unixadm

I picked up the car almost two weeks ago and today was tint day. I arranged to have my car tinted along with two 2011 WRX 5-doors which belong to my buddy and his dad. I went with 3M 15% on the rear and 3M 70% on the fronts. It came out perfect and the guy I've been using for the last few years does a great job. All three cars were flawless and I got a deal for $225 each for all 7 windows and we all selected the same level of tint. The WRX's looked better tinted as stock they just didn't look right. The C63 looks better with tint, but it wasn't that bad without tint. Figured I'd share a few pics.

After:







Before:

Chocofishez

Thanks for sharing. I have a palladium that will need a tint job in the next few weeks. based on your pics I think I'll go 15% all the way around.

propain

Very nice.

I miss my Palladium, but I do love black.

jarbenz

Which state are you in?

unixadm

Elk Grove, CA to be exact.

unixadm

Thanks guys. I love this color and have received a bunch of compliments from people who love the car. One of the guys at work was "Dude, did you put that exhaust on that thing cause it sounds amazing?" Always love telling people it's bone stock. I rode in a 2010 C300 loaner today.. all I can say is.... what a difference an M156 makes.

novae500

car looks nice. I would have gone darker in the fronts.

unixadm

If I didn't care about being hassled by the police, then I would have gone darker as well. However where I live, there is a police car on every block just about, along with the CHP, and I'd rather not draw any more attention to the car than necessary. I went very light to transition and get a bit of UV reduction. I'm getting too old to be bothered by the cops all the time. haha.

novae500

couldnt agree w/you more. But i noticed w/high end luxury cars, cops tend to look the other way. But when i had my japanese import years before, they were on me like rice.

ayowhatup

I agree with you a 100%. Been pulled over way too many times with my G35 with LEGAL % tints lol. NOVA cops be hating.

Looking good Unixadm!

black-clk500

Looks really good--more aggressive without going too far.

BTW you went out of your way to block the 4runner's plate in one pic, but you can see it through your windshield in the other pic.
Just wanted to give you a heads up in case you wanted to be consistent

unixadm

I didn't block my plate - it was the sun directly behind me to the west when I took the pictures. About 300 people see it every single day when I'm driving so I don't really care about it.

ZephyrAMG

Ghost Rider you have been cleared to buzz the tower...

black-clk500

Okay, just trying to help.
Did you remove the plates from the C while taking the pics?

Anyway, looks good, enjoy.

unixadm

Nope. It has dealer plates because I only picked it up a couple of weeks ago. I appreciate you looking out for me. It's funny because when I saw the picture after I took it, I was like "damn the sun completely blanked out the plate", and then you picked up on it right away.

Have a good one!

BenzoBoi

Nicely done!

jarbenz

Yeah, CA only allow 70% on the fronts by law, but according to the tint shop guys, MB car has already 70% tint on stock window, so if any extra tint is being applied, it's automatically illegal.....huh?
But I will say 50% is reasonable and should not get you into too much trouble. Anybody got pulled over with 50% tint on the fronts?

slownrusty

Looks great!

unixadm

Instead of posting a new thread I figured I'd just reply to my old one. I went ahead and tinted the rear taillights today with a vinyl overlay. The installation took about five minutes on each side with some soapy water, a silicone squeegee, and a variable temperature heat gun. The pictures make it look darker than it is due to the sun being directly behind the car when taking the pictures. I want to buy the chrome taillight and headlight surrounds, sand them down, and paint them in a satin black. I really like that look. Now with the semi-smoked headlights and side markers, this finishes it off for me. Nice thing is, they can be removed in a few minutes at any time.

melmanc55

Looks great! Thanks for posting the pics. I have a Palladium one to and its good to have a point of reference. I'm thinking about maybe 70% all the way around on mine. Give it that "smoked" look.

enochroot

The taillight tint looks very clean - did you think about doing the entire section including the red?

70% on the front looks perfect, I'm thinking about doing that all the way around.

Some claim 70% front tints are legal in CA, but they aren't.

I have the fix-it tickets to prove it.

Most of the time it's been an easy and quick fix-it ticket, but once the CHP decided to fine me as well as, so kind of them.

Funny how I haven't had a tint ticket since putting on my CHP 11-99 Foundation license plate frame.

Greetings from a fellow *nix admin.

unixadm

Thanks. I had thought about tinting the entire tails but doing that with vinyl isn't feasible - at least for me. I want the ability to go back to 100% stock if necessary at some point. I'm going to install Brabus style taillight trim in the next couple of weeks. I just need to get them, prep them, paint them, and install them. I think they will look pretty nice. I may go with a dark charcoal color instead of full black - going to play around with the colors before I select one.

I've had 70% on three previous cars and never had a any problems - it's hard to tell its tinted in passing. A lot of people here seem to drive around with very dark front tints, and the do get pulled over. When I was testing with the CHP (funny you mentioned that), we stopped a couple of people for "tints" on one of my ride alongs.

I'm also smart about it. After talking with a lot of CHP Officers, they seem to appreciate people who are paying attention. That means if you see a marked unit, roll your windows down if it worries you. Also on a stop, roll your windows down. The less you stress the Officer, the better the outcome for you will be.

Not often I bump into administrators on the forums so that's cool - damn your LA pay and your 2012 C63. haha.

14cue

Tint looks good.

I lose count on the number of cars w/o a front and rear plate when I am in L.A. I don't know how you guys get away with it, don't you have to display temporary registration on your rear window? I wish we at least allowed no front plates here.

unixadm

I have temporary registration on my vehicle because I have not received my CA plates. In CA new vehicle registration is placed on the lower right portion of the windshield. For a vehicle missing a plate, failed SMOG, or has some other issues a temporary tag is issued. It's red in color with a large number denoting the calendar year month when the temporary registration is due to expire. For example "4" means at the end of April it's no longer valid. That tag is displayed on the rear window of the vehicle.

14cue

Ah, gotca. thanks for the clarification. How long does it take to get your plates? Unless they are customized, we get ours on the spot when the vehicle is ready for pickup.