Hello all.
Was checking out the front of my '01 240/6, and noticed a few stone chips! After 1500 miles of mostly in town driving!
Since I plan on keeping the car 15+ years, those chips concerned me.
I looked into the "clear bra," thinking I wouldn't like it, since it sounds kinda tacky. It seems like it would be really noticeable, esp. around the edges, may harm the paint, etc.
After doing some research and speaking with a half dozen or so people who have it and love it, I decided to give it a try.
Ordered it from xpel.com, although there are others that sell the same things. Its a special material made by 3M especially for paint protection.
I installed it myself, and while I was able to do it and they call it "do it yourself," it was a little difficult. It took about 3 hours for me to get it on right!
But, in the end, I am *very* pleased with it! It really is unnoticeable. In most lighting conditions, you literally can't see it at all, even the seams. And even when you have the right light, the edges are just barely visible, you really have to be looking for it to notice it.
The stuff seems very durable, I doubt even a fairly large rock would damage the paint.
Anyways, just thought I'd pass along my experience, as a satisfied customer. I highly recommend the stuff for cars that have a lot of paintwork on the front end.

Brian,
Pictures, if possible, please. Thanks.

Sorry, I am not technologically adept (or equipped) enough to post pictures!
But, they would be pretty useless, anyways. I don't think in pictures you'd be able to see much if anything.
Here is a link to some pic of the bra installed on a BMW:
http://www.e46fanatics.com/~izzy/clear_bra.html
The xpel.com site also has some pics of cars with it installed.

BTW, I bought only the bumper kit, not the kit that goes on the hood, like the BMW guy did.
It does seem to me that a hood kit may be somewhat noticeable, with a long edge running the entire length of the hood.
I figured I'd just take my chances with the hood.
But, what I also did was make a pattern and cut out some small pieces for the near vertical parts of the hood that run down the side of the front grille. (With the kit, there is quite a bit of extra material that you can use to fashion extra pieces).
So, just about all of the "forward facing" painted area is now covered.

Brian,

Not trying to be a wise a**, but your signature may need to be changed to three houndred thousand miles.

No, this is my first MB!
But, that sig line was from a couple months ago, I guess I should update it to "over 1500 miles."
Its a takeoff of my friend Larry Bible's sig, and a jab at myself (shows that I am a proud MB neophyte!)

THe title of this post remoinds me of the sixties when see through plastic mini skirts and blouses were popular!

I was kinda thinking I like 'em myself

__________________
Mike Tangas
'73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP
Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72

'02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis

2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel

Non illegitemae carborundum.

Just 1 question:

Why do americans want to stick a bra to their car? The car is to be used and a few stone chips will not harm the car at all...
I have never seen a bra in europe and the people here will repaint their car when they think it has to many stone chips...

A clear bra will definitely look a lot better as the black ugly diapers I usually see on the american cars, that is for sure!

greetingz,

__________________
1990 300SL-24
1993 C250D with a minor 600+k kilometer
www.MBenzNL.com(the Netherlands)

At the risk of offending people, I will throw caution to the wind and state for the record, as an American I prefer full frontal nudity for my car over lingerie!

Oh, I don't know, if I could just find it in a "wonder" bra to make my W124 shaped more like a CLK

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

I agree, I would never put a regular "bra" on my car. They are uglier than the stone chips!
The nice thing about the clear thingy (I hesitate to call it a bra), is that it is really invisible. Under most lighting conditions, you just cannot see it. If I didn't tell my wife about it, I bet she'd never even notice it, for years.
I don't know about MB paint in general, since this is my first, but it seems to chip pretty easily.