Window Tinting

[SlickGT1]

My neighbor was one of those that wanted to save. He bought a huge roll knowing that he would need a redo. It was cheap shit tint, the purply kind. Two months later, he was on his second roll. Eventually he got it decent, but it cost him 10x as much and still looked like shit up close.

[Ricky Bobby]

With tint, I've always believed you get what you pay for. I paid 350 bucks to have the front windows 15%, all the rear windows 20% over the factory (matches the front 15% perfect), 5% on sunroof (you'd be surprised at how much less heat gets in from that, and YES you still get the benefits of a sunroof) and 5% strip on windshield for glare, and it looks perfect, not a single bubble, and done right to the edge by a pro. Worth every penny.

For tint, I'll never skimp.

[TerminatorX5]

I would have no issues paying a pro to do a high quality job - as I've heard somewhere, I am not THAT rich to buy cheap shit... I have not ordered anything yet, as I am in the exploration stage.

Since I am looking for primarily a security film and not just a tint, it seems that it might be not as easy to find a local shop who knows what they are talking about and doing: I stopped by some places back home in PA and asked guys of they could do a tint on my 4.6iS, after it came back from Moscow (the russians scratched the hell out of one window tint when they removed their tracking devices), and the guys at couple of shops (no offense, one place looked like a ghetto latin shop with bunch of amigos who were drooling over the car more than telling me what they do for living!!! the other place was another ghetto shop with bunch of brothers checking out the ride and telling me they would need the car for a day to do one window to match the other one) did not sound nor look professional... I mean, they did not look as professional tinters... lol...

I am not in a hurry, and will continue my research before getting into it, as I expect to have it done once, and forget about their existence... seems like 90% is a consessus for the back, and the front is a toss between 35% and possibly 50%... Also, I should consider the sunroof...

[MINIz guy]

I have 50% tint on my E39 and I think it is just a little too dark. It is Jet Black with a black interior so that may add to the darkness.

Since most X5's come with factory tint, I would only go with a 50% in the front. I'm not a fan of the blacked out look so the slight difference in tint for the front would not make it look too bad. 50% did cool my interior down a lot though.

[mike_dmt]

Thats the gamble with a tint shop. Sometimes the guys look less than reputable.. LOL. You can always ask to see their work, or even watch them for a bit.

And it does take a while to turn out a good product. In my prime, it would take about 3 hours or so to do an X5, or something similar.

As far as the security film though, Im not sure what you would have to get to make a window "unbreakable". It seems like it would have to be super thick compared to regular film.

[TerminatorX5]

while I am not buying the thing off the ebay, but the guy who has listed the security film, says - 4 mil... I don't expect the glass to be totally unbreakable, just to hold long enough for a bad guy to give up in a slow-mo traffic... getting a security X5 is out of question... lol...

[MINIz guy]

I think security films protect against impacts. If somebody takes a bat or a tire iron to your window, you would be protected from that. I'm not so sure about bullets though.

And it usually is true that the less than reputable guys do fine work. All the tint shops I called were in Newark, Paterson, Elizabeth, and Lodi, NJ, which isn't like the suburbs I live in. The tone of the guys voices are also different and you could tell they were from the city. However, they do enough cars to not mess up anything and they also do get their fair share of nice vehicles.

I just shopped around for a shop that offered a lifetime warranty and used a name brand tint. I found one and they did great work for an awesome price (<$120 for all windows on an E39). One rear quarter window does have a bubble but I haven't found the time to go back.

[SlickGT1]

I paid $220 with tip for my whole truck. But I know them, lol.

[TerminatorX5]

Originally Posted by MINIz guy

I think security films protect against impacts. If somebody takes a bat or a tire iron to your window, you would be protected from that. I'm not so sure about bullets though.

that is all I am talking about, just a bat, or the gun handle...

to protect against the bullets, I would need to get the security X5 4.4.. that one protects against AK-47 (which could be useful when i was stopped at a roadblock in Costa Rica by the local cops with AKs and I was thinking about flooring the pedal to get rid of them... lol..) I saw a security E38, that thing is HEAVY, the tires have plastic rims inside, mounted on the regular metal rim, in case when the tires are shot out (runflats still can be killed if you are going too fast), and when the rubber is shredded, the car can still move on plastic rims... just to be able to get away...

Security film is against smash and grab, it is a very popular crime in Latin America and in French Riviera (places that I know about it first hand)... Besides, while I am trying to stay on the good side of the law, in case if a cop gets too pricky, I should be able to get away with it, given the purpose of the tint, and my federal credentials...