CarGuru

So hows your W204's exterior holding up as the miles roll on? I've got 16XXX miles YTD on my wifes C300 Sport. Our car is an early build, we picked it up new 8/15/2007 And I can't believe how speckled and nicked the front bumper is on the car. There are hundreds of tiny pits and a handful of larger gouges to the front bumper area from stones and road debris. The fog lights look slightly peppered too and the headlamps have each taken a large stone or two. Most disappointing is the "Sport" grille. I've got 3-4 gouges or scratches from rocks thrown up and hitting this area. **Knocks on wood** have not cracked or chipped the expensive oem windshield yet.

Also the fenders and hood have a chip or two also and today after detailling the car from a road trip the roof got tagged by a stone. Not sure if some of you with the 18" AMG wheels look at your wheels closely but in 16K miles my right front has 3-4 areas that have caught a rock and left a mark, the others have very small almost not worth mentioning. Luckily there is not one door ding or scratch yet but man is this car hard to keep super nice. My wife drives 44 miles a day to work though 90% highway. I know some of you either work in the city and never drive the highway or rarely drive your C.

-Ryan

micropower99

Mine's holding up really good. No complaints here.Curbed one of the rims a while ago but that was my fault. Front is still in tip top shape and I drive the car in the city on the highway and through alot of bad streets. Maybe they do small changes from build to build to correct minor issues? Got mine in Jan.

Flame3g

yeah my front is taking a beating bug out here are attacking the hell out of me. other than that car is holding up fine so far

Derspeed

That's why clear bra is a good investment. Also, get the x-pel headlight protection. Try not to tailgate. I know it's hard to stay back when you are on highway, but it really helps.

racetested

Yep, my car stayed parked until I got a clear bra. No way to avoid a rocked chipped car in city driving especially if on the freeway with construction, landscape trucks, and tons of semis.

RickP330

Hey,
Good post, I was thinking of the same thing. You wife and I have similar commutes. Mine is 45 miles one way and all highway. I had the cruise control set at 80Mph for most of the trip this morning I picked mine up Feb 14, 08 and to date have 10,500 on the clock. Your description of the front sounds exactly like my car. But I have chipped the windshield already I guess zooming up behind a landscaping truck is not a good idea. I also scraped the rim on a curb, but I got it fixed by rim doctors right away, it looks awsome now. I was considering getting Safelite to fix the chip but I'm on the fence about it.
I'd love a clear bra, but I can't find a place that will install it.....
RickP

racetested

I posted how the dealers die cut clear bra is less than perfect but it may be an only option for some. I would give them a call and definitely haggle on price as they are to high for list as usual.

Derspeed

Go here and type in your zip for installer location:

http://www.xpel.com/

I have installed clear bra on a number of cars, and I have to say, the bumper on the c class sport is very difficult. I gave up and called a pro. I don't have their type of training. It still took him about 2.5 hours. I di the hood with some cheap ebay crap that I am having the professional guy replace. The headlights are easy if you get the films with the proper relief cuts.

darstar

i just had the Xpel put on my wife's car this weekend. Wow did I make a mistake. It only took this guy 2 days to install the 24" hood coverage, bumper, mirrors, door cup, trunk lip, head lights, and fogs. The guy seems to be slower then grass growing. how good is his work, its okay not great. I called a place recommended by a member here, was quoted 1K for the 24" hood and 1600 for full hood so i went with the guy I found on xpel.com ( paid 500.00). I saw another Mini done by a place around here. They cut into the clear coat on many spot while intalling the clear bra to help the install process. The person with the Mini is fighting the install company now to repaint the front of the car.

Azn_C300

Clear bra was the best investment and the very first thing I did to my car. No matter what aftermarket mods or upgrades you do, if your car is all chipped up, it just takes away from the effect.

RickP330

Cool, I will check it out. Okay, I see someone had a problem with xpel here, but I have to say it sounds like an install issue, How was the quality of the product?

Regards,
Rick

Derspeed

Darstar, even x-pel reps admit it's not always perfect, but damn, sounds like you got a goofball.

Rick, the quality of the stuff is great. It is clearcoated and invisible. I have a white C and I had to double check to make sure it was actually on the car bumper. Ask your installer if they know how complicated the new c class is. My guy had done one already, so he knew. He came to my place and he was really cool. It helps that he is an enthusiast.

Azn_C300

One caveat though....if you're not strapped for cash, I'd seriously recommend doing a full cover and not just the 1/3 precut. I ended up doing a full hood, but the fenders were 1/3 and I'm regretting not doing full fender wrap around. the edges on the bra I've noticed get dirty easily and require lots of q-tip attention. When dirty, it clearly shows a dark line. Imagine a white car with a dark line going across the hood or fender. Ugly. I've now added a little bottle of q-tips in my car.

Derspeed

I've never had that problem. Your installer must not have squeegeed (is that a word?) the edges that well, or the edge of the bra may be too close to the edge of your panels.

Azn_C300

It's the edge that sits in the middle of the panel/fender that gets the dirtiest. I see a line of dirt/dust after maybe 2-3 days of driving. They're a very reputable company and came highly recommended through many boards. I'll be taking it in for the 1 month checkup and I'll ask them about it then.

akuma84

I went out to cruise late night here in DC for a couple hours on the freeway and the front bumper was just covered with dead bugs. Since I waxed it the day I took it out, I just took a hose and easily just rinsed them off

darstar

My wife's old saab after 50K miles driving in the DC area looked like it was hit by a gravel truck. I told myself that the next car would get a clear bra installed.

BVC500

Unfortunately, it's a tradeoff: harder (nano) paint to prevent scratches, or softer paint to prevent chips. These new nano paints are going to chip more easily, but scratch less.

oblu

Strangly enough, not a lot of chips in the hood paint, but the bumpers aren't holding up well ... not to mention having replaced the plastic lower grill twice now. Knock on wood, my fog light lens are in tact and holding up.

Driver's side mirror turn signal lense seal is blown and it's getting condensation in it all the time.

Derspeed

I'm not sure which I prefer.

Carsy

Mandatory mud flaps on all vehicles would help solve the problem.Tailgaters deserve the damage.Tailgating also results in dusting your aircleaner.

Nola

Tired of rock chips? Everyone knows that the only sure bet to avoid rock chips is this:

https://mbworld.org/forums/off-topic/84417-i-m-so-fed-up-rock-chips-front-my-car.html

Too bad the "evidence" is gone...

451/443=EW

That is a grrrreat idea! ( sorry I used to eat too much Frosted Flacks).
Iv seen that before, cars that have the clear bra and dirt line across the leading edge. Makes it look like crap. But doing the hole hood and side fenders, that sounds like a good idea.

jstaneff

Makes me wish I'd done that. The landscape truck spewing out rocks a lane over and 50 ft ahead (way back when) dinged the top of my hood, aft of the clear bra line. So the paint had to be touched up. If the whole hood had been covered, no problem.

narky

OMG

+1