Window Tinting suggestions

[i3Houston]

Has anyone tried tinting the windows on i3 themselves! I found these on amazon and willing to give it a shot.

I am just wondering how to stop the front windows from rolling up and down when door is opened?


https://www.amazon.com/MotoShield-P...+tint&qid=1556848669&s=automotive&sr=1-9[/url

 

[N41EF]

Take a phillips screwdriver, and rotate the latch on the door to make the door think it is closed, the window will pop back up. Make sure you use the handle to open the latch again before you actually close the door.

The hard part is the back window you'll need a hair dryer to help shrink the film to get it to conform to the curvature of the windows.

I did not do my car, but years ago worked for a place that tinted windows. Back windows are an art, picture a VW Beetle with the hatch up leaning back over your head trying to get the film to shrink. Not impossible but hard.

That said try it, you could do the front doors, back doors, rear areas, and a stripe across the top of the windshield (most states it's illegal to tint below the ISA line). Then go somewhere to do the rear hatch. It would save some cash. I got all of mine done recently $225, for me it's easier to pay someone to do in in 2 hours that fight with it for 6 hours.

 

[i3Houston]

Thanks so much for the pointer! I imagine the latch screw would be closer to the door handle on the side that faces the back of the car.

https://youtu.be/JdL0zpOO3iM

Thinking about just the side windows and purchased a heat gun since its just $20! Lot of reviews says rear window are hard on i3 so if I can get the front windows done right, I will call it a win!

Few months before buying i3 last year, I had 3m ceramic installed on my gas car so to me it does not feel just to pay so much so quickly again.

 

[i3Houston]

Oh wait, I found it!

https://youtu.be/Hg3bwXK-ZFU

 

[jadnashuanh]

Tinting depends somewhat on your end goal. By no means are all tinting films created equal. Darker does not always produce better results. IOW, visible light transmission is not as important to most people as the IR and UV transmission...it doesn't have to be dark to block most of that.

3M's Crystalline tint series is made up of over 200 layers...non-metallic so it doesn't affect your cellphone reception, and does a great job on both IR and UV protection. It's the only one (or at least was) acknowledged by the American Cancer Society for UV protection. It's IR rejection is pretty great, as well, and the difference in light transmission doesn't have to be very much...their lightest tint is almost as effective at blocking things as their darker ones. But, they only sell it to trained installers...you can't buy the material and do it yourself.

Some people want it for privacy, but that can make seeing details out of the car quite difficult at night where your eyes are already straining...stuff starts to disappear.

I've had it installed on two of my cars, and if you apply it properly, the up/down on the windows when fresh wasn't an issue...you might want to get it a bit drier before closing the door, though. Normally, they tell you to not open the windows for at least a few days after tinting.

 

[RostHaus]

I haven't decided if I'm tinting the fronts, but for the rear windows, I'm going to use Solarpexius panels.

https://www.solarplexius.com/

 

[i3Houston]

Thanks Jim!

Just for heat reduction, sometimes 3rd party products turn out to be as good as OEM. Remember trying Anker brand from Amazon, their products feel as great as Apple but at fraction of the price. So I am looking forward to it!

I am getting 35% VLA on all sides windows, may order lighter one for back window later if installation goes well! Had 50% 3m ceramic before and it seemed pretty see through for some reason even though cars interior was black.

 

[jadnashuanh]

Compare the IR rejection rates of the desired films...darker does not mean it will keep the interior cooler. Visible light and the IR wavelengths are stopped by different things. Adding improved UV protection means the wood, leather, fabrics won't fade as fast.

 

[i3Houston]

They claim 94% infra red reduction!

https://youtu.be/G7TvEDABLUk

Some reviews on Amazon support this claim!

 

[jadnashuanh]

sounds good to me...let us know how it all works out.

 

[i3Houston]

I've had it installed on two of my cars, and if you apply it properly, the up/down on the windows when fresh wasn't an issue...you might want to get it a bit drier before closing the door, though. Normally, they tell you to not open the windows for at least a few days after tinting.

This is my biggest concern! I am thinking about starting the tinting on Saturday early morning and then leave doors cracked opened until Monday evening.

Second is tucking the tint under the door panel. Guessing that's critical because film is much thicker and the window slides up/down several times every day!

 

[i3Houston]

So I installed the tint, the hardest part was positioning the film because of the dot matrix, the film would not slide. So I had to pull it off completely and then adjust. Doing that added some debris but nothing very noticeable on one window.

Because of the dot matrix, I couldn't slide tint down under the door panel so cut removed the excess. I have a feeling that tint might come off because that.


Lastly, I forgot to squeeze it from center and started from side, that left a wrinkles /finger maybe a inch tall and may be couple centimeters wide.

Other that that tint looks great.

Front quarter is panels were easiest to install.

Rear windows already had 35% tint, something that I never noticed!


I did ruin passenger side tint attempting to remove a hair!(stuff happens)

I will see how driver side performs and then order passenger side again. Next time though, I will cut the tint small to not cover dot matrix.