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Tinting a L Series

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:38 pm
by 2nd Hand Yank
I'd like to tint my L Series for heat and UV rejection properties.

I'm thinking I'd prefer metalized film for heat rejection,
and darkest legal shading 35% at least up front; maybe slightly darker in the rear.
Apparently it's quite common to go just a little darker in the rear, say down to 20% (as dark as in-glass tint)
Would it look weird to have the rear windows tinted darker than the middles and front?
The rear windows don't roll down.
Or how about side windows and rear windows darker, fronts at legal tint levels?
I'm not sure if it would be a big deal if I decided to move out of WA and take my L Series with me either. :???:

I got a great quote from Tint-a-Car,
but someone mentioned that any windows under legal tint wouldn't be covered under warranty, or something like that. :???:
I was at other car tinting places today and all of them recommended a darker tint on the rear since I want heat-rejection and the rear has no windows that can open.

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 12:41 am
by GOD
Last time I looked into tinting, I was told the back windows can only be 35% to keep it legal. You look through each of the windows at some point (changing lanes, reversing etc), so need to be able to see through them all equally.

Find a tint that won't fade (I think that's the metallic ones). Some have a lifetime warranty.

Dane.

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 11:00 pm
by Backyard_Brumby
out of interest what did they quote you for?

I remember when I got a quote for my tiny little old 3 series beamer the quote was about $450. Which I thought was a bit rich as there was very little amount of actual glass surface area.

I am about to get a quote for the brumby so would be interested what the L costs also what grade you choose

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 12:52 am
by Dann
Backyard_Brumby wrote:out of interest what did they quote you for?

I remember when I got a quote for my tiny little old 3 series beamer the quote was about $450. Which I thought was a bit rich as there was very little amount of actual glass surface area.

I am about to get a quote for the brumby so would be interested what the L costs also what grade you choose
Me too i'm pretty interested cause my L is untinted at the moment and i wanna get it done

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 3:40 am
by 2nd Hand Yank
Backyard_Brumby wrote:out of interest what did they quote you for?

I remember when I got a quote for my tiny little old 3 series beamer the quote was about $450. Which I thought was a bit rich as there was very little amount of actual glass surface area.

I am about to get a quote for the brumby so would be interested what the L costs also what grade you choose
$350 for every window, (6 windows + rear = 7) including a tint-strip across the top of the windscreen.
I think that's pretty good for "Octane" metalized film (superior heat rejection?) @35% or darker if I wish.

I'll try to post some photos of my subi this weekend. Perhaps a before-and-after?

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 11:10 am
by Luke82
just wondering where you got that quote from because i went to tintacar mandurah and they wanted $600 for my l series in any grade. way too expensive but at $350 id be willing to drive the half hour to bunbury to get it done :)

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 9:16 pm
by 2nd Hand Yank
Luke82 wrote:just wondering where you got that quote from because i went to tintacar mandurah and they wanted $600 for my l series in any grade. way too expensive but at $350 id be willing to drive the half hour to bunbury to get it done :)
How fast is your L Series? Did you put a turbo in? :mrgreen:


I've seen coupons for Tint-a-Car in Mandurah, offering big discounts on "Octane" film, the kind that I had put in.
It doesn't come in tints darker than 35%, but they have other metalized darker tints
and they should be willing to do it for the same price if you want to go darker.

I'm content with my tint. I'll be posting pics of it shortly. :cool:

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 9:29 pm
by steptoe
You can buy tint on the internet. I used to tint mine with Brilaw brand tint that starts black and fades to purple, increasing light transmittance too!

Got cardboard sheets, light trace paper and trimmed to fit each window down one side, reversing for other side.Used cardboard as a template for the tint fim. Clean windows inside with sharp stanley blade then metho, bit of dish wash liquid in spray bottle, clean environment no wnd no dust and a little squeegee. The deterg helps position slide the tint in place. No curves to deal with in L wagons should be a good learner job

Before-and-After

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:07 pm
by 2nd Hand Yank

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 12:06 am
by LIFTED
That's strange I thought someone ??Guyph put a post earlier that they did some tinting on other peoples cars and I replied quoting his post asking where they got the tint from and now his post and mine have disappeared ??

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 12:08 pm
by 2nd Hand Yank
Does anyone know how to turn those picture links into thumbnails?

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 1:43 pm
by guyph_01
mainbreak wrote:That's strange I thought someone ??Guyph put a post earlier that they did some tinting on other peoples cars and I replied quoting his post asking where they got the tint from and now his post and mine have disappeared ??
True, lol. where did my post go?

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 2:39 pm
by guyph_01
Hope this is what you wanted.

BEFORE
Image

AFTER
Image

Oh and i want my post back..., make it come back!! :)

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 6:44 pm
by El_Freddo
mainbreak wrote:That's strange I thought someone ??Guyph put a post earlier that they did some tinting on other peoples cars and I replied quoting his post asking where they got the tint from and now his post and mine have disappeared ??
guyph_01 wrote:True, lol. where did my post go?
I refer you to this thread where it has been discussed and I was initially ridiculed :evil:

Cheers

Bennie

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 8:11 pm
by 2nd Hand Yank
guyph_01 wrote:Hope this is what you wanted.

BEFORE
Image

AFTER
Image

Oh and i want my post back..., make it come back!! :)
thanks guyph. :)

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 9:01 pm
by LIFTED
guyph_01 wrote:True, lol. where did my post go?
Must have been a glitch on that day.
So Guyph where did you get your tint from to do it yourself?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 11:08 pm
by El_Freddo
mainbreak wrote: So Guyph where did you get your tint from to do it yourself?
You can buy it in rolls from the likes of atobarn, supercrap and R.e.p.c.o - there are different graded films for different darkness levels etc...

Cheers

Bennie

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:00 am
by guyph_01
I got them from Maltz. $16 for the small roll and 22 for the large. Large is mainly for the rear glass and small for the windows. Like i said in my disappeared post, they label it as Black and Grey. Black is fine and i guess legal as my bro's brumby passed with them about a week ago:)

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:38 am
by LIFTED
Thanks El Freddo and Guyph 01