Unpainted bumpers - Maybe a good thing

[rufusdedog]

Anyone who'd driven on the Capitol Beltway around Washington DC knows it's dangers - rocks and gravel, pieces of truck tires, etc. I had to make a run to downtown DC from MD the other day and when I got back I notice a couple of pock marks in the front painted bumper and one small gash on the hood, probably from gravel. The unpainted part of the bumper that probably took the most hits from road gravel was unscathed. Possibly a harder plastic? Anyway, I don't want to put a full cover bra on the front of the truck as it looks like hell, and from my experience with the "clear bra" it works well only on very small pieces of debris. I spoke with a BMW dealer and he said BMW now offers a hard plastic hood shield that protects the hood. Bolts on. Anyone have experience with this and does it help keep the front of the hood from getting torn up?