clearly pretty much everyone here likes the clear bra. i plan on doing one soon after i get my Z. but after reading through, doesnt seem to be much of a concensus on whether people prefer Xpel or Ventureshild.

so, what are most of your opinions, do you prefer Xpel or Ventureshield?

VentureShield Ultra. Xpel is dooing very poorly business wise and may not be here to much longer to provide warranty replacement. ClearMask AR is also an excllent film.

I have the VentureShield Ultra on our 370Z. VentureShield was bought by 3M so there should be no worry about them disappearing here shortly. Sorry to hear Xpel is struggling.

Hey HTP,

Thanks for the info. Just wondering where you've heard this, any details?

What color is your car? The XPEL standard film looks great on lighter colors and the premium film looks better on darker colors. Both films are great, the company isn't in financial trouble, and the film will hold up much better than Ventureshield film. Trust me, I speak from experience.

Im going to get the Ventureshield Ultra on mine. The installer put a small piece of both (3M versus VS), and the 3M had noticeable orange peel texture, whereas the VS did not.

Where do you get your information on Xpel's financial or business situation? You are mistaken, the acquired a new CEO last year and things are going fine for the company.

On another note, VentureShield does make a good filme and it has less orange peel than the Xpel standard film. That being said, it doesn't hold up nearly as well as either of Xpel's film. Having used all three films, the Xpel premium film is by far the best film out there. The only difference between the Xpel premium and standard is a the orange peel as they are constructed the same way; assembly methods differ so there is less orange peel.

As far as picking a film for a particular color, color does matter. The orange peel shows up more on darker colors. For light colors you can get away with standard films; on darker colors, the premium film from Xpel looks best and better than VentureShield.

Its pretty comon knowledge that Xpel has been going down the tubes.They would have been better off focusing on the pattern side of the industry and not making their own film. Here is the companies stock info... look at the 52 week chart. High of a $1.38 per share and now its $0.02 a share. Looks pretty rough to me... would you buy the stock with that kind of return???

XPEL Technologies Corp. (DAP.U): Stock Quote & Company Profile - BusinessWeek

As far as using a film with less or more orange peel on different colors, I dont buy your respsonse. I will use the same film no matter what the color is because an owner should not have to accept more orange peel if they have a lighter color of car. I prefer no orange peel... no matter the color.

VS Ultra is top coated and very durable. And I will put ClearMask AR up against any film out there. Durability, finish, or clarity... it is simply the best all around film out there. I have tried them all at some at some point in the last5 years and I think these two are the best options on the market. I have tried Xpel and there was simply too much orange peel on it for me... so I pulled it right back off. In all honesty I can not speak for the durability of the film because I didnt leave it on the car long.

I am a member of a paint protection film installer forum. I also talk to numerous installers around the country who use their product. Although the industry as a whole is having a tough time, Xpel is really having issues. Read the previous post I made...

VentureShield all the way! I just had it done on the full hood and front fenders, bumber & fascia, pillars, side mirrors, rockers and they even put an extra area on on the front side of the rear fenders. It was indeed pretty expensive (there's a lot of material there), but in my opinion it is money well spent. One of the best investments I made in my original Z. I had 3M on my 350 for 6 years and it kept the paint pristine. No yellowing or peels, although I did hand wax my car regularly.

What impresses me about VentureShield is its' look. There really is no orange-peel type finish to it. It looks like glass on my new 370. And with the front hood and fenders done, there is no line. They even wrapped all of the edges (including the rocker panels up into the sills) for $100 more.

HAD IT DONE ON MY 370 WHITE ABOUT TWO WEEKS AGO WITH THE 3M, IT WAS $500.00 FOR IT HERE IN SOUTH FL, HAD ONE AREA THAT HAD A PROBLEM BUT THEY FIXED IT, A LITTLE PROBLEM WITH DIRT BUT IT LOOKS GREAT, THE FRONT OF MY 2006 350 LOOK LIKE IT WAS HIT WITH A 12 GAUGE, WORTH THE MONEY...:driving:

Why does it take so long for you to wash your car?
I use Mr. clean auto dry wash. What is your method of washing your car.

tvfreakazoid, it can easily take 2 hours to do proper, full wash taking the car from pretty dirty to pristine: check here.

I currently have clear armor on my Lexus IS. Its Venture Shield which is better than 3M IMO. Its totally worth it to have it on. When I find my 370z, its going on there ASAP!

If anyone in the bay area needs it, look up Omega Tintwerks in Plesanton CA. Vincent has been doing it for years. He's well known through many many forums. He's the best in the biz.

Decided to DIY and ordered material from Paint Protection for your vehicle. Also known as Invisible Bra. Welcome to InvisibleMask.com. I have one friend who has done for himself before, and suggested it was not that hard. After watching the video, figured I would attempt it. Anybody have any experience with Invisible mask product? BTW, did not order the 3M product, and went with their offereing as it is easier to fit.

Mmmm...dont think this is something I'd want to DIY :) heh

WoZZer, I'm considering doing this too, I noticed Xpel also sells their film for self-installations. Can you please keep us updated? Thanks!

agreed!

I'll report back to this thread once I've either crumpled the material and thrown into the garbage can, or send a picture or two on how it went. I live in Canada, so it will be a week or two by the time I get the material and have it installed (customs holds things up for several days).

I can almost guarantee the biggest key to your success, will be PREPARATION! Clay bar it REALLY good and make sure all the contaminants are all gone.

Well.. got it installed today. All went pretty well, but the outside corners on the front bumper were NOT easy and it took quite a while to get them done. Can't say it is a perfect job on those two sections but as good as I can do. There are some white spots in a few areas that I hope will disappear that seem to have come about from the stretching and constant wiping to get it to stick in the non-flat areas. Any thoughts if those spots will go away? They seem to be from the soapy water. i.e. suds

If I had to do it again??? Probably, and now that I've done it, not as hard, but the funky curves make it harder.

I still need to decide on this. Haven't driven my Z much and I need to figure out if I want to do this yet.

When the residual liquid evaporated on mine it all went away. The fit is very good, but I have one section on the drivers side/top of the bumper, right next to the headlight where he obviously had to do some stretching, or the material stuck together. Look closely in the light at an angle and you can see a few lines and a stretch mark. I am a perfectionist, but feel like I might be too much of an a** hole to demand he take it off and put on a new one. I was under the impression from what I read and the installers comments, that small lines from wrinkles or stretching would even out over time from sitting in the sun like my car does during the daytime at work. So far, hasn't gone away. It still looks 10 times better than the chips I had all over my 2006 Z though. I have only one spot under the bottom lip that you can't see unless you get down on your knees and look under the car, where a large rock obviously hit the bumper and stretched the material slightly. If it still looks this good a year from now it will be worth it. As far as the few wrinkle lines, I just keep telling myself it is not permanent, will come off with the bra when removed.

John

Thanks for the report. I have just come back from a trip, and the InvisibleMask I bought for my wife's Mitsu Outlander should be waiting for me at work, so I'll install it myself this week and report back.

Thanks for the info. The blemishes seem to be going away, but will have to wait for a day or two before I get it back out of the garage and into proper daylight (weather not so good now). I tend to be a perfectionist as well, but ripping the film off and reinstalling may not result in any better installation. I had a couple of very small creases that I cannot remove by stretching at the very bottom (not visible while standing). I've just used the razor blade knife and removed them at the surface, and all looks well. After my drive on Sunday, the front was splattered with bugs, so WELL WORTH the effort and time.

It sounds like you have some work marks in the film. Thats what makes a good installer... being able to apply it without any work marks and hiding the seems. I HIGHLY recmmend not using a razor blade o nthe car. You will cut your paint (if you havent already) and will run into clear coat issues down the road once water starts getting under neath it. Post some pics of the install so we ccan check them out.

I'll get some good pictures on the weekend and post. I used the razor, but cutting on the surface, not into the film and through to the paint. Description sounds bad, but really was not, and you can only see it if you are lying on the ground.

Im siting here ready to pull the trigger on ordering from InvisibleMask.com. Does anyone know about that product's (they sell "invisi-mask" film) reputation for turning yellow???

Venture Shield appears to be better, from what everyone says, but I can't find the place to buy it, for the 370Z, online anywhere.

I want to do my own install. Have never done one on a car, but have done similar film applications on other, much smaller, items. I'd say I'm pretty decent at it. It's going to be a b**ch and a half, but should be doable nonetheless.

Thoughts? Links to places to buy? Anyone?

Getting mine done with Venture Shield right now for $420

Ended up placing an order with invisiblemask.com. Their site is great, they will price match and there's also a 10% off coupon, on top of that, available online.

Got the: Nissan 370Z Hood-Fender-Mirrors and the Nissan 370Z Bumper Kit, along with free Installation Kit and Door Edge Guard (both of which they throw in for free) for $181 shipped. Figured I saved approx. $400 from having it professionally installed--that's a good chunk of money.

If it comes before the weekend, I guess I have a project for Sat and/or Sun. WISH ME LOTS AND LOTS OF LUCK!!!

InvisibleMask.com
 

Sorry that I didn't see your post until now. If I had I would have told you about my experience with InvisibleMask.com. What you saw on their website is not what you will be getting. I purchased the "Clear Bra" and had it installed by my guy that does all of that stuff for me. When I picked up the car there were lines from the corners of the headlights to the corner of the grill. WTF is this I asked? He told me that is the way that it was in the box when he opened it.
1: Two large panels one on each side.
2: One panel between the headlights and above the grill.
3: One panel covering the teeth and lower grill.

It was not a one panel upper from side to side and through the center and one panel covering the teeth and lower grill as shown on their website.

To say I am pissed is an understatement. I tried to call "InvisibleMask" and all I got was a machine and no return call several times. I emailed them and finally received an email after a week and additional emails from me. Their excuse was poor at best. I hope you have better luck and experience than I had. Now I am out several hundred bucks and have a car that looks like $hit................
:thumbsdown:

Thanks for the info. Does it not look "good" the way it is, with the line?

They actually sell two of each kits, and from what I'm gathering from your description, the front bumper kit you bought was the two-part kit; this one:
http://www.invisiblemask.com/ed_bind...305a425f58.gif.
Is that right?

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I actually purchased this one, let's hope it's all one piece:
http://www.invisiblemask.com/ed_bind...3433323642.gif


How is the film by itself? I know it's too early to tell if it will yellow at all. But any other observations?

invisiblemask
 

You are correct about the one on top as the one that I purchased. And yes I realized that it was in four parts. However when it came it was not cut as the picture shows!!!!!!!! It was cut at the inside (front) corner of the headlights to the upper corners of the grill and not across the bottom as in the picture. They need to update their photo to reflect the true product. I got the impression from their email that the second kit is cut the same way. PM me about how it is cut. Thanks

The film itself is great. My guy told me that it was great to work with and easy to apply. He had to do a great deal of stretching to move it to where it needed to be. But he told me that was understandable with all of the curves that this car has.

:tiphat:

Got my InvisibleMask for my wife's Mitsubishi Outlander, will install sometime this week and report back. It did come cut as the website advertised.

Just got my full hood with wrapped edges, full front bumper, headlights, front fenders, side view mirrors and A-pillars done with Ventureshield Ultra, plus got my windows done with 28% tint all around... $1200. Excellent work, no orange peel, no air bubbles, and no lifting on any edges.

It good to get it done but I think the Z need the shield protection better then the paint

??? I have no idea what you mean by your comment. Please explain.... :wtf2:

Here are a couple of photos a week after the install of invisible mask... in cold weather. The spots seam to be disappearing and are difficult to see in the pictures. Seams could have been closer, but did not want them to touch.

I'm hoping that the spots will disappear once it gets some hot sun.

I also ordered from InvisibleMask and got the wrong order.

I ordered the two piece front bumper (bumper and lower bumper), and they shipped the 4 piece set instead. The two piece set is also more expensive than the 4 piece set.

Been trying to reach them but no reply so far.

Also, I ordered the 3M materials and they seem to give me their Invi-mask for some reason. (The 3M materials should have 3M logo on the back for the disposable paper).

Any of you got the same issue and how you got it resolved?

I finally talked to Invisible Mask online.

They claim that they don't have the other pattern. And gave me a $20 refund for the different of the two pattern.

Let me know if anyone here got the full bumper kit from Invisible Mask. It will mean they are BSing.

I believe the two piece bumper will need a larger film for the cut. I think they are not providing it because it cost more for them.

Anyhow, not 100% satisfied with their service. But $20 is better than nothing.