I decided to go against my original self-injunction against putting plastic coverings on painted surfaces. I got a rear bumper protector from Invica shield. I was expecting it to be thick like the the X-pel coverings I got for the HID headlights, but instead, it was very thin, about the thickness of a piece of typing paper, if not thinner. Made me wonder how this stuff will offer much protection, but I also saw the same material on the propeller blades of an ultralight I flew a few weeks ago, so maybe the stuff will actually protect my bumper. Any experience out there? Those of you who plan to cover large portions of your car with one of these plastic coverings might do well to inquire about their thickness, if that's an issue for you. The thicker stuff, like X-Pel, seems right for something relatively fragile and exposed like headlights, and the thick edges are hidden by the edges of the headlight lenses. This would not be the case if you apply the thick stuff to the front half of the hood; you'd end up with a fairly visible "seam" across the hood where the plastic ended. Are all the Invica Shield pieces the same thickness? I would have liked something as thick on my rear bumper, but X-Pel doesn't make a rear bumper piece for the Prius. I'd be interested in hearing some real life experiences from any of you using X-Pel, Invica Shield, or 3M. Bob
invinca shield uses 3M film, i'm not sure what X-pel uses, possibly Llumar film based on your description. I have the 3M invinca, it's ok so far as i can tell. struggled with installation though. Llumar, a competing film, has been gaining ground recently as being thicker and clearer than 3M. I was kind of disappointed when i learned that the place where i got my tint installed Llumar. but since 3M is the pioneer of such urethane film applications, i decided to stick with it. I can always peel it off and replace it with Llumar. :wink: now with all the scratches and dings i've been getting, it sure would be great to apply around the car! :lol:
X-Pel uses 3M 8 mil. just like all of the others. The other main ones are Venture-Tape and the Llumar stuff.
Headlight film is always much thicker than the film for the rest of thr car. In my case I went to Clear Armor (the only authorized 3M dealer I found on the 3M site for my area). They used 8mm for the car pieces and 30mm for the head and fog lamps. They will cut any thickness for any piece, you just need to be sure that you can stretch it on the more curvey parts of the car, hence the use of thinner film. My neighbor, who introduced me to the paint protection film, has had it on his car for years. It looks great (I see it every day) and although it has definitely been struck by rocks several times, there are no marks on it.
The funny thing is that headlight protection is what made this film well known (for civilian automotive use, I'm obviously not talking about its military roots) and yet its the least talked about in these forums - just curious.
i guess more people are concerned about the scratch/ding protection these products provide as compared to headlight protection...
