[BECKS7]

Have been looking at various options initially starting with professional installed tints, but have ended up looking at some of the diy tints + blinds.

Can anyone recommend one of the following options, steer me away from one of these, or recommend something better?

https://window-tint.co.uk/bmw-pre-cu...ewer.html#more

https://www.evowrap.co.uk/product/bm...ar-window-tint

https://www.solarplexius.co.uk/Sun-p...ng/bmw/x3/2016

https://milesofmotion.co.uk/bmw-x3-f...17-window-tint

https://easyshades.co.uk/search-by-v...3/f25-2010-18/

https://www.carshades.co.uk/shades-f...ar-p-4661.html

Meant to say i'm based in the UK if that makes any difference

Thanks in advance

[pungo]

I purchased a pre-cut kit using Geoshield Pronano Ceramic mainly to reject solar energy gain and keep the vehicle cooler in the summer. These new ceramic films have high % TSER.

I purchased from zintzoom for 3 vehicles and every piece fit perfectly. They ship internationally and have been in business over 27 years. I have no affiliation with them, just a satisfied customer.

Whoever you purchase from, make sure they have a good reputation and have been around a while. Since film does not have manufactures markings on it, I've read some places are buy cheap film and selling it as premium film.

If you've never installed film before, unless you're good at this type of work, you're better off paying a professional. The pre-cut kits do make the job go 10 times easier.

[Wgosma]

DIY tint: umpteen years ago I took a 5 day course in auto window tinting, this was in the days prior to precut film. applying the film is like many things- proper prep is very important and practice makes perfect, nothing beats hands-on experience when it comes to perfecting any skill, its certainly doable but if you have any hesitancy then let a pro do the install, its not all that costly and heck, you'll only do this one time for your car.

[BECKS7]

Thanks both for your feedback. Would prefer something that's simple and DIY if possible but agree with your points about professional install

[pungo]

Originally Posted by BECKS7

Thanks both for your feedback. Would prefer something that's simple and DIY if possible but agree with your points about professional install

It's definitely a DIY, if you follow some youtube instructions and have attention to detail. I learned by watching a crew install film on our commercial building at work back in the 80s. They gave me some film and I went home and successfully installed it on my 1976 Bronco. I've been installing it on all my vehicles ever since.

I called a few local tint shops and they were all in excess of $500 for ceramic film whereas the online store was $120 shipped, so a nice savings as well as not having to drop my vehicle off during a pandemic

[Rueh]

I’ve recently installed the CarShades in my X3. To start with the fit was pretty bad on the side windows so I complained to them. They dealt with the issue very well, redesigned the shades and sent me a new set for free. The fit is spot on now. I prefer them to normal tints as they stay in place when you lower your windows. They’re also very easy to install, 10 minute job, no tools required!

[pungo]

Originally Posted by Rueh

I’ve recently installed the CarShades in my X3. To start with the fit was pretty bad on the side windows so I complained to them. They dealt with the issue very well, redesigned the shades and sent me a new set for free. The fit is spot on now. I prefer them to normal tints as they stay in place when you lower your windows. They’re also very easy to install, 10 minute job, no tools required!

I never heard of these CarShades, they must not be very popular here in the US, though I've seen people with a suction type screen on a rear side window if they have an infant in the vehicle. My vehicle has the rear side retractable window shade option plus privacy glass on all back windows. Looking at the CarShades website, they don't go on the front side windows, which for me, are the most important windows to cover for blocking out the solar heat while driving. Maybe I'm missing something here.

[Rueh]

Originally Posted by pungo

I never heard of these CarShades, they must not be very popular here in the US, though I've seen people with a suction type screen on a rear side window if they have an infant in the vehicle. My vehicle has the rear side retractable window shade option plus privacy glass on all back windows. Looking at the CarShades website, they don't go on the front side windows, which for me, are the most important windows to cover for blocking out the solar heat while driving. Maybe I'm missing something here.

They’re very similar to the retractable blinds, perforated material, only they’re not retractable although they are easily removed if you want to take them off.

Any substantial tints on the front windows is not legal in the UK. If you were to fit the blinds to the front they would definitely impact your visibility!

The reason I have them is they reduce the amount of light through the rear windows for when my 1 year old son is in the car. Solar heat is rarely an issue in the UK (unfortunately for us!), especially in an air conditioned car.

Think of them as a fancy version of the suction cup blinds.

[pungo]

Originally Posted by Rueh

They’re very similar to the retractable blinds, perforated material, only they’re not retractable although they are easily removed if you want to take them off.

Any substantial tints on the front windows is not legal in the UK. If you were to fit the blinds to the front they would definitely impact your visibility!

The reason I have them is they reduce the amount of light through the rear windows for when my 1 year old son is in the car. Solar heat is rarely an issue in the UK (unfortunately for us!), especially in an air conditioned car.

Think of them as a fancy version of the suction cup blinds.

Must not be popular in the USA. Makes sense for the young ones to keep them from getting fried.

The US has tinting restrictions on the front side windows by state, where some states allow dark 20%, some medium 35% while some states don't allow any tint. SUV are different where all state allow any tint % on all rear windows.

Some of the ceramic tint is so light (80%), you can't even tell it's tinted so that could be put on your front sides without detection. Even the 80% ceramic blocks a lot of solar energy. They even have it for the front windshield, though I wouldn't use it.

[BECKS7]

Many thanks for your posts. Very helpful

[Wgosma]

Originally Posted by pungo

I purchased a pre-cut kit using Geoshield Pronano Ceramic mainly to reject solar energy gain and keep the vehicle cooler in the summer. These new ceramic films have high % TSER.

I purchased from zintzoom for 3 vehicles and every piece fit perfectly. They ship internationally and have been in business over 27 years. I have no affiliation with them, just a satisfied customer.

Whoever you purchase from, make sure they have a good reputation and have been around a while. Since film does not have manufactures markings on it, I've read some places are buy cheap film and selling it as premium film.

How's the Geoshield been performing?

Here's another question: My car came (from original owner to me) with aftermarket tint on all side and the rear window, it's pretty dark, marginally safe for my driving at night - so I'm thinking of finally a redo to lighten things up a bit.

In addition to new tint transmitting bit more light, I'd like to keep the new window tint's appearance such that all the tinted glass visually appears nearly the same 'density'; cosmetic thing for me.

The car has S420A sun protection glazing, but I'm not sure exactly what that is telling me about the car's glass; I believe it refers only to glass rear of the driver/front passenger windows. I've never seen this car w/o it's aftermarket tint, so I don't know if that glazing cuts much if any transmissible light or alters appearance... the thought being if it does 'darken' the windows a bit then perhaps the re-tint job for me is to only apply tint to front side windows, 'matching' the existing glazing protected rear windows.

Two goals in redo: more light transmission while retaining effective heat rejection.

Thoughts on this?
Thanks/Bill

[pungo]

Originally Posted by Wgosma

How's the Geoshield been performing?

Here's another question: My car came (from original owner to me) with aftermarket tint on all side and the rear window, it's pretty dark, marginally safe for my driving at night - so I'm thinking of finally a redo to lighten things up a bit.

In addition to new tint transmitting bit more light, I'd like to keep the new window tint's appearance such that all the tinted glass visually appears nearly the same 'density'; cosmetic thing for me.

The car has S420A sun protection glazing, but I'm not sure exactly what that is telling me about the car's glass; I believe it refers only to glass rear of the driver/front passenger windows. I've never seen this car w/o it's aftermarket tint, so I don't know if that glazing cuts much if any transmissible light or alters appearance... the thought being if it does 'darken' the windows a bit then perhaps the re-tint job for me is to only apply tint to front side windows, 'matching' the existing glazing protected rear windows.

Two goals in redo: more light transmission while retaining effective heat rejection.

Thoughts on this?
Thanks/Bill

The Geoshield did very well over the hot summer we had, but that's going from no tint on the driver/passenger window to 35% (legal max for my state). To try to match the driver/passenger windows with the back a little better, I did 50% on all rear privacy glass instead of 35% like I did on the driver/passenger windows. It's not a perfect match but close enough that I'm happy with the results. Maybe a 35%/70% would have been a closer match? I also installed a windshield top band which helped to reject some solar gain. The benefit of ceramic film is it rejects a lot solar energy without needing to be very dark.

The stock privacy glass had plenty of solar gain so putting ceramic tint all the way around made a big difference keeping the vehicle cooler in the sunny summer heat.

No Tint


35% Front / 50% Rear

[Wgosma]

Originally Posted by Wgosma

How's the Geoshield been performing?

Here's another question: My car came (from original owner to me) with aftermarket tint on all side and the rear window, it's pretty dark, marginally safe for my driving at night - so I'm thinking of finally a redo to lighten things up a bit.

In addition to new tint transmitting bit more light, I'd like to keep the new window tint's appearance such that all the tinted glass visually appears nearly the same 'density'; cosmetic thing for me.

The car has S420A sun protection glazing, but I'm not sure exactly what that is telling me about the car's glass; I believe it refers only to glass rear of the driver/front passenger windows. I've never seen this car w/o it's aftermarket tint, so I don't know if that glazing cuts much if any transmissible light or alters appearance... the thought being if it does 'darken' the windows a bit then perhaps the re-tint job for me is to only apply tint to front side windows, 'matching' the existing glazing protected rear windows.

Two goals in redo: more light transmission while retaining effective heat rejection.

Thoughts on this?
Thanks/Bill

Thanks much for the info and for those nice pics, very useful!
Your 35/50 job looks great, I think pretty tough to improve on the front/rear match- call that more than job well done.

Now I'm motivated to redo my car, the prior owner just went too dark- daytime driving is OK but at night it's borderline unsafe to my aging eyes.

Take care/Bill

[pungo]

Originally Posted by Wgosma

Thanks much for the info and for those nice pics, very useful!
Your 35/50 job looks great, I think pretty tough to improve on the front/rear match- call that more than job well done.

Now I'm motivated to redo my car, the prior owner just went too dark- daytime driving is OK but at night it's borderline unsafe to my aging eyes.

Take care/Bill

Thanks, I think it turned out well and keeps the vehicle cooler, which was the main purpose to install the ceramic film.

Maybe it's just the angle of your pic, but the front windshield looks like it's tinted, if so, that'd explain why it's hard to see at night

[Wgosma]

It's the photo angle, no tint on windshield. Side and rear are tad bit too dark for safe night driving as I mentioned.

[pungo]

Originally Posted by Wgosma

It's the photo angle, no tint on windshield. Side and rear are tad bit too dark for safe night driving as I mentioned.

Got it, the windshield probably looks dark since the side windows are so dark they're not letting a lot of light inside. I'm guessing you have 20%.
I've been using 35% on all my vehicles for the last 30+ years and have no problems seeing through the windows at night.

[Wgosma]

Originally Posted by pungo

Got it, the windshield probably looks dark since the side windows are so dark they're not letting a lot of light inside. I'm guessing you have 20%.
I've been using 35% on all my vehicles for the last 30+ years and have no problems seeing through the windows at night.

Never had density measured but while back tint shop guy eyeballed it at 20%.