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c63amg607 and Kriston have a very good point - the wrap is not permanent and needs to come off after about 3 years at the most or it will ruin the paint. I did this on one of the P-cars to mostly protect it from rock chips and tire chunk marks when tracking it. By the time you add the removal and presumably re-wrap costs into the equation, three wraps - so ten years at the most - end up costing more than a good quality paint job, which will last for 25+ years. It just didn't make sense financially to do it at retail prices, and there's always the possibility of paint damage especially if you leave the wrap on for too long, keep the car outside in the hot sun and/or the paint underneath is not original and/or already 'challenged'.
W204 C63 Coupe, W166 ML350 BlueTEC, 928GT, C5 Z06 & IS300 race cars, EQE 4Matic+ on order
Edit - this is in reply to AMG3.2's post about clear bra films.
AFAIK it depends on the film. 3M Scotchgard Pro Series film is supposed to be permanent; most other quality films (3M & Xpel) have a life span of at least 5 years. It also depends on how it was applied, how damaged the film is and how it was maintained - if you properly detail or Opti-Coat the car for example, it would also protect the film itself. Unlike a full wrap though, you don't really need to remove the clear bra film until it goes bad.
Edit - this is in reply to AMG3.2's post about clear bra films.
AFAIK it depends on the film. 3M Scotchgard Pro Series film is supposed to be permanent; most other quality films (3M & Xpel) have a life span of at least 5 years. It also depends on how it was applied, how damaged the film is and how it was maintained - if you properly detail or Opti-Coat the car for example, it would also protect the film itself. Unlike a full wrap though, you don't really need to remove the clear bra film until it goes bad.
In this is where my question stems from exactly. Is the difference here that paint protection film is of much higher quality and therefore will not degrade the paint like a wrap would?
Just trying the understand the reasons behind lifespan differences.
if you park your car outside 24-7 then it will help to degrade faster.
My old car which was black. clear bra on bumper and parked outside for 6 years. The film got hazy and made the paint look dull. I took the clear bra off and the glue turned yellow.
this was using 3m film.
i installed suntek on my car now and its actually easier to work with than xpel. Xpel is so thick its hard to get the contours and corners to look good.
if you park your car outside 24-7 then it will help to degrade faster.
My old car which was black. clear bra on bumper and parked outside for 6 years. The film got hazy and made the paint look dull. I took the clear bra off and the glue turned yellow.
this was using 3m film.
i installed suntek on my car now and its actually easier to work with than xpel. Xpel is so thick its hard to get the contours and corners to look good.
I do know clear bras will start to yellow after time (kinda like headlights). My friend had his 370z wrapped in a 3m clear bra and after about 4years it was noticeably yellowed
I had a wrap for 110 days on an E class.....it wasn't a perfect job, but good enough for me at the time.......some example of not perfect would be creases in spots you wouldn't think there would be a crease.....like down the center of the hood......few spots in the back.......side skirts......not a huge deal, and managed to pull it off for 2500......reason for that was it was a sign company that did vehicle graphics, and had never done a full wrap....I feel like it was a good deal. I took it off myself and didn't notice any damage to the paint......granted it was only 110 days
it was a 3M product so I can't speak to it's long term durability, but it was easy to clean.........good luck
10-20-2016, 01:47 PM
