I went with X-Pel and had hood, fenders and mirrors done last week for $195 total. They were going to do the bumper but when we removed the accursed license plate holder there was a 2 to 3 mm diameter chip out of the paint (the car was 4 days old at that point). I phoned the dealer and went that afternoon to have the chip repainted (spot and blend, not touch-up). The clear-bra guys said give it a week to cure or that I could expect the body-guy's paint to come off with the clear-bra in the event that I ever needed to remove the bra. I'm going at 9:30 this morning to have the bumper (no appearance package) done. BTW, there were 3 installers working on the car for the hood, fender and mirrors. They all had paint, tint, dent, and body backgrounds and they did an excellent job in about 45 minutes to an hour. The fit is very precise and there are no bubbles or voids. I was pleased by the fact that they let me stay with the car while they worked, allowing me to see their technique and to rest assured that they weren't hurting "my baby".

I looked into headlight covers and they said they'd be happy to do them but that the headlight manufacturers warn against it. Apparently the plastic coating impedes heat dissipation and can cause the bulbs to fail more quickly than they otherwise would? This could be some BS on their part, but given the cost of these "light-bulbs" (about $300 a piece is the figure my mechanic tossed out); I passed on the headlight covers.

I'm rambling but any cosmetic scratches on lexan or similar plastics can be buffed out by someone who knows what their doing. It requires a high-speed buffer and a series of increasingly fine "jewelers rouge" sticks. I've seen blocks of lexan with mill-marks in them turned mirror-smooth by this rouge-technique.

 

Hi all,
FYI - I just noticed this related thread

RX-8 Forum > Vendors and Classifieds > Vendors Forum > Clear Guard

https://www.rx8club.com/a-66/

regards,
rx8cited

 

Ming just quoted $370 Can. (about $300 US) for full front and mirrors, including headlamp washers. They will also take out the chips already there. Some kind of new product coming early in January that they say will fill the chips and make them dissappear. They also do "paintless dent repair".

 

For those that have used this on previous vehicles, is there any problem with paint fading...that is over time after the clear bra is removed, is there a difference in the protected versus unprotected paint?

I know that how well one keeps the vehicle maintained makes a difference but if the clear bra is providing extra protection from UV and acid rain and such, it looks like over time there would be a real difference between the covered and uncovered paint.

 

I don't think you will have a problem with fading. If you have it removed, it would only be to have it replaced or to repaint the whole car.

The only downside to it is if a large sharp rock hits it there is a "tear mark" left. No damage to the paint, the vinyl is just torn a bit. This is visible, and if you were a fanatic, you would want to eventually replace the vinyl. My car (on the left) has three of these marks so far (6 years). I guess I drive too fast.

 

As a data point I've had the Xpel headlight covers on my xenon-equiped 540i for three years now. If heat dissapation is an issue I'd imagine it depends heavily on headlight design.
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For what it's worth, HID (xenon) headlights actually use less power than regular incandescent headlights and are more efficient - therefore they produce a lot LESS heat than regular headlights, so this should be much less of an issue for the HID-equipped RX-8s.

Regards,
Gordon