akacaj

I am thinking about tinting my car because I cant stand how hot it gets in the sun and I also think it will look good with the black panorama roof.

Never had aftermarket tint before and have a few questions.
1. Being that it is a sticker inside the window, will it look like crap?
2. How much tint does the car currently have? I am thinking about doing 35% all around but am told that it already has that much. Does not look like it has any to me.
3.
Tint shop that dealer recommended uses Madico Charcool while another reputable tint shop near me uses Johnson Silhouette which is metallic. Wondering if the metalic tint will interfere with my GPS/Sat Radio/AM etc.
4. Do any of you have the same car as me tinted with a picture to see?
5. Anything else I need to know?

Vik888

get huperoptik.

my friend's wife's 2009 white E350 w/ pano has huperoptik 40. Looks amazing.

don't get metallic, it does interfere with radio, etc.

The car comes with "blue" sport glass. I doubt its 35%. It looks more like 85%-95% IMO. Its almost clear and the only time you can really see it is when you wash the car.

akacaj

Thanks wish I would have taken your advice. I actually went ahead with the 35% all around yesterday. Johnson Silhouette because I wanted some of that metallic look. I was going to do Huper Optik but I heard mixed reviews about the performance so just went with what was most convenient.

Not very happy with the work this guy did though. There is dust trapped under the tint in several places. Rear window is not sticking well on the outer edges of the defroster lines. The dot matrix part is not sticking at all so it looks like I have a frame around me entire back window.
Reading a few forums around the web I found that a more experienced tinter would have used steel wool on the dot matrix and defroster lines to thin them.

Not saying that in practice I would be able to do better on my own but by the end of my research it sounds to me like I know more about tint than the place that tinted my car. They thought that Johnson Silhouette was the top of the line Johnson product which a quick visit to their website proves otherwise. They never heard of Huper Optik... I should have left the place when I saw them crack the windshield of the guy before me. If that was not a sign of inexperience...

E220guy

show us how your car looks like now, cause i want to do the same to mine.

gaazmon

09s don't have the blue tint. The blue comes with sport package. The AMG sport packages just have the plain green one. I think MB is discountinueing the use of the blue tint (solexx i think), cause the C class doesn't have it anymore and idk if the CLS does either. CLK had it dropped like after 05.

Vik888

I thought both the 333 and 321 sports packages came with blue glass.

I'm almost certain my friend's two 09 E350's w/ 321 have blue glass. He just got the cars in the past month.

220S

The E350s do come with blue glass. Trust me.

+1 with Huper Optik. It's the only way to go, imho. It blocks UV better than all other tints. And it's ceramic. No interference with Keyless Go. And it doesn't fade or change color over time.

chairman

I have an 07 Black on black with a pano roof. I put 35% tints on it when it was new and could not be happier. My car has the sport package and came from the factory with blue tint (abour 3 to 5% is standard factory tint).

Do it you will be happy with it.

sunny_j

my 09 320 has blue tint

Scraz51

Yeah I got 35% put in a year ago and I love it, not too dark not too light either.

You will love it.

fortlaudsummer

Tint is definitely the way to go. Heat/UV protection has already been discussed but the privacy factor is great too.

novae500

man i would have left that place seeing they cracked the windshield of the previous car. Maybe you can take it back and say you want your $ back, or dispute it with your credit card, since you were unhappy with the services.

I paid $200 for mine for 50%front/35% rear/back. They used global tint film. Not the best but turned out fine so far.

CEB

Maybe I'm just in a bad mood today but a few observations:

I'd run very far away from a place that used steel wool on the defroster lines - you might as well just throw out the defroster 'cause they just ruined it.

It takes a few weeks for the tint to properly adhere. There are a few tricks to getting it to stick around the dots (light sanding, Elmers or steel wool works there)

Getting the cheapest tint will backfire. The cost is in the quality of the materials and I've seen too many MBs with purple windows from cheap tint

Huper Optik or another ceramic tint will give you superior heat rejection without making your car looking like it belongs in the "hood."

gaazmon

My mistake guys

But I know the 06+ CLKs and 08+ C classes don't come with it anymore. And I figure the new E won't either. Idk about the current CLS though.

chokaay

If you want a picture, here it is! (Although IMO the picture doesn't do the tint or the car justice... but at least you get the idea.)

For more pictures (and info), go to https://mbworld.org/forums/3575804-post37.html.

chokaay

Not if it's done by a GOOD professional. I went to an authorized professional installer (there's only 2 in SoCal that I found for Huper Optik), and they did a great job. I've seen Mercedes that went to the $99 places and come out like c***.

I don't know, but it DEFINITELY does NOT have 35% from the factory!

From what I've heard from multiple MB dealers, multiple tinters, and read in multiple threads... YES! The degree of interference may differ, but IMO why risk it? Get Ceramic tint (or some other non-metallic tint) and be confident that your electronics are all going to work as they are designed to!

See my picture in the post above...

GO TO A GOOD, AUTHORIZED PROFESSIONAL INSTALLER!!! Why risk "messing up" your car to save a couple hundred dollars, when you'll just have to get it redone properly anyway? Getting your tint done multiple times wastes money, time, and may damage your car (if the tinter doesn't know what they're doing). If your car was worth $5,000... okay... maybe a $99 tint job is worth it. But for a $50,000 car... I don't think so!

220S

Chokaay, did you go to Song's Tint Masters? Actually your pic doesn't look like their place and there's a 714 area code on the sign; somewhere else?

Huper FTW.

chokaay

No, actually my friend referred me to this place:

Perfect Window Tint, Inc.
Owner - Salvador

3071 S. Harbor Blvd
Santa Ana, CA 92704

(714) 546-1002
(714) 549-2200

He's an AUTHORIZED Huper Optik tint installer (one out of the two I could find in SoCal), and he's much closer to me than Song's. Perfect Window Tint actually has been mentioned on more than a few boards, and has a very good reputation.

220S

So it's just Song's and Perfect Window that are authorized, right? I know there's an authorized place up north in the Bay area......

chokaay

For SoCal that's all I found (maybe it was Song's... don't remember the name, but it was in LA). There may more more tint installers for Huper Optik than that in SoCal, but only 2 are "Authorized" installers according to what I've read.

220S

Song's is authorized for sure (one of the early vendors)

chokaay

Then that must be it!

TammamB

I think I'm sold on the Huper Optik Ceramic 40 for my C350 at Perfect Tint...
Thanks for info


Does anyone know how this effects a lease car? Do I have to get it removed since it's darker than 'legal'?

Thanks again

chokaay

You're very welcome!

Don't know how (or if) tint "affects" a lease car, but you can easily have Salvador (or whoever you go to tint it) to take it off when the time comes to return your car (they don't/shouldn't do anything that will permanently alter/damage your car).

As for darker than "legal", most people don't remove it until they get caught and get a "fix-it" ticket. Even then, they just remove the Ceramic 40 FROM THE FRONT 2 WINDOWS ONLY (since the rest of the car is "legal"), and get it written off as "fixed". After the ticket is written off, most people go back to the tint shop and get their front 2 windows done again!

chairman

I have had several leased cars that I returned with tint and never a question.