Matt230K

This sounds logical. I never really considered that. I did notice that the piece of rubber seems to be the only piece touching the glass and it fits real tight. I will try to clean it right away and hopefully I will never get scratches. I just started putting the windows down today, so I'll try that soon.

kimchiFLAVA

thanks my buddy reccomended me a place near west broadway
they told me 200 bones for a tint all the way round.

thats alot better then my mb dealership $350!

i ve seen the job they did on my friends neon its seems good.

Matt230K

I finally had my car in the shop today to find out about the bad radio reception and the smart key lock and unlock not working. It is not a metallic tint, and they have discovered that the antenna amplifiers are not working.

These are located at the top of the rear glass so when the hatch is open, the solution they use with the tint flows down onto these parts. The only way to replace these are to remove the rear glass because they are between the glass and the metal frame.

Now, I'm just hoping that this can be done without breaking the glass and so the window can be put back in without having to redo the tint. So be careful and warn your tint shop about this. I warned them because I had heard that there were sensors there. But the tint shop called the dealer and they said it was not a problem to get them wet. Apparently it is. So beware. I'm surprised more people have not had this problem.

oggle

What do you mean they do "all of Caliber MB's work"? Is that a dealer?

BlackC230Coupe

i had the exact same problem, the dealer replaced the antenna amplifier and rear window now its fine, i had the rear tinted with out metalic as people have told me that was the problem. but it probally wasn't.

Buellwinkle

I mentioned this warning a long time ago. The tinter got the electronics on the top part of the hatch wet. Some dealers will see that the tinter did it and not warranty it. My tinter took all the plastic panels off and masked off these 2 components to avoid getting them wet. They cost over $200 each.

BlackC230Coupe

I do remmeber you posting about this a while ago.

Only it did not help me much since i had my windows tinted the day i got my car. well over a year ago.

20FHK02

Sometimes it pays the little extra to go to a reputable tint shop for the job so that they know what they are doing. The tinter who did my car actually crawl inside the trunk and did the tint inside the car with the trunk lid closed. This way he didn't need to remove any cover and mask any sensors = less chance of scratch/screw up something else.

Matt230K

Yeah Buell, I remember your post about this too. You had said it was some kind of sensor. I didn't know it was the antenna amplifier. The key hardly even works at all now.

But I did warn the tint shop and they called the dealer and the dealer said it was no problem, so I am making them take care of it. Plus, since I work there, they are more willing to make sure it is warrantied. But for the rest of you, I would be careful. The dealer may not want to cover it. In this case, hopefully the tint shop will cover it. I will find out the total cost of the sensors and the labor and everything and let you guys know.

20FHK02, that is a good suggestion. I had footprints in my trunk, but I'm sure they did it with the hatch up.

BlackC230Coupe, did they successfully get the window out and put the same one back in so you didn't have to get it re-tinted?

felix k

if you have 50% tints on your car, can you please post some pictures. i can't decide between 35% ad 50% for my silver c240.

thanks.

KMAN

here is 50% on my coupe:

.elijah.

is 50% tint legal in CA? I thought that the most that you can have is actually 35%? I might be wrong. Where is the best place to get it down cause I know that MBs have to have some moleskin attached in the inside of the door panel due to some scratching or something. I saw my co-workers E-Class' tint just all messed up!

Lynn

Isn't 35% tint darker than 50%? I thought the percentage referred to the amount of light that is passed by the tint.

Sloth

Yes 35% is darker.
Limousines often use 5 - 15 %
Street legal (at least over where I am) is 35%
Don't forget though that the colour of the tint makes a difference also in the appearance.

henry47

yeah, the lower the number, the less light is going in. 5% means that only 5% of the suns light goes through, 50% means that only 50% of the sun light goes through. California's law says that the front windows CANNOT have any tint on them. I believe smoked is legal but you can't even tell that its smoked. I currently have 5% all the way around on my w202 and cops DO see it. I've been pulled over about 7-8 times but only received two fix it tickets. Most cops in Southern California don't care about tinted windows but if you're up in the bay area, they'll pull you over. I love 5% because I can pick my nose on the freeway without worrying if anyone's watching me. But it gets annoying sometimes because whenever I make left turns I have to roll down my window to see where I'm turning. It's pretty dangerous to drive with such dark windows also because If I'm at a stop sign/light I can't see if anyone is crossing the street in front of me until they're visible from my windshield. And also whenever you see a cop, you have to roll down your window, day/night/rain. But it looks great and sleek. Hope this helps. I would stick with 35% all the way around if I were you. I've had 35% before, (got pulled over) then put 20% (but got pulled over again) so i finally decided on 5%. (yes, I kept on going darker)

CarlssonPower

I am in the exactly same situation..

b4chow

this is mine with 35% tint. i say go with 35% tint because it's just perfect. 50% mite be a little too light. it's hard to tell the difference with 35 and 50 on different photos because of the light and all that. my advice is go with 35%. legal tint in california is something like 90% some ridiculous number like that, better not get tint if you're gonna tint at 90%. a lot of celebs in socal so i guess they let the dark tint slide a bit.

genome

50's front three, 38's back three

will try to get better pics ths weekend

Clownburner

Tinted windshields are suicidal.

IMHO, go a little lighter than you think. I got 35% on the front, 20% on the back, and it's too dark. If I had it to do over again, I would certainly get 50% front 35% back. But then again, I'm not trying to look like a pimp, either.

Rick

Any after-market tint is illegal in NJ. They'll ticket you for "Obstructed Vision" on the roadways, and fail inspection when you take it to DMV. First offense is $78.00 + court costs (appearance req. to prove it's fixed), second offense is $165 and suspended license (+ $50restoration fee)....third offense....is contempt of court. They can impound your car on the spot and you go to jail...do not pass go...do not collect $200.

Kman....I hope you know someone that owns a private inspection shop.

Rotty

Hi all, I have a quick question for you guys about window tint. I recently just bought my 2003 C240 and want to get the windows tinted. I asked my salesman who they would recommend to do the tinting. He gave me the number to Artech here in Fort Worth. I gave them a call and they wanted $589.00 to tint my car. Is this normal? It seems a bit high for me. He said they have to remove the door panels and that is $85 per door panel. How did you guys do it.
Thanks

smc22

for the last 20 yrs I have paid $150 to 220 per vehicle I live in the boston area but i would bet in texas it's cheaper 150 is usaully for a coupe and 220 for a sedan here's an example.

amdeutsch

Do STFF and you will find numerous posts about the problem of tint scratching. MBs have a cross member in the door that needs to be smoothed out or *moleskin* applied. This shop appearently knows about it. But it still seems high. Unless of course you can live with the scratches. MB-BOB is in the area. Maybe he would let you look at his car and can give you some recommendations. If he doesn't read this PM him.

yodlebenz

i stopped by AltaMere in Dallas today to see about getting tinted... i think you may have run into what i did.

per alta mere (i've had 2 other cars tinted here, they do great work and know what they are talking about so...):

if you use a metallic tint on the back window, it will interfere with your radio reception esp. AM stations. so you have these options:

1. Use all metallic and risk bad reception.
2. Use metallic on the sides and plastic film on the rear. The sides will be guaranteed, but not the el-cheapo on the back.

3. They have a new tint in from Germany, it is CERAMIC instead of metallic. It will not interfere with radio reception. the catch? it was gonna cost me $450 to get it done. craaaaaaaaap! this is likely what they were trying to sell you.

They had a cool display set up. there is a piece of auto glass with a metallic film on half and ceramic on the other. this goes below a heat lamp. you stick your hand in the box and push a button and the lamp comes on. with the metallic side in front of the lamp it's pretty warm, slide the CERAMIC side over and it cools INSTANTLY.

i think it's pretty cool and probably worth the $$. I'll probably go back and get it done soon. it's a lot, but i plan to keep this car a while anyway.

Matt230K

Why is the non-metallic the el-cheapo? My window tint has no metallic in it and it looks fine, and has a lifetime warranty.

BTW, this is very important. Make sure that they tint your rear glass from the inside with the hatch closed. The antenna amplifiers are on the top of the window and you DO NOT want water to get in them. It happened to me. You will have really bad radio reception and your key will not lock and unlock the doors unless you point it right at the infrared on the handle.

The glass guy that fixed mine said the rear window had to replaced, so they did this and then I had to have it tinted again. So be careful. Even if they don't have to replace the glass, it still has to come out to fix the antenna amplifiers and then put back in.