Aftermarket tint pros and cons?
 

Hey I'm new and just bought a C250 2012 brand new sedan. What are the pros and cons of window tinting at a aftermarket tint shop? I'm coming from a 2004 toyota tacoma. :) :zoom:
A couple other questions:

1) Also another question...can I install other features such as the HID lights and navigation system after the fact I purchased the car without these features?

2) Is the prepaid service plan worth it? I probably won't drive much daily. Just home to work and back which is a total of about 25 miles a day. Weekends I don't go out far much or even at all. So my salesperson said I'll probably make less than 8,000 miles a year. Also, its good I guess I have the extended service plan with USAA since I had experiences with vehicles breaking down soon after the original warranty is up.

Tint is awesome, have it done by a reputable shop, and you're set.

Very insightful analysis.....anyway.....wherever you have it done.....

PRO: Improved heat rejection for cooler interior in summer, reduced UV into interior materials, more comfortable driving without sunglasses, some think it looks better

CONS: Only certain parts of the glass may be tinted legally (check your state regs), or you risk ticket, reduced exterior vision, depending on degree of tint, possible damage during installation

That's all that comes to mind right now...others with substantive answers may chime in as well.

C'mon... Either you like the look of it or you don't. :D

Just don't go darker than 20% IMO.

Tint is a personnal taste. I like it and would not have a car without it just don't go crazy dark and most times you will not get hassled. Find a l;ocal shop that has a good rep and uses quality film.

Now to your other questions. Yes HID can be added later there are MANY threads about it search the forum for them. The OEM nav is not worth the money and time it would take to install I had it on my 2008 and made sure I did not have it on my 2011. Pick up a higher end Tom-Tom or Garmin and get map updates and live traffic for life.

I bought the prepaid maintenance it just makes my life easier. Drop the car off, get the loaner when they call reverse no hassle with waiting for the cashier to ring you up. I would never buy an extended warrenty myself as I never keep a car once it is out of the factory warrenty.

3M lifetime warranty is great.

pro - protects interior from the sun and keeps it cooler, makes your car look better, and people can't look inside your car when it's dark, prevents your windows from shattering during an unfortunate incident? (not sure about that one lol)

cons - tint tickets, if it's too dark sometimes you can't see sh*t especially through the rear windows, and...that's all I can think of too...

Stay away from metallic tints on the rear glass or you will ruin radio reception & your Smartkey will not work at a distance. The RF antenna is in the rear screen.

Carbon tint is where its at.

I notice that rear window tint is very rarely up to my standards. It often bubbles (slightly) around the defrost lines on the glass. This causes a glare at night from light passing through the rear window / tint. Then again, I'm crazy enough to notice these things.

The OEM nav is much better on the 2012... plus with a Garmin or such you have to deal with it hanging off of the window.

To each his own, but something like the Nav+4 would be fine if that is what he is looking for.

Thanks guys! This is my first luxury car and I'm loving it...on second thought. I decided to not get tint and just maintain my interior with the UV protection stuff like armor all leather and the vinyl cleaner. Just that I guess after I thought about my experiences with my tacoma, the windows couldn't go up smoothly as it normally would after about 3 years... :( Anyway, as for the HID, not sure if MB can install it or is the aftermarket ones safe?

Please don't use cheap armorall, it will ruin the leather and dash. Go with a real good leather cleaner and creme conditioner. Use Merceds products if at all possible. Armorall will wear away dash after prolonged use. I wouldn't use it in my merc, maybe a ford. not to be a snob.

You are quite right & the interface with the screened black (dotted) window surround is always hopeless.

One fav plus for Tint, other than looks, privacy, protection from sun... is night driving. Every now and then I'll get some douche driving behind me with his high beams on, or some cheap HID with extra glare. With tint, it doesn't bother me.

I'm curious why you think Mercedes would make a better vinyl/leather protectant than Armor All? I would think Armor All knows much more about protecting material than Mercedes. It would be like choosing Armor All over Mercedes for the design of an engine. Just my $.02 because I didn't know that Merc even makes their own line of cleaner/protectant. But my gut feeling is that if they do it's just a marked up$ version of a run of the mill product. If you have proof to the contrary I'm all ears.

ETA: I'm not saying that Armor All is the best of the products out there, just that I'm doubting Merc would have a better product.

I just lol'd. Check out the detail thread to dispelled any confusion. Armor all is garbage.

there are CONS to tint??? i drive all my cars off the lot straight to the tint shop.. it's like driving naked without it..

Only Con I can think of is it can look trashy if not done professionally.
Police harassment depending on your location and if the cop wants to be a dick that day.

Mercedes car care products are made for them by Meguiars.....they know a bit about car care.

Armor all is no good and can cause damage, but Mercedes cleaners are a re-branded rip-off!

Personally, I've sworn by Griot's Garage (www.griotsgarage.com) products for years. If I need something in a pinch, I will use Meguiar's, but nothing else.

Proper Leather Cleaner & Conditioner
 

:smash: If you want to properly take care of your leather seats, you should research a product known as Hide Food from Connolly. It is made in England. They used to use it on the Concorde leather seats and it has always been the choice of Rolls Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, etc. It is used on fine leather furniture too. They have a kit with a cleaner and then a conditioner, including applicator sponges, microfiber towels. This stuff is not cheap either at about $75 a kit. But as I always like to say, "Drive like a sport, Pay like a sport."

Why are you going to use a $5 "leather cleaner" on your $50k+ car? I never understand it. Don't put ArmorAll on your quality leather seats. Please!

Check out this link: http://www.autogeek.net/colecakit.html
I guess you'll have to copy and paste it or highlight the link, right click and choose "Go to..."

It's definitely worth checking out.

So I was reading the thread and trying to get some tips about tinting my C300 until I saw what I thought I had saw and then had to see if I did see what I saw.....SHE TOOK IT OFF...:smash:

I missed Glyn's post about metallic something, blocking something, radio something that came after...

Nice sig danlnyc....whos the girl? HAHAHAHA....:y

Pros.....list already mentioned + less road rage from other drivers
Cons...TICKETS!

I live in the Bay Area, CA and had 50% fronts for an entire decade on my previous sedan and never been harassed. Purchased the W204 less than 2 years ago (immediately installing 20% tints all around) and just recently got tickets back to back. From personal experience, 20% up fronts is TOO aggressive.

Traffic laws prevents the local highway patrol from pulling you over unless they have probable cause. Some counties won't even pull you over for secondary infractions like a lack of a front plate. However, unable to see the driver allows them such freedom and once you've been stopped, the list of "other" infractions start to add up.

With that said, I believe I pushed the boundaries too far with 20% but do intend to re-tint to a lighter shade. Hopefully the bleeding ends soon, since this has been the most expensive set of tints I've ever had (total cost wise).