Q about tinting percentages

[KathyFG]

Hey everyone- I am awaiting my 128i (in a few weeks) and since I live in Florida, I am considering slightly tinting the windows. I have never tinted my car's windows before, and I do NOT want the "black out" drug dealer look, of course. I looked up on internet, and supposedly Florida allows the following: side front windows must allow more than 28% light in; side back windows and rear window must allor more than 15% light in. Windshield cannot be tinted at all (duh) except for the very top, with a non-reflective tint. If I want a slight tint (to keep car cooler) but do not want black out look, what % tinting should I be looking at getting. Thanks in advance for answering this dumb question.

[Maui Boy]

The lower the number (10-20%), the darker the tint. I just got a 45% tint on my Alpine White 128i with black interior - I like it. Not too dark and dark enough to keep the harsh So.Cal. sun from heating the interior too much. BTW - not a dumb question.

[xbook]

Hey hiya KathyFG,

A little about me first. I live in Los Angeles, not as humid as Folrida, but it sure gets hot. And woohoo is there a lot of sun. So I think I am in a similar position as you are, with the need for wanting my 1er to be cool, inside& out

I currently have 35% ceramic tint on all of my windows. TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY!!!!! I wish I would have gone much darker. With the 35% tint on all of my windows, it seems like there was NO change. Especially with the size of the windshield, it's like the car becomes a bit of an oven in the heat of direct sunlight. Possibly by having a tinted strip at the top of the windhsield, and having the rest of the windows darker, the car would be cooler inside.

My previous car had 15% on the rear windows and 35% on the driver and passenger windows. I really should have gone this way. The car wasn't "drug dealer'd" out or anything. But, you did notice that the tint was dark.

Check out this picture to see what the 35% tint looks like:



You can really see how light the tint is, looking trough the driver's side window, through the windshield.

Hope this helps

edit: Also, I would HIGHLY suggest getting one of these shields for your windshield. I have had the one BMW sells you in both my 135 & my MINI, and they didn't do a thing to help the car stay cool. Yes they kept the sun out, but they didn't block any of the heat. The heatshield one is great, folds up nice and clean, tucks out of the way, and provides AWESOME heat rejection (is that a real term?). Plus it's cheaper than the BMW version...it's better than a shamwow too!!!

[akak1997]

^^ are you sure that's 35%!? there's no way it'll be that light. that looks more like a 70% to me. I've 50% all round non metallic but not ceramic, and it's Dark!

[Cooldaddygroove]

xbook - no way what you have is 35% tint. Now, ceramics appear much lighter than non-ceramic tints using the same % tint, but yours looks like stock tint.

KathyFG - I've done a few cars in 50% tint, dark enough to block some of teh sunlight, but not so dark that your night vision is comprimized. Plus it does not attract attention from the cops (Cops like to be able to see inside your car, so avoid tinting your back window extra dark)

[fmxomar]

this is 32% 20 on the back window

[Bruck]

advice to OP: interior color makes a big difference in how tint %'s look on a car. Be sure to know which interior a car has when choosing a % based on a picture of a tinted car. (which is very hard to judge IMHO)

[BSM 135i]

yea that does not look at all like 35%...im with you on not wanting to go DARK since my car is black i think it'll be just too black all together so i wanna gonna go with what i think is the perfect % for tint 50%...

[KathyFG]

Thanks for all the helpful replies. My car is AW with black interior. I will prob go with 35% all around. Dark enough but not too dark. I will take y'all's advice and make sure I look at this tint on some cars first. Since I live in Florida, I think the tint will help with our heat.

[1013mm]

ok that percent of the pic posted is the perfect look for me. I like it like that, but does it really block out a lot of heat or not even a little?