Tint on the Windshield

[Bimmer4John]

What are everyone's thoughts on light tint on the windshield?

I was considering going Huper Ceramic 70 on the windshield to help keep the heat and UV out of the car. Is there a brand of tint that works best for windshield use? How about a brand that works best for cars with a HUD?

[Definitive]

If your in LA get ready to pull it off quickly!

D

[parky1215]

Originally Posted by Definitive

If your in LA get ready to pull it off quickly!

D

I doubt they will notice if you have 70 or 80 tint.

Personally, I am going to go with 3m crystalline, 70 on windshield and 40 on others.

[Definitive]

On every car I have ever tinted dark or light I have gotten a ticket within a week of tinting...

No, 70 may be fine, this is the first car I am thinking of going that light. And I was going to go all around and possibly even the windscreen, so dont get me wrong, my comment was not personal to you or anyone who wants to tint their windscreen.

If you do it, please report back in this thread. If you havent gotten a ticket in the first 4 weeks, Ill do it too! Thats about how long till I get my car.

D

[Bimmer4John]

Originally Posted by Definitive

On every car I have ever tinted dark or light I have gotten a ticket within a week of tinting...

No, 70 may be fine, this is the first car I am thinking of going that light. And I was going to go all around and possibly even the windscreen, so dont get me wrong, my comment was not personal to you or anyone who wants to tint their windscreen.

If you do it, please report back in this thread. If you havent gotten a ticket in the first 4 weeks, Ill do it too! Thats about how long till I get my car.

D

I'm still 6-8 weeks out before it arrives (got back from my ED trip a week ago). So looks like you'll be the guinea pig

please keep us posted

[m5 guy]

For windshield tinting I would go with vkool. It's easily one of the best windshield tints out there imo and I have used it on my two past builds. Before vkool I had huper optik 70% on there and it was nowhere near as cool as it is with the vkool. The ceramics trap the heat instead of repelling it like vkool. The vkool 70% is still crystal clear and it does not interfere with any of the electronics or garage signals. In fact here in Hawaii vkool for the windshield is considered legal.

Link to their site:

http://v-kool-usa.com/

Good luck!

[Bimmer4John]

Originally Posted by m3 guy

For windshield tinting I would go with vkool. It's easily one of the best windshield tints out there imo and I have used it on my two past builds. Before vkool I had huper optik 70% on there and it was nowhere near as cool as it is with the vkool. The ceramics trap the heat instead of repelling it like vkool. The vkool 70% is still crystal clear and it does not interfere with any of the electronics or garage signals. In fact here in Hawaii vkool for the windshield is considered legal.

Link to their site:

http://v-kool-usa.com/

Good luck!

Looking at their FAQs it appears that v-kool is a metalized film, you haven't had any issues with comfort access, cell reception, garage openers, etc?

"Is this product ceramic?

No, ceramic products are based on the technology of absorbing heat. Due to the high absorption rates, ceramic films cannot offer comparable solar heat gain coefficient measurements with equal light transmission as V-KOOL. V-KOOL is a metalized product that contains microscopic gold and silver particles that rejects the heat without a shiny appearance versus absorbing heat."

[Sean@PSI]

I will be doing 3M Crystalline on Sat on the windows + windshield. I will post inside/outside pics.

[Money2536]

I have had Llumar Air Blue 80 ceramic on all of my windshields. I'll have it put on the M3 as well.

[m5 guy]

Originally Posted by Bimmer4John

Looking at their FAQs it appears that v-kool is a metalized film, you haven't had any issues with comfort access, cell reception, garage openers, etc?

"Is this product ceramic?

No, ceramic products are based on the technology of absorbing heat. Due to the high absorption rates, ceramic films cannot offer comparable solar heat gain coefficient measurements with equal light transmission as V-KOOL. V-KOOL is a metalized product that contains microscopic gold and silver particles that rejects the heat without a shiny appearance versus absorbing heat."

Nope. Everything works just fine. No interference with the HUD either if you have that option as well.

[classic6]

Originally Posted by Money2536

I have had Llumar Air Blue 80 ceramic on all of my windshields. I'll have it put on the M3 as well.

same here.

do not use anything with a metal or your ezpass will not work. i had that issue.

no issues with the Llumar air blue 80

[WillC310]

My E46M3 had Huper Optik 70 on the front windshield and I didn't like having a tinted front windshield - but that's me. I never had any problems with LE for the 5 years I owned it either. After I got my E90M3 I had 3m Crystalline 90 put on the front and liked that a lot better since it had pretty much 0 tint to it. Heat rejection was obviously less but I was doing it more for UV protection. I looked into AirBlue but it most definitely had a blue hue to it (reminded me of Benz) and it wasn't for me.

[JL M3]

Originally Posted by Sean@PSI

I will be doing 3M Crystalline on Sat on the windows + windshield. I will post inside/outside pics.

Originally Posted by Money2536

I have had Llumar Air Blue 80 ceramic on all of my windshields. I'll have it put on the M3 as well.

Originally Posted by parky1215

Personally, I am going to go with 3m crystalline, 70 on windshield and 40 on others.

Are these tints completely clear? I know the percentage typically refers to the relative "darkness" of the tint (i.e. amount of light that passes). But for windshield tints, is the tint visually clear, and the 70/80% above describes the amount of UV or heat that passes? Or does the % still refer to the amount of light that passes?

Sorry for the newb tint question. Never tinted my car, but I have a baby now so I'm considering clear tint all around to block out heat and UV.

[parky1215]

Originally Posted by JL M3

Are these tints completely clear? I know the percentage typically refers to the relative "darkness" of the tint (i.e. amount of light that passes). But for windshield tints, is the tint visually clear, and the 70/80% above describes the amount of UV or heat that passes? Or does the % still refer to the amount of light that passes?

Sorry for the newb tint question. Never tinted my car, but I have a baby now so I'm considering clear tint all around to block out heat and UV.

They still refer to % of light that passes. There are no tint that are specific to front windshield. They are same tint that can put on any window location.

I had llumar air blue 80 on my old car. It has some blue tint to it.
Under some light condition, it can show somewhat like rainbow on shiny chrome surface effect from outside (hard to describe this).

All these tint should provide 99+ uv protection.
I am going to try 3m this time as they provide best ir and heat rejection.

[JL M3]

Originally Posted by parky1215

They still refer to % of light that passes. There are no tint that are specific to front windshield. They are same tint that can put on any window location.

I had llumar air blue 80 on my old car. It has some blue tint to it.
Under some light condition, it can show somewhat like rainbow on shiny chrome surface effect from outside (hard to describe this).

All these tint should provide 99+ uv protection.
I am going to try 3m this time as they provide best ir and heat rejection.

Thanks! Just to clarify...so the 80% llumar had a slight blue hue AND was a little darker than no tint? If so, was the "darkness" noticeable or was it too light to tell?

[parky1215]

Originally Posted by JL M3

Thanks! Just to clarify...so the 80% llumar had a slight blue hue AND was a little darker than no tint? If so, was the "darkness" noticeable or was it too light to tell?

That is correct. It seems little bit darker than those blue glasses from some Benz cars.
I think crystalline 70 or 90 will be safer choice because blue tint from llumar air blue may catch some cop's attention.