3M protection
 

How many of you put on the 3M protection on your stangs as soon as you got it?

I was thinking of front hood/bumper, headlights/fog lights, mirrors, just after front tires and just after rear tires....

Crazy to do or in the right frame of mind?

I've never used it.

hmmmm, k something to think about....

I've been thinking about it for mine but it never looks perfect. If my car was a daily driver I would do it.

Not for me....., I had 3M installed on one of my front bumpers for a time and personally didn't like it at all. Some of the larger stone hits would still mark/tear film and it would look even worse (on Black) than regular stone chips that could at least be touched up... Just my 2 cents !!

No that stuffs not for me. I need to be able to polish and wax, and you just cant get the same shine through the 3m film.

Awsome.... Thanks for the replies guys. I am not doing it then.

I agree with ChadStang, but my limer is a daily driver, and is actually the second out of three cars that I have put the 3M on (I have a friend who installs this stuff as a sideline to his auto graphics design biz). The first car it went on (when new) was a leased black Sonata, and after 79,977 km, whatever it was covering was still perfect.

It went on the Mustang the day I brought it home, and it now has over 160,000 km. Again, everywhere it covers is perfect underneath, with the exception of a few spots where it has started to bubble up due to corrosion caused by the Ford :banghead: iron particles in the aluminum hood panels problem (TSB 06-25-15) that so many have had. Also, it is starting to look a little worn along the edges of the angled pieces on either side of the grill after so many km's and winters.

The last car it went on is my wife's salesmobile, a 2010 Accent. Only 30,000 km on it so far, but it is silver, and silver paint on Hyundai's is notoriously thin. So far it looks good.

If anyone does decide to install this stuff, there are a couple things to take note of:

1 - Don't do it yourself. Even guys with plenty of experience installing stripes and other graphics have a tough time with this the first few times they do it.

2 - You will always see a line across your hood and fenders and it will drive you a little crazy, but I have found that most other people don't notice it until you point it out to them.

3 - When you look at it through polarized sunglasses, you will not like what you see - it will look dis-coloured and hazy in spots. Take off your sunglasses, it looks perfect to the naked eye.

Hope this helps anyone else thinking about doing this, and don't hesitate to ask for more info if you need it. :)

^^^ Good tips!

I didnt know about the 3m being polarized, that would drive me nuts. The stangs got polarized glass on the back window and it drives me nuts. I actually went to the dealer and asked if it was normal, LOL.

Well this has me sitting on the fence again now lol. I am not sure what to do lol. As of right now it will be a spring/summer/fall good weather car only but could turn into a DD pretty quickly if need be.

Do what works for you and what you want. It's fine to ask for opinions, but don't rely on someone else to make your decision for you.

The Mustang arrived on 22 April, 2005 and a few days later I had it in the Car Pretty Shop in Edmonton for the 3M protection. Have it on the hood, upper and lower bumpers and on the headlights. Works well for me.

Well i went and washed it this morning as it was dirty from the drive home, and i noticed a chip right on the edge of the hood where it meets the grill :mad:. im upset now as i have to goto ford and get it repaired, then i am getting the 3m on, forget this lol. 600km's and a chip already :banghead:

I'm sure everybody here feels your pain, and a lot have stories of damage to their new babies that happened too soon. Someone dinged my driver side rear quarter less than a week after I picked it up. I was parked at a mall, in the farthest corner of the parking lot, perfectly parallel between the lines of one spot (not two, as some like to do, don't want to p*ss anyone off), with no other cars within a couple hundred feet of me in any direction. In and out of the mall in about ten minutes, and there it was. I'm convinced somebody did it on purpose . . . :mad:

That's crappy man, I would be even more mad about that then getting some paint from ford to fill the chip......

It's best to be safe that sorry later.

I have never used it but I would say if you will be on the highway/expressways quite often then get it done. The chances of getting rock chips in town on residential streets would be fairly low which was my case 90% of the time.

ya see i live 11km's out of saskatoon, so everything i do is a commute. I just got my back 3 windows tinted, and he is getting a quote done up for me to get the 3m put on.

Sorry...don't agree. Mine waxes and polishes just fine. As a matter of fact the wax and polish over the years as blurred the line to the point that you can hardly see it.

OK thanks everyone.....

Next question then,


What wax to use, how to do it properly and is there kits to buy and where from?

I bought this soft drying towel from walmart last night in the automotive section, but not sure if i am happy with it.

I have never waxed before and am in total lostness on this. been trying to forum search it and google search but must not be wording the words right to learn

Find something that works for you and go with it. Wax is another one of those things where you got a million choices of what to buy and you can spend a little or a lot - both time and money.

Meguair's Drying Magnet is good for picking up all the rinse water after a wash. I use Meguair's Ultimate Wax. Some Mustang owners with dark colours suggest that the Ultimate Wax may leave a shadow. I found on the girlfriend's car (dark blue Honda) that some extra rubbing is required with a fresh microfiber towel to get rid of the haze. Microfiber towels are the key to a perfect shine.

http://search.mywebsearch.com/mywebs...B&ord=0&ct=AR&

Hmm, I haven't been a member long, but this sounds like a SNAKEBITE question to me. :wink:

Thanks Ray i will read over that link you posted and read up...

I had the 3M film installed the day after I took delivery of my new Mustang last summer. The film is on the front part of the hood, the headlights/foglights, front bumper and mirrors. So far, so good - the shine on the 3M covered parts is exactly the same as the rest of the car... so much so that you can't really tell that the film is even there!

I used Meguiar's Ultimate Detailer frequently and love it. I also have some Meguiar's Tech Wax 2.0 which I haven't used yet so I can't comment on it.
The extra thick microfiber towels rule!

It may be better quality than it used to be. Back about 6 years ago a buddy of mine had it done to his black Nissan Maxima, and I thought it looked awful. Like I said though, that was 6 years ago, I'm sure they have improved their product since then.

Just met up with my buddy that installs this stuff at the T.O. Nickelback concert the other night. He just finished putting it on a black '13 GT that day and he did mention that the quality of it has improved greatly since I had him put it on mine six(!) years ago.

This is TOTALLY a SNAKEBITE question - I've never seen a mirror shine like on his Mustang. SNAKEBITE ..... wake up! ;)