Lifeshine / Protect & Seal

[mcs_sjp]

I have placed an order for my 3rd Cooper S - Chili Red with Black Roof/Mirrors and a fully-loaded spec.

My dealer has added the Lifeshine protection, which I think is also known as Mini Protect & Seal. My question is whether it is worth having? Also, is the £225 they are charging me a standard price across all dealerships?

Advice needed please...

[Woody'sCooper]

That's quite cheap - we charge between £299 and £345 depending on the size of the car

[craig5320]

cost £299 for my BMW Seal & Product, hard to say whether it's worth it Woody might know better.

But I was told not to polish it for 3 years, and you get a nice bag with loads of cleaning products.

Includes the interior too.

[J1JPE]

Have it on my MINI and on an Audi A3 ... but it not really worth paying dealer price for, you can buy the same stuff for 20-30 quid and do it yourself or get a top-end valeter to do it for £100-150

It just seals the paint - a bit like a stretchy clear lacquer top coat

if done when the car is brand new, unblemished is best but you still need to clean off the 'wax' that the dealer may have put on to make it look shiny or the lacquer sticks to the wax not the paint and wax off = lacquer off. Needs doing indoors to stop dust & bugs getting stuck in it too ;{

IMO it works best on dark & plain colours eg, black & red

the A3 is solid black and a BUGGER to keep clean, we had the Autoglyn guys do it at 6 months old and they took 4 hours indoors, cleaned, polished, de-dusted it 'til it sparkled then put the lacquer on with a pad panel by panel

Now ya just hose it off or give it a quick wash & it sparkles like the day it was done - no need to wax, polish etc ... just need to condition the lacquer (think moisturiser) once every 2-3yrs depending on the atmosphere & pollution, washing frequency etc

MINI is Sparkling Silver with black roof, much lower maintenance but still have to back-to-black the plastic trim - worth asking if they can be treated as well ... and it surprises me in certain lights how good a shine the body has but it's not as noticeable as an all black car with painted arches, bumpers etc

[J1JPE]

Quote: Originally Posted by craig5320 (original)

Includes the interior too.

oh yeh, have that on the Audi too, thought it was good until my old man got a black mark on the cream cloth seat ... came out with the Autoglym interior shampoo ok but still needed careful soaking & dabbing;

so, as u cant see the interior effect am not so sure it's worth it as much as the exterior, time will tell how the cloth wears & fades. Certainly good if you carry pets or kids in the car a lot

[Matt FT]

Mini Park Lane wanted £499 from us! Got them down to £399, but that was still too much. Basically, they scotchguard the inside and use a BMW Hard Wax "with nanotechnology!!

Here's what they use BMW Hard Wax 375ml on eBay, also Cleaning, Waxing Valeting, Car Care, Car Accessories, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 11-Mar-08 17:25:43 GMT)

So, I gave it a miss. Bought the hard wax on ebay and some Superguard for the interior. Pick up the car on Monday and this will be my first job with it.

[MJS]

You can pick the hard wax up usually off 'bay for around £10 or so.

It is definitely worth it, whether you get it done from the dealer or apply yourself