Bimmer32

I have sliver grey exterior with black interior. I have shades in the rear and rear side. The damn sun (I travel southbound in the morning and vice versa in the evening) shines on me every day. My eyes have gotten more sensative to light with the eye drops I'm using.

Do you tint your car? If yes, what brand, color, and % tint should I use to match the silver grey and black interior.

My brother, who has the MB S500 said that tinting makes the car look cheap(er), but the sun in Houston is killing me.

Please advise.

amigo525

My brother has a MB and he talked to me about tinted his windows. I told him the same that cars look cheaper when they have tinted windows unless the car comes with light tinted windows from the factory.

But then again who is me to talk about cheap? I drive a tutle 525 ..but happy with her.

mehall2

Living in Dallas, I can concur with you on the sunshine. This summer has been especially hot. I have tinted all my cars and IMHO, i think cars that are NOT tinted look cheap. My wife's is Titanium Grey, Sport Package and looks awesome with the tint. We went with Formula One Ceramic Tint. It is not supposed to mess with the car's electronics and Navigation system. It wasn't cheap at $399.00 but does have a lifetime guarantee and is high quality. I went with the maximum allowed by law. 35 on the sides, 20 in the back.

On my 550i, I will do the same with the Formula One. You can do a google search on Formula One tint and you can read about the different grades/types.

Some others on this forum, JDN, used Huper Optik, which competes with Formula One. If you do a search on this site for Huper Optik, Formula One Tint, or window tinting in general, you will see many ideas and posts.

Good luck and get it tinted!

Regards, Mike in Dallas. Fall, please come soon!!! :'(

Mr.PC

I really don't mean this sarcastically, but I think your best bet would be a very good pair of sunglasses, Rx if necessary, with about 95% light reduction. And maybe a baseball cap if the window shades don't shield your eyes enough (in my case I never use the window shade because my radar detector is there - heh). I agree dark tinted windows are not very dignified and rumor has it that it makes police officers nervous during a traffic stop.

znod

My wife and I grew up in Bellaire (left Texas in 1971) so I know about the Houston sun, and, of course, now we are in Phoenix--lots of sun too. I got the tint on my Silver Gray from my dealer. It is called Drei tint; I don't know what Drei refers to, but the tint matches extremely well. And, I think the Drei has good filtering/cooling properties even though it is not as dark as some. I don't like super dark tint except maybe on a very dark car, but I do like tint that matches--especially on light colored cars.

bakersdozen

We're in the Houston area as well, with Silver Gray exterior.

I wouldn't have a car around here that wasn't tinted, and the vast majority of nice cars on the road, be they BMW, MB, Lexus, etc. have tint. In this part of the country, it doesn't cheapen the look, it's a survival necessity when summer lasts from May through October and reaches into the 100+ degree territory.

subterFUSE

Window tint is also a safety factor.... in several ways.


1. When glass is broken, tint holds the shards together and protects against cuts and from glass falling inward.

2. It gives you privacy from other drivers on the road. My brother was almost assaulted by another driver once. My brother was sitting at a red light, and happened to look in his rear view mirror, and saw a car speeding up from behind him. They guy wasn't paying attention, and almost hit my brother who was standing still. The guy luckily slammed on his brakes and stopped. My brother was looking in the mirror and said to me (I was in the passenger seat) "That guy behind me almost hit me." The guy saw my brother looking in the mirror and talking to me, and got pissed off. He got out of his car, and ran up to my brother's door. He tried to open the door, but luckily it was locked. The light turned green, and we sped off. The point of this story is.... If my brother had tint on his car at the time, the guy would never have seen my brother through the glass. So there wouldn't have been a confrontation.

3. If you are in a car, and someone breaks the glass to attempt carjacking, the glass will hold together and the person would be forced to reach through and cut themself.

4. Tint helps obscure the interior contents of your car, so a would-be thief has a harder time seeing target items that might be inside.



I'll never own a car without 20% tint. PERIOD.

Bimmer32

That guy was probably on drugs and asking for trouble by approaching someone's car door with the attempt to open. In my case, the window will break because of a .40 calibar bullet flying out. <_< My ears will ring for awhile, the news will hopeful detour the next would be Joe.

But you are right, tint might help with the shatter glass (all auto glass are safety glass, but still leave small cuts). Thanks.

EuroCarFan

I have 35% all around, except the front windshield. I used Madico Charcool tint which also has a lifetime warranty. The tint shop put a specific type of Madico non-metallized tint on my car cause I have Navigation.

It's funny that my brother, who also owns a MB, also thinks tint will cheapen my car. I'm happy with it. Here's a pic:

vegastrashed

What has not been mentioned here is that tint helps with the interior temperature as well as prolonging the longevity of the leather. I, myself got Formula One Pinnacle Series at 50%. It really helps when you get into your car on a hot day and your a$$ is not burned. Three reasons why I got the 50% Formula One tint was because I want to be seen in my car, provides good heat reduction, and cops will less likely pull me over with that amount of tint.

Pinnacle 50
Heat Reduction = 49%
Glare Reduction = 44%
UV Protection = 99.5%

I've been on the other end where my last bimmer had 20% all around. Got pull over once for the windows but did not have to remove it. It was a technical oversight by the officer. He marked it as "none correctable" if I recall. Get the tint! You can't go wrong with either Huper Optik or Formula One.