woow14623

Hi all,

Could all you guys let us know what kinda tint you use and why you use it? and which shop you got your tint done. reasons might be Navi, Colors and so on.

I myself want to get a great look and a good tint (with moleskin and so on) without effecting Navi but its hard to find information in one place in the forum.

Thanks in advance.

gauravp123

I just picked up my 'Ac in royal blue pearl this past weekend, I have standard 3M 35% tint...doesn't interfere with the navi (with moleskin)....got the regular color, black, on my royal blue pearl, the 35% tint looks great, its not too dark but dark enough thus the car doesn't look ghetto...20% I think on my car, would make my car look ghetto and I'm done with the 18yr old phase

I got my tint done through my dealer, who actually used a local guy at the local car wash (the best in suffolk county)....he does a lot of work for all of the car dealers in smithtown,NY...the car was mistakenly delivered at 50% and I argued with the dealer that it wasn't 35% and they kept arguing that it WAS 35%...15 mins later after arguing, they called the tint company owner and the car wash owner and they admitted that they F'd up, and indeed it was 50%...the customer is "always" right :P .......so I made them retint the entire car with 35%...which causes a nice smokey look on the windows - well worth it

good luck

JPTL-S

Well for starters, it would help if you could tell us where you are located. It wouldn't make sense for us to tell you the name of the shops we had our tint installed at if it isn't even in the same state as you.

Here are some threads that might help you out:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ight=tint+navi
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ight=tint+navi
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ight=tint+navi

Hawhyen51

There are a number of window tints you can get, just depends what you're installer has. Basically, the choice of film and degree of darkness is yours. Popular shade IMO is 20% rear and 35% sides. If you have navi, it's recommended to get a ceramic film vs a metallic film. This has been debated; some have had problems with metallic and others have not encountered any.

As far as fim manufacturers, there's Llumar, Madico, Sungard, Formula One, 3M & Huper Optik. They all offer dyed, metallic, hybrid (metallic/dyed combo) and ceramic (F1 & HO). F1 Pinnacle and the 3M CS film seems to be popular with those who have Navi.

The links that JPTL-S provided will offer more opinions or you can visit the various manufacturer's sites for addtional info. Tint Center, 3M CS , Formula One, and Madico,

Rpappi

i have a 2G but i used sunguard at 20%. i beleive you have the window antenna like 2G do. dont have them tint over the antenna. looks like sh!t. either have them spray it or paint it. tint does not stick well on it. and when it does it still looks like crap. i sprayed mine out and it looks great. sprayed out. i have more pics in my profile of how i did it. really really easy takes a few hours. just take your time and do it right. there are people that paint the individual dots. But the times that i have seen them they dont look as smooth and professinally done.

webbah

I just got mine tinted this past weekend at the Darkside in Bothell. 35% all the way around - gives it that smoked look. He used the Madico Charcool film as I have the Navi - looks good - not as black as I would have liked but it definitely looks good. He also didn't use moleskin as he's worked on many TL's and Mercedes I guess has similar issues and he simply files down the rubber inserts on the door and has never had anyone come back with scratches - so we'll see.

mjsab

I'm in the Bothell area as well and have been looking for a window tinter. Do you have any pictures that you'd be willing to share? And, can you tell me what you paid?

Thanks.

Rpappi

bothell washington.

datmrman

Moleskin is the way to go.

I just had mine done, Solar Gard NR 35% fronts, 25% rears with moleskin. Love it!

More info here:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131255
Pics are at post #34

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134933
Pics are at post #11

leedogg

From talking with a few tinters in the area, I get the impression that Suntek film is the best bang for your buck. 'Infinity OP' gives it the opalescent look. However I think it's metal based. Carbon seems to be the best non metallic option.

woow14623

OK I am the OP....and I am located in Rochester, NY...closest cities are Buffalo and syracus anyone fromt these areas??????????


got tint done...with mole skin and with Navi

leedogg

are u saying your getting the ifinity OP?? its metal based which means it might possibly conflict with the navi.

woow14623

hey leedogg u got me wrong. I ment Orginal Poster (OP ) sorry....Someone asked where I am from...so I mentioned that

flnsx

Bookmark the MoleSkin page below when your tint starts scratching you will want our felt. Better to install it before it starts to scratch though.

clausda0

anyone with Silver done that silver to black fading tint on their TL? anyone know of anyone , or pics ?

holybear

I have an 06 acura TL w/ ground effects and i wanna get tints and i think the legal limit here is 30% and i was thinking about doing 30%. if anyone knows what looks good with a black acura TL with black interior when your getting tints what the conditions of it being please PLEASE message me or try and contact me !

rced

Just to let you guys know. 35% flim tint would yeild 26% with the glass (if that makes any sense). I know this because I failed inspection and the limit here in MA is 35%. Also I had the platinum (metallic) tint put on, it did not effect the navi too much... its about 10 ft off.

FreeIsGood

I asked around too. I hear Suntek or 3m film. Suntek has carbon metallic-free films from their site.

whatjones911

Is it possible to get tint over the third brake light? Most people here get the cut around the third brake light. Which is better?

datmrman

I have tint over the full rear windshield. The tint installer removed the third brake light.

I think I read somewhere that it is illegal in some states to tint over the third brake light in the rear windshield.

maluskills

Just in case you guys don't totally get this...Trancemission (I think) had a great post about this....
This is because our windows are factory tinted at 75% (allowing 75% of light in)...if you get tints of 35% put on...it will only allow 35% of the current light coming in to still come in...
75% x 35% = 26.25%

So getting 35% tints on our windows is like getting 26% tints on a car that came with completely clear, untinted windows

legionofdoom

Makes sense. Looks like if I want to get my windows tinted and stay legal in MA, my lowest option is 50% which would give me a net tint of 37.5%...

Xpditor

I think you are referring to one of my tint posts. I measured the untinted, stock windows of my TL with a police tint meter, and it read 75%.

I installed Formula One Pinnacle ceramic 35% tint. Your calculation is logical, but optics is a tricky science. The OBSERVED measurement (I'm going to have to look in old posts to check this) IIRC, was about 29% combined. Still legal in Florida.

It looks good. I also put 15% on the back window. Most states let you have more on the back than on the sides. There is a website that lists all states laws and has a wealth of info on tinting: http://www.tintdude.com/laws.html

Page 3 of the Navigation owner manual says NOT to use metallic tint on the rear window as it can interfer with the GPS signal. The GPS antenna is under the rear package shelf. If you have ever used a hand-held GPS in your car, you know that you have to hold it up to the window to get good satellite signals as they do not penetrate the metal roof very well.

Seldom mentioned is the effect that metal film can have on cell phone signals. But, the same factors apply to this rf signal. If you, like I, place your cell phone in the center console, hooked up to a power cord, and you have metallic tint, the cell phone signal will not be as strong.

Because the Navi uses a gyroscope to do a form of "dead reconing" or position estimate based on time, speed, turns.... even a degraded GPS signal will still display on the Navi screen. IOW, it won't stop working. What we are dealing with is fewer and weaker satellite signals which can affect the accuracy of the Navi. One poster mentioned being about "10 feet off". Those in a strong GPS signal area may never notice the difference. However, Navi is most useful when traveling. In weak signal areas (like way north) or among tall buildings, the degraded performance of the Navi can be noticable.

If cost is a big factor, an installer can always put Formula One Pinnacle (or Huper Optik) on the rear window and go with metallic on the sides. I considered that but decided, for uniformity, to use the same tint all over. I will add that no one notices that the back window is darker than the sides.

My installation in West Palm Beach, Florida (not known for its bargains) was about $225 at Tint King, the oldest and best reputed installer around. I drove 40 miles to get it done there because I know the manager also has a 3G TL like mine.

If you go to the www.formulaone.com website, they have a dealer locater function. Not all dealers carry the Pinnacle ceramic tint, however. Check first.

I installed the moleskin that I got from flnsx. With the step-by-step instructions and the photos in the thread here, it was a fairly simple DIY project.

Even with the moleskin, I have two fine scratches barely visible. But it's been two years since my install.

Dave

Fossa Dei Leoni

Hi I am new here so maybe this has been discussed already.
I just got my windows tinted and I noticed that that the rubber between the the window and the door panel has been removed. I asked the person who installed the tints and he told me that he had to remove them otherwise it was going to scracth the tints. My brother had is windows tinted at the same place I did and they did not remove the piece of rubber, he drives a BMW. I would like to know if its normal that they remove hat piece of rubber on Acuras.

rced

Not quite, what the tinter person said with 50% it would be 41-42%. Oh, get the moleskin done, the first time I tinted there were lots of scratches, now I installed the moleskin none (so far )

legionofdoom

I don't have any direct experience (yet) but people are reporting that apparently there is a problem with the TL where if you don't apply moleskin to the door wipers, the tint tends to scratch easily. There are several threads discussing this and there is a member on here who sells the moleskin if you want to apply it yourself.

Fossa Dei Leoni

Thank you I appreciate it.

Xpditor

NO! It is not proper to remove the rubber from the door panel.

It is a double seal (check the photos in the other tint threads) and keeps the window from rattling and keeps debris from falling into the door. It is also a sound deadener.

Also, the only way to remove that rubber piece, other than taking the door panels off (which I doubt they did), is to force the top of the door panel up and inward which often puts creases in the leather where it curves across the top. Check yours.

If it were me, I would ask for those pieces, buy the moleskin kit from flnsx, and then put them back on myself. I wouldn't want that guy anywhere near my car.

To me, that's outrageous to take parts off your new car without telling you.

I'm sure he did so because he had so many TLs come back to him with scratches precisely because he doesn't know or doesn't want to be bothered with the moleskin application.

That would be like throwing your wiper blades away on the windshield because they are scratching the windshield and then not replacing them.

My

acura818

My tint installer used a razor blade to remove just a little bit of the outter rubber but he didn't remove the whole thing. I would have been pissed off.

Fossa Dei Leoni

Believe me I was furious when I found out. He told me that its normal on Acuras and Mercedes to remove that piece of rubber.