is that of a 3 series with the color and the head restraints having a gap? M3 conversion?

Correct, M3 conversion in a county where an M3 is 3 times the price of a regular 3 series. Not my car, just the only picture i had to show the trouble issues with rocks.

[RocketBoots]

The worst thing is, at this point, if you clear bra over the touched-up rock chips, it will not look that great (edges/bubble)

[te37]

I put my clear bra on myself after 13k miles and I didn't have any chips or anything so I got lucky, but I can tell you now, 5k miles later, that the clear bra has saved my ass from a lot of possible beauty marks on silver stone paint!

[Bch53211]

Couldn't disagree more - I've had my car for almost a year and have almost 14k on odometer. I have yet to see one chip or nick despite hearing things occasionally bounce off the front, etc. The paint holds up very well and I'd say save the expense and get any small chips fixed or it do yourself. Was thinking about clear bra at first , so happy now i didn't.

[///M4ster Yoda]

But Euro Delivery

[MaynardZed]

Don't forget the rocker panels too! It's an area I missed when I did Suntek 2 years ago and wished I hadn't.

On the M4 in front of the rear wheels doesn't seem to get hit as hard as the M3 FYI.

[SMC23]

Originally Posted by Master Yoda

But Euro Delivery

I'm doing ED next week and have Trakktape ready to protect the paint. Hope it works as advertised. When the car is redeliveried I will get Ppf for sure.

[///M4ster Yoda]

Originally Posted by scanido

I'm doing ED next week and have Trakktape ready to protect the paint. Hope it works as advertised. When the car is redeliveried I will get Ppf for sure.

I'm doing ED next week also on July 26th. What's up with the trakk tape? Does it look like shit on the car? Is it a PIA to install?

[XsltAnalyst]

Don't bother with trakktape in Europe. It's not necessary over there since the roads are so much better over there. Even on the N'ring, nobody uses them, whether it's $500 or 500K car. Besides, it'll look terrible especially if you're applying it for the first time. You'll ruin pictures, get weird looks from everyone. Also, there was someone on the forum who got stopped at the Nordshleife since they thought he had an accident since the bumper looked damaged with the trakktape

[///M4ster Yoda]

Originally Posted by XsltAnalyst

Don't bother with trakktape in Europe. It's not necessary over there since the roads are so much better over there. Even on the N'ring, nobody uses them, whether it's $500 or 500K car. Besides, it'll look terrible especially if you're applying it for the first time. You'll ruin pictures, get weird looks from everyone. Also, there was someone on the forum who got stopped at the Nordshleife since they thought he had an accident since the bumper looked damaged with the trakktape

Thanks for the heads up. I'm gonna skip it.