Invinca-Shield: the ultimate paint protection (long, but related)

[TeamZ3@xxxxxxx]

Wanted to share my experience with a paint protection product with you, called
Invinca-Shield.  It should be of special interest to those of you who have a
nice vehicle that you race with, but want to keep the paint protected from bug
acids, sand wear, rock chips, cone scuffs, etc.  Invinca-Shield is a special
clear 3M adhesive-backed film that is pre-cut to closely fit the contours of
your vehicles front end or other body panel areas to form an invisble bra.  On
my previous BMW E36 M3 I suffered a lot of rock and sand damage behind the
wheelwells due to using the soft compound racing tires, plus I also took
numerous rock chip hits on the hood and nose from open-wheeled semi's, etc.
while traveling to events.  

Since I wanted to prevent the same damage from occurring on my new 1999 BMW
2.8 Z3 coupe I drove over to their facility in North Carolina this past
Saturday for a custom installation job.  On my particular vehicle we did the
entire front end, about 2 feet of the leading hood area, the windshield pillar
posts, about 4" of the roof behind the windshield, both sideview mirror
assy's, and the entire bottom half of of both sides of the bodywork including
the rocker panels and panel/bumper area behind the wheels.    The installation
process is the equivalent of window tinting your vehicle's body in clear film.
Not only should this help the resale value of my Z3 coupe down the road, it's
easier to sell a vehicle with original paint in premium condition than one
that has been repainted or is discounted because of the existing damage.
Having previously dealt with a stretched, smelly, wet vinyl bra that ended up
damaging the paint anyways, Invinca-Shield seemed liked a no-compromise
solution.

Does it work?  I drove back from NC to Montgomery, AL that night, then drove
to and from Tallahassee, FL the next day to run the Z3 coupe's first autox
event.  When I got home that Sunday night the vehicle was filthy dirty and
covered in bugs.  Everything came right off with very little effort.  Invinca-
Shield states that upkeep of their product is as simple as waxing it at the
same time as the unprotected paint areas and then toothbrushing any residual
wax away from the edges.  It is removable without damaging the factory-
original paint and comes with a 5 year/$1000 paint protection warranty against
peeling, cracking, peeling or paint damage.  Some people leave the film on for
the life of the vehicle, but my goal is to take it off prior to reselling it
several years down the road.  The paint underneath the film will be as new as
when it it was covered.  The film is virtually undetectable, even on my Z3
coupe's white paint.

I helped with the installation and it's fairly easy to apply.  They have
varying levels of vehicle coverage, based on how much you want to protect and
spend.  While I had them install it at their shop due to my time constraints
and custom coverage (supposedly the most coverage on any one car they've ever
done and driving to NC and back made the required break-in mileage before the
first autox event) you get an installation kit and a demonstration video along
with the pre-cut film pieces.  Invinca-Shield gets a BIG thumbs up from me;
wish I had known about it sooner for my previous vehicles.  If you want to
see/know more then check out their website at:

www.invincashield.com/

Mark Sipe

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