So what are your reccs for combating this? My front end looks like a 5 year old highway cruiser after two seasons as a daily! The problem is the cost for a clear bra is the same as repainting the entire bumper
Not much you can do in all honesty...
If you get a clear bra or wrap the whole car, you'll still have this issue. If a rock hits the clear bra or wrap, it may still damage the paint underneath. As a result, when you remove the clear bra/wrap, it could cause the paint to get removed in those spots.
The benefit of the clear bra is that it is thicker than normal vinyl wrap. As such, it absorbs some of the impact. However, if I'm not mistaken, the wrap and clear bra both have a "lifetime" if you will. Where it will need to be replaced.
You could plastidip... but same issue exists as with doing a clear bra/wrap.
Honestly only thing you can do is to just touch up the stuff or accept that it will happen if you drive the car. Most people don't have the MK7 as a show car only. If you daily drive it... statistic will show that you probably will pick up paint chips. Especially on the bumper cover.
If you want to touch it up to something that matches factory chemical/solvent resistance, then you'll need to apply touch up and then a polyurethane clear coat over it and not just a lacquer based clear coat.