JBCayenne

I expect to take delivery of my 2012 Cayenne (black) and am debating about getting the 3M clear bra installed. Any thoughts on how useful the bra is in protecting the car? Does is look crummy to see line of the clear material running across the hood? I live in Chicago and drive about 4,000 miles a year mainly city.
Thanks!

ColoradoCayenne

I think the clear bra is a great idea for dark color cars. Only on occasion would you notice the line. With so few city miles per year, you really may not need one. They are really beneficial for winters (sanded roads) and highways (thrown rocks).
I do own a few white cars with clear bra and they look okay. Certainly more noticeable than on a dark car.

ltc

The main difference is in the manufacturer/quality of the film applied, followed by the installer.
You can also go the DIY route via Xpel.

IMHO if you don't mind a respray, I'd save the money and skip the bra on a Cayenne.

ltc

BTW, if you have questions, I would suggest speaking to these folks ...

https://rennlist.com/forums/members/29188-premier.html

EnigmaWmn

Yup, it does. I don't have time to search, but there was an extensive discussion regarding Bra vs Braless in here back in Jan-March.

P!Gs go braless

JBCayenne

Thanks for all the input!

j080808

Congrats on the purchase!

Best money you will ever spend. I too drive every few miles and still wouldn't consider going without. One or two errant rocks and your once flawless finish is shot. Peel it off before you sell the car and it will look new underneath, this will effect your resale.

If you are concerned about how it looks, visit your installer and look at it in person on different color cars. I have had it on many cars (including a white and black Cayenne) and you need to "look" to see it. Keep wax/polish out of the edge and maintain it properly and its practically invisible.

Professionally installed is the way to go, once you try a compound curve you will see why. My installer here has folks travel from all over the Midwest and beyond to have it done by him, luckily he is in my backyard. I would imagine Chicago will have some great installers as well with all the nice vehicles there.

EnigmaWmn

Pages 2-5 and you'll have to decide for yourself. But once again, best bra is no bra

https://rennlist.com/forums/porsche-...the-usa-2.html

Van1

I've never understood clear bras, seat covers, etc. Why protect everything for a future owner? If you are going to keep it for a 100k+ mi then maybe otherwise enjoy the car as is. Resale value, especially if you trade it, isn't going to be greatly effected by a few rock chips if the car is in otherwise excellent condition. To me, clear bras look much more obvious than a few rock chips here and there. They don't quite shine like bare paint, have an obvious texture difference, and the wax build up at the edges looks bad.

I get more concerned about acidic bird crap damaging paint than a few rock chips.

gte

If you do it, I would suggest going with the full hood and custom fender. If it is done well it is pretty much imperceptable, that is if you maintain it well. It does need to be cleaned and sealed, but then again so does the paint job.

I debated back and forth wether to do this or not, and so far I am glad that I did. I am a bit **** about my the way my cars look and I think the line from the partial across the hood would have made me crazy.

Here are a couple of pictures. The film goes all the way up to the doors. Pretty hard to see the difference in shine between the painted door and covered front fender. In certian light you can see some difference.

Tex94

Great pics, can't see the bra at all.

Cayenne looks great with the 21" wheels too...makes me wish I ordered them

f4 plt

I have the clear bra on my 997 and my Cayenne and it has saved the car from potential numerous dings. In fact the 997 first had a 3 m product and I had it removed and the Xpel product put on. I consider it a better product. Second, equally important to the product is the installer, I have seen some crappy jobs. A good job as done for me by Xpel makes it hard to see the product. Looks like it was made for the car. Another fact I learned is do not use any wax, polish or cleaner on the clear film that contains napa or kerosene as that will cause yellowing

Bottom line is a clear bra protection film is far cheaper than re-spraying a hood or front bumper cover. Friend of mine removed his on a car he was trading after three years and even with our Texas sun it came off a speed yellow car and the paint underneath was great and still matched that part of the car not covered.

gte

Mine was done by Premire in No. Cal, and I am not sure which film they use. They do sell a complete line of products to care for the film though. I think, after the installation, this is the most important part of how it's going to look.

George

Andy E.

Have you ever tried to get bird droppings out of a 3M clear bra? The birds here in Montreal must be feeding on nuclear waste since it managed to burn the surface of the bra. No matter what I did to restore the finish, it didn't help.

Having said that, ownership of a bra-equipped Cayenne consisted of a dull hazy ''scratch-like'' finish, wax buildup on bra edges and fingernail scratch marks that would'nt come off. One day, I pulled it all off and never looked back.

Save your money for something more useful.

gte

Andy,

Did it ever look like the pictures that I attached or was it not to your liking right from the start?

George