Venture Shield + Bugs = FAIL....

[DWill]

A quick report about Venture Shield (clear bra, 3M film, paint protection film etc…).

First sorry for the long delay posting this. I’ve been swamped with work since I got back a couple weeks ago.

Last December, Christmas Eve in fact; I ordered a 2010 X5 M.
I took delivery of that car in mid March.

About 6 weeks later I bought a 2010 X5 3.0 M Sport to be used as my daily driver.

Over the last 20 years or so I’ve owned at least one BMW bought new every 18 months I’d guess. Most time I’ve had more than one.

I like BMW’s…

Every BMW I’ve ever owned up until the two E70’s I have now I’ve used a black front end mask (car bra) on. I’ve never had a single mark on any car from using a car bra; never…. Though I never put them on and leave them on for longer than a day or two at most without removing them and cleaning the car and the underside of the bra.

So, the story of the Venture Shield…

Shortly after buying the X5 M I found a few threads on this and other forums about rock chips on the rear doors, fender flares etc. So I talked to the person I buy all my BMW’s from who is also a very close personal friend.

He tells me that he has seen a couple cars with damage but it’s not usually anything more than normal “wear and tear. I also owned two X3’s (a 06 and a 07) with M Sports packages prior to the two X5’s.

Neither had any damage to the fender flares, doors or rocker panels after two years of driving the first and two and a half of driving the second.

But I decided after reading the forums that I would cover the lower portion of the doors, the rocker panels and the rear fender flares rather than deal with this potential problem.
While I was at it I decided to have Venture Shield put on the front bumper cover, the hood and the fenders of both X5’s.

The work was done on both cars in June. The M was done the first week of June and the 3.0 was done the first couple of days of the second week of June. It’s important to not that each car was done from a different batch of film.

All of this work was custom, meaning not one piece of film came from a kit. It was done by a highly recommended company in San Diego. I have to say the install work is flawless.

So what happened….

About the 17th of June I took the 3.0 on at 3750 mile road trip from my home in San Diego to my home in Montana and back. While there I went to Yellowstone Park and drove the car around Montana a bit.

The car of course performed perfect. I was originally planning to use the M for the trip but decided I’d take the 3.0 instead to save some wear and tear on the M and save a little gas money.

I was a little concerned about the power of the 3.0. That proved to be a non issue; it isn’t the M but it cruised along at 100 MPH plus on many occasions with not problem. The gas mileage was fantastic. Between San Diego and Craig Montana I averaged 84 mph and still saw an average of 22.6 mpg (as I recall). For the entire 3750 miles I averaged 50 mph and about 22 mpg. That of course included the Yellowstone trip and all the town driving etc. Not bad.

Now about the Venture Shield….

I managed to make it through the entire trip without a single rock chip that I can find on the car.

There are a few impact marks on the front of the car, the outside mirrors and the rocker panels. However not one of these impacts went through the Venture Shield and touched the paint.

In that respect the Venture Shield (clear bra) worked perfectly.
That’s the good news…

The not so good news…

The Venture Shield on the outside mirrors and the front of the car is completely destroyed and needs to be replaced.

What did it? Bugs…

When I left for Montana I drove the first day for about 17 hours then drove the rest of the way the second day after a good night sleep.

When I got to the house in Montana I unpacked the car, ran the grocery store (I got there about 6pm) then came home let the car sit in the garage for while to cool and washed the car. I really didn’t pick up too many bugs until the second day while driving through Idaho and Montana. A few the day before of course but not too many.

When I finished washing the car it looking at the front of the car it looked as if I had never washed it. It looked to be covered with bugs still. Looking closer what I was seeing is where the bugs had been but what was now just “spots” of where they had been.

So, I pulled the car into the garage. The next day I call the person who’s company did the install on the clear bra and told him what was seeing on the car. His response took me a bit by surprise.

He said “you shouldn’t get bugs on the film and, if you do you need to use plain water and a clean micro fiber cloth soaked in plain water and get them off right away. Then follow that with a wash and then use plexus on the film to clean and seal it.

He said try a micro fiber cloth soaked in water first, then rewash using lots of soap and water and finally follow that with Plexsus. Maybe that will take the residue off.

If not then he would have to polish the film when I got back.

So I tried what he said. I used a brand new micro fiber cloth that had been washed fresh from the bag but never used. The car had been sitting outside on an overcast day about 15 minutes before I started this project.

The only thing that happened was the clear bra scratched badly where I was wiping. Remember I had wash the car the night before and had just rinsed it moments before and soaked the brand new never used micro fiber cloth in water seconds before using it on the car. I was using very light pressure basically from my finger tips on the car.

But there they were scratches set into the clear bra from a clean wet micro fiber clear being used on a clean car… I was a bit pissed….

So, I called the guy back and told him the bug residue hadn’t come off and told him about the scratch. He told me I had shouldn’t have cleaned the film while the car was hot and/or right after the engine had been running. None of which I had done…

He told me I probably had waited too long to clean the bugs off and they had etched into the film. When I asked how long was too long he said I should have cleaned them off immediately when I saw them and not let them dry up on the film.

I asked him didn’t he just tell me to not wash or touch the film while it as hot from the being outside and/or from the engine running because if I did it would likely scratch?
He said yes… I then asked him then “how am I suppose to clean the bugs off the moment I see them if the car is hot”. His answer; carry a spray bottle of water….

I asked him where he got this information from; he said 3M.
So I checked with 3M and sure enough they tell me they don’t recommend getting bugs, bird dropping or letting water dry on the film. When I asked how soon after getting bugs on the film do they need to come off? The answer right away… I asked about cleaning the film while it was warm and/or hot. They said no it will easily scratch if you do.

To make matters worse; last week I took the X5 M out of the garage here in San Diego (Ramona) where I have a house to run down and get a cup of coffee with a couple friends. The X5 was sitting in the shade at the coffee place.

I was there maybe 20 minutes total sitting there; the shop is maybe 3 or 4 minutes from my house. Total time outside less than hour.

I notice a bird dropping on the bumper cover when I was walking up to the M to go home. After driving it into the garage I touch the bumper cover and it was cool to the touch. So I get a clean micro fiber cloth, soak in it in plain water, pour plain water on the bird dropping, let it sit for maybe 1 minute and wipe it off.

Scratch goes the clear bra and the bird dropping left residue (etching) in the exact shape of the dropping in the film…

I call the guy up… he says… you left it on there too long and car was hot when you cleaned it…. So I called 3M and bitched to them; they basically tell me the same thing…

Long story short after much trouble 3M has said they will replace the film on both cars under warranty, even though it’s not their fault. But I have to pay labor charges.

The bottom line is I’m taking both cars in next week to have the film removed from the front of the cars. I’ll leave it on the rocker panels, lower rear doors and rear fender flares.
Though there is a “bug mark” on one of the rear fender flares on the 3.0. I can live with that.

I’m going back to a normal nose mask on the front of both cars and the outside mirrors.

Anyway, take it for what it’s worth… YMMV… J