question on tinting

[pkalhan]

Hello Everyone,

I had a question on window tint. I was wanting to get my windows tinted once I get my Model 3 but was wondering how the back window would be handled. In a normal (non-all glass room car), you can have the same window tint for all the windows of your car (not counting the windshield), but the Model 3 it will already have a tinted room and it looks like it will have a well defined end point. Will it looks weird to have tint after that point? I was hoping I could find a shade that matches the tint used on the roof so everything will blend together. I do not want to tint all 4 windows and then leave the back window untinted.

Thanks.

 

[thebigbobowski]

Was curious about the same thing. I also don't want the portion of the back window that comes pre-tinted to be extra dark if an aftermarket tint is applied to the whole thing. And would I have to get the roof tinted as well so that it and the back window match up?

 

[tracksyde]

There was someone here who to talked to a tint shop near Tesla HQ that tinted some of the RCs. Word is, the back window was tinted using 2 pieces. If you read about Model X owners tinting the front windshield, I imagine the experience is similar. But from what I saw, it seems like finding someone that can do the X front windshield in one piece is not easy (well, it is if you go with their referrals).

But I don't know if the top of the back windshield being tinted is that much of an issue. I have one part of my rear hatch that has tinted glass from the factory. I wanted dark on the back glass, but was afraid the pre-tinted section would be too dark. After being assured it would be ok, I just did the whole rear in dark. After I got the car back, I couldn't really tell if the pre-tinted window was darker. In fact, I had to double check that they tinted that section at all since I was expecting a large difference.

On my friends car, his back doors are tinted dark. Front windows are tinted medium. From the outside, the back windows look really dark. But from inside the car, it's hard to tell that the back windows are darker than the fronts.

 

[jsrawa]

I planned to tint the rear as well but I'm concerned, like you, that the roof may become too dark. Unfortunately I think the option will be to tint the whole piece, I don't know that I could find someone in my area to tint just the half and do it well. Even if they did a good job I think I'd be concerned with the seam where the tints meet as it's gradual on the roof from the factory, it's not like it just stops at a predefined spot.

 

[EkBuZ]

I'm guessing the best looking is to tint the whole thing. For example, if the roof is factory tinted 20% and you add 20% to the whole thing, the roof will now be 4%. The difference between 4 and 20 on the roof portions probably wouldn't look too bad and they have a natural decide. This would prevent a 4% strip if they overlapped before stopping, or worse a strip of 0% if they stopped short.

I figure you West Coast guys will get this figured out before I wait for the Midwest to thaw out and do mine next Spring.

 

[pkalhan]

Yeah, I am thinking that one should tint the whole roof and use the same tint for all 4 windows.

 

[gambit48]

There was someone here who to talked to a tint shop near Tesla HQ that tinted some of the RCs. Word is, the back window was tinted using 2 pieces. If you read about Model X owners tinting the front windshield, I imagine the experience is similar. But from what I saw, it seems like finding someone that can do the X front windshield in one piece is not easy (well, it is if you go with their referrals).

That was me. He's about 2 hours from me, but he's done my past two cars. Good shop. Not cheap, but he does really high end cars and is in Tesla's backyard so I'm not that surprised to find out he did the RC cars. He's not a fan of the all glass roofs apparently.

I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do. The idea of a 2 piece tint doesn't exactly appeal to me. However, until the other shops get their hands on a M3, there's really no way to find out if what shop near you will even try to do it all in one piece. I suspect that shop in SoCal that's always mentioned on here might give it a shop. That's quite a long drive for me, although I suppose I could just have it delivered there and taken straight to that shop and then just drive it back up. Depends on if Tesla has to tax me at the rate down there or not cuz my sales tax rate is like 2% less.

 

[tracksyde]

Thanks for the info, codex57.

So, just to be clear, the rear glass is basically two pieces because it's too "long"? I'm kind of curious now what that even looks like since I don't think I've ever seen a window tinted with 2 pieces

 

[alseTrick]

This is at least the 2nd thread like this on the 3 forum. I also asked this on the Florida specific forum since several "vendors" frequent there.

I care more about total solar energy rejection than darkness, but I do want something in the 35-45% tint range for mild privacy along with the heat rejection for the side and rear windows (plus a 70% tint on the windshield/screen AND my premium glass roof).

If the installer wants to do two pieces of tint for the rear window, I've decided that's fine with me. They can just overlap the two pieces of tint and make one cut along both to ensure they'll match up once installed, right (seems fairly straight-forward if the tint installer is in anyway respectable)? If I'm concerned about the factory tinted roof section being too dark, I could always request a 70-80% tint for the upper portion of the back window and a 35-45% tint for the lower.

And if the installer wants to do just one piece, I'm ok with that, too. I don't think the darker 35-45% tint will make the pre-tinted upper portion too dark to see out of.

I would probably choose whichever is cheaper, one piece vs two. I really don't think there would be that great of a difference either way, in terms of visibility outwards for the passengers or in terms of total heat rejection.

I hope my rambling has made some sense to those interested.

 

[alseTrick]

Thanks for the info, codex57.

So, just to be clear, the rear glass is basically two pieces because it's too "long"? I'm kind of curious now what that even looks like since I don't think I've ever seen a window tinted with 2 pieces

If the demarcation line is just inside the dark pre-tinted section and the installer does a good job, I don't think it'd be much of an issue at all.

But I second that. I've never seen a window with two separate pieces of tint. Not even a picture of an X posted on this forum.

 

[gambit48]

I'm sure to the casual observer, a good tint shop can make the seam perfect and probably place it in a place that's not too noticeable.

But when you spend $500+ on a tint job, you tend to stare at it more. BMW is awful about this, but it's on many other cars too... but the dot matrix at the edge of windows can cause problems in terms of a "perfect" install. I really need to see a production M3 in the flesh to guess if I think a 2 piece install will be super noticeable or not. With the tint, I'm sure Tesla has a slight fade in the transition. So a hard seam right there would still be noticeable for a couple of reasons. First, the color of the tint won't match perfectly so you might see the color contrast. 2nd, the % of shade won't match perfectly either so you might see the seam from the different darkness.

 

[Zaphod]

I'm sure to the casual observer, a good tint shop can make the seam perfect and probably place it in a place that's not too noticeable.

But when you spend $500+ on a tint job, you tend to stare at it more. BMW is awful about this, but it's on many other cars too... but the dot matrix at the edge of windows can cause problems in terms of a "perfect" install. I really need to see a production M3 in the flesh to guess if I think a 2 piece install will be super noticeable or not. With the tint, I'm sure Tesla has a slight fade in the transition. So a hard seam right there would still be noticeable for a couple of reasons. First, the color of the tint won't match perfectly so you might see the color contrast. 2nd, the % of shade won't match perfectly either so you might see the seam from the different darkness.

Yes, there is a fade in the transition. Think of the Model 3 rear window as a Model X windshield installed backwards. I'm planning on just having the whole thing tinted. Yes, the top part that is already tinted will be even more tinted, but don't really see better way to do it without looking weird from the inside or outside.

A shop in Houston does 2 piece tint jobs on X windshields and looks good. Assume would do a 3 the same way instead of trying to do in one big piece.
EVS Motors is your exclusive Authorized PhotoSync Window Film Installer & Dealer

 

[gene]

Just be careful to keep your tints LEGAL. Anything else sets you up for serious negligence if you are in an accident and someone is hurt especially if decrease of vision is a possibility. Top that off, your insurance carrier is completely off the hook of covering you as they contracted with a vehicle that is expected to be in code. All this happened to a client of mine. His tint eneded up costing him several hundred thousand dollars.

 

[AceSkywalker]

Just be careful to keep your tints LEGAL. Anything else sets you up for serious negligence if you are in an accident and someone is hurt especially if decrease of vision is a possibility. Top that off, your insurance carrier is completely off the hook of covering you as they contracted with a vehicle that is expected to be in code. All this happened to a client of mine. His tint eneded up costing him several hundred thousand dollars.

Which is why I don't tint, even living in the Southwest. Why would you intentionally reduce visibility out of your windows for the sake of comfort? Cars should be designed around forcing the driver to pay attention to the road at all times, not making them feel comfortable and relaxed.

 

[gambit48]

Which is why I don't tint, even living in the Southwest. Why would you intentionally reduce visibility out of your windows for the sake of comfort? Cars should be designed around forcing the driver to pay attention to the road at all times, not making them feel comfortable and relaxed.

Than you are totally not in the market for a Tesla, what with their giant and distracting center screens that require your attention to change nearly everything.

If you just have an ICE car, I'm assuming you NEVER listen to the radio. I shouldn't even have to mention the cell phone, as I'm sure you lock that in the trunk so that even the ring of the phone won't cause you any slight distraction.

 

[oldpueblo]

There are plenty of tints with high visibility and high heat resistance. People just think darker looks cooler and sacrifice visibility for it.

 

[MXWing]

When we are all running on full FSD, limo tint all around won't matter right?

For my Model 3 I plan on

50-60 percent front windshield
35 percent front two windows
20 percent for all rear windows.

Going with white seats so car won't look so dark from outside.

It's a combination that has served me well across 10 or so vehicles without a single correction ticket.

 

[Lunarx]

^
I used to do similar, back in the day.
However, I now consider it too dark, during evening time.
I now use:
75-80
40-45
40-45

I find the rear to be more detrimental to visibility, at distance (especially in evening) because it is looked thru indirectly, via a rear view mirror.
(Much harder to see cops in the distance)
So I keep rear lighter, despite it being legal to go as dark as desired.

I would never go tintless, as tint has huge solar heat reduction benefits.

BTW Photosync is not worth the overly premium price.
It has a murky haze to it and does not seem to noticeably reduce heat, any more than good ceramic tints, such as SunTek CXP, which is noticeably clearer.

That is based on my experience of having PhotoSync on one car and then doing CXP on 3 cars after that.
PhotoSync was one if those expensive lessons in falling victim to false hype.

 

[oldpueblo]

I haven't had to tint in a long time, is Huper Optik still awesome? I had that on one car that I had to sell, and it was pretty sweet for heat reduction in AZ.

 

[Ken7]

So my concern with the all the glass roof, as it comes from the factory, is the build up of heat within the car. Without a sunshade, how hot do you guys think the car's interior will get?. I've always had sunroofs, but never one from front to rear and never one without a sunshade. Couple this with a black interior, and it could get really hot. Even a white interior could get quite sweaty.