beesfan

Looking for any opinions/experience with these urethane paint protection systems. My new SL55 is due in next week and the dealer was telling me about this Roadblock product from Autobahnd (autobahndint.com). It is a thin urethane film that they put over the nose to protect it form stones, bugs etc. They say all you see is a very think line where the film ends. I have my doubts about whether that would drive me crazy. I have never had this on any of my other MB's.

Opinions? Thoughts?

sillydriver

Until I bought my current SL I would skip the Autobhand, figuring that a stone-chipped film would look as bad a stone-chipped paint. I put it on the current car because the dealer threw it in for free. A couple months later my SL was valet-parked in front of a restaurant and an SUV pulled into the space in front, swiping the top of my left front bumper with the bottom of his right rear. He left an ugly paint-colored streak on my new silver car! When I got home I realized that I had the Autobhand on the front, so I peeled and cut away the section with the streak and found there was no damage whatever to the paint underneath. Admittedly this was a rare incident where the pressure was enough to transfer his paint but not enough to dent the bumper under the film, but I think I will continue to use a protective film on future cars.

TCM

It is a good system if you do a lot of city and highway driving. It is noticable and does yellow over a period of time, but it does help protect the front from a lot of little chips. Depending on your driving style, it may or may not be the right choice for you.

mblover455

I have film that is 4 years old now, you see lines, bubbles, dirt on the edges, scratches where people come by and touch or purposefully scratch it just for fun.
you cannot just take it off after 4 years, you are left with a rubbery sticky mess underneath, which requires buffing out with a professional machine, so if you are gonna pay someone to do it then why not just get a repaint instead in 4 years? ?
The best thing is what i have on my other 7 year old car, a colored nost mask, it looks good enough, is invisible from far away, and i can take it off and you see a beautiful clean original paint job. No stone goes through the nose mask and well yes its a bit more work but much much better in the long run.
check them here:
http://www.autosupermart.com/shop/nosemaskcolored.html

RU_MATRX

Hey beesfan:

I've used extensive 3M paint film before on my previous pristine BLACK Porsche 996TT. I had it removed a week later due to the fact that it creates an unappealing haze over dark paint especially in direct sunlight. Also, the protective film magnifies surface imperfections (like a magnifying glass of dust, swirls, bad prep, etc) especially on dark colors. You can see the edges of the film and like mblover55 states, over time I'm sure you'll see dirt build-up along the edges. For darker colored vehicles, you'll see a border-line of white wax along all edges of the film as it traps wax easily. The wax is tedious to remove near the film everytime you wax your vehicle.

I was a true detailing enthusiast and feel that the film never looked that good compared to a stock clean surface overall.

Overall, the film appears best on silver or white cars although it's still easily noticeable. My experience is that using a mask that is breathable and removable is the best option for extended trips on the freeway.

blueSL

It may be that US roads have more debris on them that here, but isn't the solution to drop back from the car or truck in front? Tailgating the car in front is asking for stone chip damage.