mjf

Any recommendation for tint material?

Tint Grades?

Window Tinting places in San Francisco/San Jose Bay Area?

Approximate Cost?

I plan to tint all 5 windows.

Thanks

smokyis350

iTrader: (21)

many people recommend king tint and my friend got it tinted there.

speed zone does a good job also with johnsons tint.

darkdream

http://www.autoimagetint.com/home/
$250... tinting was very well done, no damage to the car, no bubbles

ExTrEmE99

iTrader: (6)

Automall tint specialist-280~ HP sunteka
Rocky Mountain tint -400~ full ceramic
Omega tintwerks -260( i think) -3M i think


Those are probably the most experienced and best quality tints around the bay area.

Let me warn you, They are pricey...


Check out the norcal section for more info and other shops..

Mr2KiEu

iTrader: (1)

i just scheduled my appointment today with vincent at omega tintwerks for May 23rd. heard he does a awesome job. recommended by many many people on different car forums in the bay area. check out Yelp.com for reviews. plus its close to where i live.....

he gives a discount for being apart of a car forum....

nabbun

lol i love it how you said ALL 5 Windows like that's all you have. You'll be tinting 7 if you plan to do the sides and the back. they count every PIECE of glass as a window so the little quarters are considered 1 window each.

I did 8 windows (the sunroof was thrown in for free) for $450 by Tom at www.artoftint.com He's the chit in NYC. Only dude in NYC that has Huper Optik and that company doesn't give their film to just anyone. I couldn't tell ya where to go in cali tho. I chose to go 35% all around because it's the perfect balance between darkness for privacy and Lightness so I don't get my @$$ pulled the freak over and get searched for weed.

Brian231

Most important thing with tint places, make sure they do not cut the seals around the window on the outside when they prepare the tint and for the 2gen, and also make sure they do not use a heat gun on the outside black gloss between the front and rear window, it will bubble and flake off. Many CL members have encountered this issue.

maxwebr

I am having my car done Friday at automall tint specialists. Had another car done here and it was a exceptional job. I am planning V-cool 70% in the front windows, Suntek in the rears.
Nice thing about this company is they will not charge for removal on side windows if the police ticket you. I have had no problems before, but always a possiblity. That is why I am going with the high light transmission. V Cool is nice since it reduces the heat index through the window.

$440 quoted. V cool is more expensive product

i3urton

get ceramic or hybrid tint...

Lex Law

I did not know better, did not itemize, and was not expecting the sunroof, but I am really glad they did that too. I have heard good things about Huper Optik, Llumar and 3M. Ceramic is also the way to go if available (no Llumar ceramic, though). Metallic may interfere with AM reception. Dye is the cheapest. Ebay do-it-yourself may turn purple! 35% is legal in my state, and is classy without being ghetto or anemic. Get all the sides and back tinted the same (for a uniform look). But with the sunroof cover open or not, if you go darker it should be in front sides, not the rear sides or back. That's because you will have an untinted front windshield, so the front sides may appear light compared to the rear sides. Good luck.

IS4Mylene

I would recommend Sidney over at the Auto Mall Tint Factory/Specialist. He did a great job on my 3 series ... Huper Optik 30% on the rear and 40% on all of the side windows. Cost was high due to my requesting him use Huper Optik tint, but he also uses Suntek and V-cool (which is expensive too).

mjf

Thanks for all the information. I am going for a high end tint job and material.
Money is secondary at this point.

M

mjf

Thanks for all the info.!
Can you post some pics of your tints.
Thanks

M

mikeho

If you want high-end, go with Rocky Mountain Window Tint in Livermore. http://www.rockymountainwindowtint.com. Matt is superb with what he does and you can't go wrong. I spent months looking around for a place and spent time browsing through the thread: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=271056

Go with ceramic. It's thicker, pricier, but it cuts down on the heat. Since the tint is part of the material and not dye, it won't fade to those ridiculous purples that you see. Any tint job that has bad bubbles means a bad job.

Bottom line is that not all places will do what you want. I visited Premier (Fremont), Auto Mall Tint Specialist (Fremont), and a few others. Neither Premier nor Auto Mall will put ceramic on the back of the ISX50 because the curved window is "too hard" for the thicker ceramic film. They will do ceramic on the sides and regular on the rear. That's bad because then you'll have a difference in the color between the sides and the rear just due to different manufacturers.

Matt recommended 35% on the sides, 15% on the back. The bigger window on the back and the angle to the sky means more light, which means that you'll need a darker to get the same look. I did an even 35% on the sides because I hate the gradient/darker-on-back-windows look. If you don't mind that, then do 35% on the fronts, 15% on the sides, 15% on the back.

Don't do any darker than 35% on the fronts, since the cops will pull you over. You don't think so at first, but one day, they'll get you. There are stories in NorCal about that. Also, 15% on the fronts will make it too dark to drive at night. Even with 15% on the rear, I have problems seeing out the back sometimes. But the tint is worth it.

You wanted some pictures, so here they are:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mitalum...7603686772537/
I documented the entire tinting process. The benefit of using Rocky Mountain is that he doesn't have pre-cut templates. He will measure and cut each window to what you want. Rocky Mountain charges $399 out-the-door.

longjohn

I second that. We have had 4 cars tinted by Matt over the last 8 years and each job has been perfect. To this day there is not a bubble on a single window that we've had tinted. He is also very dependable and professional. We just ordered a new Prius, and I'll be giving him a call right after the clearbra gets installed.

John