Frenetic

Anyone tint their front windows including the windshield? I have an appointment to get Llumar Air 80 (ceramic) installed on the front windows and I’m just curious if anyone experienced any issues with tinting these windows, including the hud and/or water contamination during installation that fries electronics (which seems to be a common MB theme from what I’ve read). I don’t have the acoustic comfort package but this Air 80 is great at reducing heat while being relatively clear. I put this tint on all of my vehicles.

MBguy013

I don't recall what brand tint I had installed in just the front two windows but mine is ceramic, 35% or whatnot. Didn't do windshield and don't have HUD but have not had any issues.

mikapen

Where are you reading these things? Mad Magazine?

I think it's kind of strange for somebody who wants to pay for better visibility at night (unlock Euro lighting) while inquiring about reducing night visibility.

jaxslk

I did all windows and the pano roof in Expel PrimeXR ceramic. Zero issues and it def. keeps the FLA heat out. Amazing difference imo. I don't have HUD but I would think a good installer would put some covering down first and not get water into the electronics in the dash during install, if that is what you are asking.

Frenetic

Yeah, this stuff really helps with the heat with a high IR rejection.

Thanks everyone. I think for now I’m just going to do the side windows, but if I need more cooling I’ll do the windshield. I’m just worried about the glare at certain angles and the hud.

Mikapen: the tint I’m using is 80%, which is essentially clear, but it offers tremendous heat rejection. Also, see this: https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ar-window.html. I saw another post somewhere else where the side windows caused problems.

Ron.s

Pano roof too…get lots ofheat from above. Never had a problem with film but as always the installer is the key. There are a lot of good choices for film.

mikapen

Could that be the reason you had so many problems with your cameras? You'd think calibration would accommodate that, but this discussion made me wonder.

Ron.s

My camera problem was from plastic off-gassing. I didn’t film my 53 since it has the Acoustic Comfort Pkg and I didn’t order a Pano this time.
I last did my 2020 GLE 450 (sold) and my wife’s Audi that is now 5 years old-did full front, side windows and Pano. Result was a huge reduction in temps, Audi, and visibility still very good inside. Not as much difference with the Merc that had a Pano and no Acoustic Comfort. If you do the windshield they fit around the camera and rear view mirror. The PF products are changing rapidly and so many options.
I might avoid the Acoustic pkg in the future because it seems more fragile. My car is garaged and with only 2-3 months of hot weather so it’s probably unnecessary to do anything but leave it stock. Two days ago I found a 12” crack in the windshield of my Merc after parked overnight in the garage. A very small rock chip about 2” below the top caused the issue. It was behind the visor and so small it’s surprising that it cracked. I can barely feel a small crack with my fingernail-have had dozens of larger chips before, too small to fix and never an issue. Either this was an aberration or the Termal/noise insulating glass is more temperamental.

whitewagon

Be careful on sunroof...I tinted sunroof on a previous ML and it exploded into tiny pieces... according to insurance company the film reflected the heat back into the glass and superheated it.
I have tint on windshield of my Aston Martin. It helps protect my leather dash. Absolutely no glare or vision problems at night

mb2be

The openings from the sunroof's cover really killed my wife's excitement about this new vehicle. I looked into it and decided tinting might be the way to go. Made a phone call to this well known place in town, the guy didn't say anything but the timing didn't work out so I made another phone call to another well known place. This time the guy said... there have been exploded sunroof/pano after tinting. One of his customer's pano did too. He's not totally convinced tinting was the issue but he wants me to be aware of it and it's on me if it explodes. I did more research and found a mix of everything. So I did it anyway because it was really bothering her. I didn't go with 5% because I was a bit paranoid after he told me. But the heat rejected are very close among these different shades of ceramic so it improved a lot. Still get hit by the light but doesn't feel uncomfortable as before. Definitely an improvement.

Ron.s

Convenient explanation maybe? There are lots of non tinted sunroofs exploding too. Any glass that heats up needs room to expand so if tolerance isn’t there the tempered glass can explode as it’s designed to do rather than break in dangerous shards. If it was the Film causing the issue then why don’t they all fail…or at least a high percentage of them?

Sandriatica

I tinted all back windows with the ceramic 5%, on the drivers door and passenger door 35%, on my wind shield at 55% and it is absolutely amazing! I have all the bells and whistles in my car and nothing was negatively affected. I have a black GLE 450 and LOVE how much cooler my car is.

Frenetic

No glare with the HUD? What I mean by glare is that the top of the dash is reflected on the windshield. In other words, you see the top of your dash on the windshield.

djgiovanni

I want to tint my windshield but here in Florida it is illegal to do so below the AS-1 line (marks about 6 inches from the top of the windshield as defined by the manufacturer). I hate the look of ting just on the top of the windshield so if I go for it will do the whole thing.

For those of you who have done it, what % did you do? I hear 55% is just right as it is not too dark.

Cheers

de31p5

Do you have any regrets not ordering pano this time? Why did you chose not to reorder it? I like the look and feel of the Pano, but I'm wondering if the standard moonroof creaking going over uneven surfaces due to possibly less chassis flex? I feel like my GLE53 creaks a lot all around when going over uneven surfaces or driveways at an angle. Nothing horribly loud, just enough where if I have Music off, it annoys me.

mikapen

I wasn't talking about your latest new camera install, I was talking about your problem with the car's recognizing the wrong speed sign, or reading signs in general incorrectly. Wasn't that a problem before the Outgassing issue?
I had that problem with my 2020 GLE (bought used w/ 8,000 miles), which had a mild W/S tint and 35% on the front side windows. The car misread traffic signs and stopped in traffic on the freeway, reading Frontage Road signs.
I don't like door tints, so I had all removed. Surprise! No recurrence of sign mis-reading with no tint.

I have now on my fourth windshield. I don't know if the Acoustic Glass is weaker, because we live 40 miles from the Big City, and the connecting route is a two-lane road that is a veritable convoy of gravel trucks, carrying materials from our County (allows mining) to the Big City County (doesn't).
My shop found the same outgassing problem during W/S replacement, but with two Tech Bulletins - one for the glass (a certain run of glass had a manufacturing film that needed to be removed with alcohol, and what seemed like your problem - a replacement camera also had manufacturing film on a certain run of cameras, but in my case the fix was alcohol, not heat.

But I like the Acoustic Package a lot, and I drive that road in Sport+ so I can better dodge flying rocks (yes, I can, usually!) so I'll get Acoustic next time if I'm able. And the Burmester 3D, which is a perfect match with the Acoustic package.

To another question, I didn't get the Pano because I wanted to Track the 53, and I wanted as little weight up high as possible. I've had a Pano roof on the last five cars, and we haven't missed it at all on this one. I thought we'd miss it on our Fall Color drives, but we didn't.

Ron.s

I never had a windshield film on my 53 and still had the camera issue, all better when they made the camera and the out gassing fix.
Before that they did the cleaning behind the camera but couldn’t find anything wrong. (Might have replaced the camera over a year ago.) The sign misreads were in random sequences with no pattern…getting worse and more frequent. At times I could drive several hours before it acted up. The Tech told me how to check the camera but in daylight I couldn’t see anything so we were beginning to think that a transient glitch of some kind was the issue.
Later when the bulletin came out the condition had deteriorated enough that it was observable. They replaced my camera, baked the new housing and instantly other notices (i.e. Drivers Assistance type functions not available) and sign misreads disappeared.
I didn’t order a Pano roof either and don’t miss it at all. That’s one thing I like about the Mercedes…a lot of cars come standard with the Pano. The standard Sunroof is perfect for us and like you said a lot lighter at the highest point on the car.
The very small chip that started my windshield crack was hard to see and so small that it couldn’t have been repaired. I’ve had several cars with more damage and never an issue. On my GLE 450 (no Accoustic) I had a couple the size of a pencil eraser fixed and asked about some others more like the size of pencil lead. No fix for the others and a year later no broken windshield. My damage is hard to see and can only be felt with a fingernail catching an edge.👎 All the Highway Dept’s have gone to a road mix instead of sand. In Nevada they add Salt and spread it on the road at high speeds. If you meet one coming toward you on a two lane it’s almost certain to take out the windshield and even Xpel can’t stop them all.

mikapen

Well Ron, so much for my theory!

Frenetic

Llumar Air 80 is pretty much clear and invisible but offers 99% IR heat rejection. I swear by this tint. There are 3M and other brand equivalents. Just make sure it’s 80% and ceramic and you’ll notice a huge reduction in heat. 70% is pretty clear, too, but 80% is guaranteed no one will hassle you or know it’s even there.

Neurobit

Mine used to creak when I first got the vehicle (but not terribly so, and only when going over large speed bumps, etc) but not that much anymore.
The cover is totally fine, and although it’s a mesh-like material, does a great job keeping the sun out even at midday.

I will def order the pano again. Also had this on my prev vehicle. Love all that light come inside the cabin when I choose to.

Cheers,

Sandriatica

Mine is 55% and if you do the 35% on front side windows, 5% on back and backseat side windows. You can’t tell the windshield is tinted, in fact, I got the windshield done a couple months after the other tint and it IMPROVED all around visibility, especially when look at rear view mirror!

55% on front

35% front sides, 5% back sides and rear

Can see thru and that’s with shade on sunroof closed

View from inside with 55% on windshield

mb2be

My tint installer has his windshield tinted. I asked about visibility at night and he said it was fine. He actually prefers it tinted, especially when you face cars coming your way.

mikapen

That's too dark for me! It's almost exactly what I had removed from my 2020.
It might work if you're always driving in highly lighted areas like cities, but not in remote or rural areas IMO. I found it dangerous with the side window tint, because it was difficult to see oncoming traffic unless they were pointed directly at your face.
And, boy, when trail riding at dusk, I'd have to open the door to make sure I wasn't too near that drop off.

Frenetic

This is what Llumar Air “Blue” 80 looks like. I had my S7 tinted all around. It’s no longer called “Blue,” which is unfortunate because it had a slight blue hue to it. It’s now just Air 80.

Frenetic

Does anybody tint the privacy glass? I know the rears seem “factory tinted” but isn’t it just privacy glass and doesn’t offer the same protection as a ceramic tint? I’m debating tinting those in the same clear tint.