xPel Prime XR ceramic pics / Frankentint

[IronQQQ]

Been debating for weeks what to tint my my white M3 with black interior. Does anybody have pics of xPel Prime XR 55% pics or maybe even 35?

I found this pic xPel Prime XR but it's only one angle Xpel Prime XR 35% Model 3

I like 3M crystalline 50. Had it on an Accord with ivory interior. Perfect combination of VLT, tint and heat reduction for my likes. Cept my installer doesn't carry it in 60" roll for the rear M3 windshield.

My shop that does great work suggested I try xPel Prime XR (ceramic). Black in 35% for the rear and 55% for the sides. He doesn't carry 55% for the rear windshield which irks me. But he's only charging me $645 which is a great deal. So I'm wondering if it will look weird cause of the different shades. I've seen lots of pics of 35% in other tint brands and it's dark. So I take 35% rear windshield and 55% sides as a compromise.

As a test, I tinted my wife's Honda white exterior with ivory interior with the 55% xPel 4 windows plus rear windshield. $400 great price compared to Crystalline ($575 on my Accord). the 55% cuts the heat but still too light, but I'm thinking it will be ok on my M3 as will appear darker cause of the black interior.

I did find another local guy that does a lot of Tesla's. He only wants to sell a full package to cover all front, rear, sun roof, and all sides for $1400 in Crystalline. He can tint any shade I want. Out of my price range though. Decent tint shops are expensive in SoCal.

RPM Tesla charges $899 for 4 windows plus rear windshield as a reference.
Window Tint 3M

 

[vbaker]

I have pics of the clear body coating:

 

[ffhuang]

35% all around no regrets. I paid $650 for 70% front windshield XR plus(miscommunication between xpel and my tinter originally put on my windshield. @XPEL fixed it like a boss) and 35% all around. Was $500 if I didn’t get front windshield.

 

[bigroo42]

I got 35 on 4 windows and rear in one piece. I did 70 on the windshield and I'm so glad I did. The heat rejection is amazing. So much so that I'm going to do my roof glass (sunroof, if you will) next week in 70.

I will say that I was gonna go darker on the back glass and wish I would have. I did the back in one piece so I wouldn't see the difference in the stock partial tint on the back window. With only 35 I can see it in the rear view mirror and it drives me crazy. May as well just have done from the defroster line down if I was gonna see the different shade, right?

Anyway, I don't think that 2 different shades from side windows and back window would look bad. You (or anyone) rarely looks at the car from an angle that would show the difference too drastically.

My #1 recommendation is tint the windshield and roof. Good luck!

 

[Kilotango74]

I have pics of the clear body coating:

View attachment 445926 View attachment 445927 View attachment 445929

What the hell am I looking at. You put spider webs on your car? You backed into a white pole? Your buddies wrapped it clear wrap? I do t know which it is please clarify. Everyone else in this post is talking about window tint yet you have 3 pics of your door.

 

[IronQQQ]

So I ended up getting xPel XR Prime Black (ceramic) 35% XR on the rear and 55% on all 4 windows.

I really like it. The sides are not dark enough to bother me. The rear I wish it was tad lighter at night cause of the auto dining rear but I acn live with it. During the day I can hardly see the diff on the outside between the 35% and 55%. I tinted my wife car ivory interior with 55% last month and it looks so much lighter than my M3 with black interior.

I will tint the sun window soon with xPel XR Plus 70% (installer left. Roll in my trunk for some reason) and front windshield.

Just a few pics

 

[IronQQQ]

I got 35 on 4 windows and rear in one piece. I did 70 on the windshield and I'm so glad I did. The heat rejection is amazing. So much so that I'm going to do my roof glass (sunroof, if you will) next week in 70.

I will say that I was gonna go darker on the back glass and wish I would have. I did the back in one piece so I wouldn't see the difference in the stock partial tint on the back window. With only 35 I can see it in the rear view mirror and it drives me crazy. May as well just have done from the defroster line down if I was gonna see the different shade, right?

Anyway, I don't think that 2 different shades from side windows and back window would look bad. You (or anyone) rarely looks at the car from an angle that would show the difference too drastically.

My #1 recommendation is tint the windshield and roof. Good luck!

I'm definitely going to get the front tinted. He quoted me $275 for it.

Did you use XR Prime Plus? There was another M3 in the shop and they had the front tinted with XR Prime Plus 70%. I thought it looked funny... With some minor distortion. Actually.. I do see some Model 3 on the road with some distortion from front tint.

 

[bigroo42]

I'm definitely going to get the front tinted. He quoted me $275 for it.

Did you use XR Prime Plus? There was another M3 in the shop and they had the front tinted with XR Prime Plus 70%. I thought it looked funny... With some minor distortion. Actually.. I do see some Model 3 on the road with some distortion from front tint.

No xpel. My guy swears by Avery Dennison IR ceramic. He had a big long explanation why. Nonetheless it's guaranteed for 10 years (I believe, maybe lifetime) and all his customers had great things to say so I went with him.

I can't tell it's on there honestly.

 

[ffhuang]

I'm definitely going to get the front tinted. He quoted me $275 for it.

Did you use XR Prime Plus? There was another M3 in the shop and they had the front tinted with XR Prime Plus 70%. I thought it looked funny... With some minor distortion. Actually.. I do see some Model 3 on the road with some distortion from front tint.

I have 70% XR plus in the front. The distortion is only because the windshield hasn’t completely dried yet. After a few days, it’s like nothing is there.

 

[Psycdude]

35% all around no regrets. I paid $650 for 70% front windshield XR plus(miscommunication between xpel and my tinter originally put on my windshield. @XPEL fixed it like a boss) and 35% all around. Was $500 if I didn’t get front windshield.

Seems like a good deal! What tint shop did you go to for this? In LA right?
Thanks!

 

[ffhuang]

Seems like a good deal! What tint shop did you go to for this? In LA right?
Thanks!

I’m actually in PA

 

[vbaker]

What the hell am I looking at. You put spider webs on your car? You backed into a white pole? Your buddies wrapped it clear wrap? I do t know which it is please clarify. Everyone else in this post is talking about window tint yet you have 3 pics of your door.

LOL, I read XPel and looked no further! I was showing the the awesome paint protection from the XPel, got sideswiped by a person making a hard right from the left lane, paint was protected but the doors got a little crinkly...

My bad.

 

[Litigate28]

So I ended up getting xPel XR Prime Black (ceramic) 35% XR on the rear and 55% on all 4 windows.

I really like it. The sides are not dark enough to bother me. The rear I wish it was tad lighter at night cause of the auto dining rear but I acn live with it. During the day I can hardly see the diff on the outside between the 35% and 55%. I tinted my wife car ivory interior with 55% last month and it looks so much lighter than my M3 with black interior.

I will tint the sun window soon with xPel XR Plus 70% (installer left. Roll in my trunk for some reason) and front windshield.

Just a few pics

View attachment 446509 View attachment 446514 View attachment 446516

Hey was just curious how this is holding up? Still a fan of XPEL and did you end up tinting the front windshield?

 

[IronQQQ]

Hey was just curious how this is holding up? Still a fan of XPEL and did you end up tinting the front windshield?

6 months later I am still quite pleased at the heat and shade aspects of the tint. However if your goal is more privacy, I'm not certain that xPel Prime XR is the way to go.

During the day you can see inside more on our 55% side and 35% rear car vs other cars with full 35% and 20% tints. However I feel that is largely the effect of having a light 55%. The trade off is better visibility at night which very important to me.

At night, there are many other Tesla's where one cannot see their screens from the outside or if not, only very dimly. I decided to test this by taking a pic from the side where it is 55% and the rear which is 35%. In both shots you can see the screen so I think it's probably a trait of xPel not being as reflective as other tints.

It's not horribly scientific but I would like to do a side to side comparison with another car that had Lumar, 3M crystalline or Spectra photosync and even XPel Prime XR Plus (which is a multilayer ceramic).

I never got the windshield tinted. I got busy, went on a road trip in the M3 to Montana and when I got back summer was over. I was also concerned with distortion with my polarized prescription sun glasses which are very prone to distortion with tinting (my glasses distort a lot on 3 M crystalline... Some but relatively little on the xPel ). I think I need to get better sun glasses first before tinting the front windshield.

 

[Premiertint]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents. We sell and install Xpel XR Black and Xpel XR Prime Plus exclusively. They are both great films. The Prime Plus blocks more heat. The shade (darkness) will determine the amount of vision or privacy is provided, not the type of film.

With all that said. The screen is literally a light. Regardless of how dark you go, at night in the dark, you will see the screen from outside the car. Whatever side of the glass has the most light, is the side that can be seen. During the day, it will be harder to see anything at all including the screen from the outside because the outside light is produced by the sun. The screen is obviously not as bright as the sun and therefore, won't be easy to see. Reflection and refraction of light does weird things with glass and tint.

 

[ayyitsjames]

35% all around no regrets. I paid $650 for 70% front windshield XR plus(miscommunication between xpel and my tinter originally put on my windshield. @XPEL fixed it like a boss) and 35% all around. Was $500 if I didn’t get front windshield.

How's the side mirror visibility at night when the mirrors are dimmed? Also, can you tell any hue or tinge on the 70% front?