[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by LegalDrugDealer

Hello everyone,

I've made an account to report my personal experience with tints. I've been following this thread as my usual first mod is to head straight to a tint shop, and I was concerned with others' experiences with the dimmed display.

I went with a 15% tint - Xpel color stable series (Prime CS I believe it's called) and I haven't had any noticeable dimming on my dash. I've already driven in cloudy, sunny, and nighttime conditions and I have no issues. This particular model only has ~27% IR rejection. Because of this I do notice I need to keep the AC running a bit higher to keep cool as compared to my previous vehicles that have had tints with higher IR rejection, but I only consider this a minor sacrifice.

Hope this helps someone in the future who still wants dark tints.

Keep in mind the darker you go, the more susceptible you will be to do dimming especially if you don't live in a very sunny region (like Florida). It's pretty simple...if you have more/intense sunlight, you will have higher IR levels therefore GOOD for the dimming issues even if you have a darker tint. If you go really dark and live in the northeastern US/Canada you are going to run into the issue a little more. The answer still seems to be dyed films though with little to no IR rejection (until BMW can make a fix - not likely).

I want to be able to switch back to a ceramic film but like you it's a little sacrifice right now to have screens that aren't dimming.

[testing02hwr]

Just wanted to give another data point...

Picked up my M340 at the beginning of March and got it tinted right away before everything closed down. I got Suntek CTX 40 in the front and 35 in the back with NO dimming issues. Very light tint but what are you going to do living in VA.

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by testing02hwr

Just wanted to give another data point...

Picked up my M340 at the beginning of March and got it tinted right away before everything closed down. I got Suntek CTX 40 in the front and 35 in the back with NO dimming issues. Very light tint but what are you going to do living in VA.

Do you mean Suntek CXP (carbon tint) or Llumar CTX (ceramic tint)? There is no Suntek CTX.

[TorontoGambler]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

If you didn't ask for Huper Optik ceramic, I highly doubt the installed it (even though the shop may use that). Many tint shops that do dealership work have stock of dyed and ceramic films that are Russian or Chinese made but have terrible heat rejection. So when the dealer says "we're throwing in ceramic tint" keep in mind that all films are not created equal.

Also 30% Huper Optik is one of the films we tested and it made the dimming issues even worse compared to the following (25% Suntek CXP, 30% Autobahn Black dyed, 20% Autobahn Black dyed, 20% Formula One Pinnacle Ceramic, and Formula One Classic Color Stable dyed).

Ceramic and hybrid carbon films are the worst offenders (especially the darker you go). Regular dyed films produce the least amount of dimming (but still dim slightly) and aren't as sensitive to how dark you go but they still are affected by darkness level or VLT.

The biggest difference between the dyed films and ceramic films seems to be related to the IR reduction. VLT being equal for both, the ceramic causes the most up and down dimming (example going from 2 to 10 back down to 2 then to 5 - assume brightness levels are a 1 to 10 scale). This is especially evident when it's a sunny day and you drive under tree covered areas or when the sun is coming in and out of the clouds. Also as you change direction...it's up and down and up and down.

The dyed films are much more stable with the ups and downs in the dimming. They still dim (say it's overcast, you may see them dim to a 5 or 6). On sunny days they may be at an 8 or 9, and will usually stay at this level even when going into tree covered areas, being surrounded by tall buildings, sun in and out of clouds, etc.

My last picture I posted in this thread was with a dyed Autobahn Black 30% (these are made by Huper Optiks). I've gone through 4 different tints since then, and now have 20% dyed Formula One Classic. This film has been the most stable and produced the least up and down dimming issues to date.

Luckily my tint shop has been awesome and have been using my car as a test mule to try and figure the issue out (they do work for the local BMW dealership as well so they want to be prepared to add a disclaimer if anyone comes in with a G20 and asks for ceramic films).

Hey Burrcold. Thanks for all the feedback! So based on what you know now what would you recommend for those of us north of the border? I love the tint look but also a fan of my iphone with max light on my screen... same with my digital dash! And which shop did you use in the GTA?

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by TorontoGambler

Hey Burrcold. Thanks for all the feedback! So based on what you know now what would you recommend for those of us north of the border? I love the tiny look but also a fan of my iphone with max light on my screen... same with my digital dash! And which shop did you use in the GTA?

If I had to do it over again, I would still choose the non-ceramic or carbon tint. So just a regular color stable (high quality) dyed film.

Pure Auto did mine and I went with FormulaOne Classic. Amazing quality dyed tint. If ever this dimming issue gets resolved, I'll go back to a ceramic tint (FormulaOne Pinnacle Ceramic).

http://www.pureauto.ca/

[TorontoGambler]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

If I had to do it over again, I would still choose the non-ceramic or carbon tint. So just a regular color stable (high quality) dyed film.

Pure Auto did mine and I went with FormulaOne Classic. Amazing quality dyed tint. If ever this dimming issue gets resolved, I'll go back to a ceramic tint (FormulaOne Pinnacle Ceramic).

http://www.pureauto.ca/

Thanks!

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by TorontoGambler

Thanks!

No problem! I want to figure this out as badly as everyone else who's visiting this thread...so any info/experiences I can provide, I'm happy to share!

[jsandhu96]

Looking to get tint for my car. I live in California so I can't go too dark up front. I was thinking 35% for the back 3 windows and 50% for the two up front. Do you think this would cause a lot of dimming issues? It seems like the key is to not get ceramic tint right?

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by jsandhu96

Looking to get tint for my car. I live in California so I can't go too dark up front. I was thinking 35% for the back 3 windows and 50% for the two up front. Do you think this would cause a lot of dimming issues? It seems like the key is to not get ceramic tint right?

Even with getting ceramic, you being in California and going pretty light on the tint, you should be fine. If you go with a normal dyed film at those same percentages, you definitely won't have any issue.

[jsandhu96]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

Even with getting ceramic, you being in California and going pretty light on the tint, you should be fine. If you go with a normal dyed film at those same percentages, you definitely won't have any issue.

Yeah I orginally wanted to go darker in the back, but just worried about the dimming issues because that would definitely be annoying.

[Gdiddy23]

I did 25% 3M window tint. Not too sure about the exact specifics about it but live in the Minneapolis area where we get a good amount of sun.

I was actually had my window tint tested the other week and it came in at 23% visibility. No issues with any kind of screen dimming etc in any type of weather so far.

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by Gdiddy23

I did 25% 3M window tint. Not too sure about the exact specifics about it but live in the Minneapolis area where we get a good amount of sun.

I was actually had my window tint tested the other week and it came in at 23% visibility. No issues with any kind of screen dimming etc in any type of weather so far.

It's most likely 3M color stable dyed film, which wouldn't give you issues with dimming.

[IM340]

just got 20% dyed film, no issues. Dimming kicked in at worst on a very cloudy, raining Melbourne afternoon (ie pretty dark outside).

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by IM340

just got 20% dyed film, no issues. Dimming kicked in at worst on a very cloudy, raining Melbourne afternoon (ie pretty dark outside).

That's like mine now. I'll notice it ever so slightly dim on a very cloudy day but that's because the darkness of the tint adversely effects the dimming issue as well (I have 20% as well)...still nowhere close to what ceramic films do, especially a dark ceramic film.

[golferboy2312]

I go in for a Suntek Carbon tomorrow, wish me luck!

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by golferboy2312

I go in for a Suntek Carbon tomorrow, wish me luck!

What percentage? Carbon films are in the middle of being an issue or not. You're in Texas so lots of sun and if you aren't going dark, you may be okay. Suntek Carbon 25% is what I originally originally originally went with lol and it caused me dimming issues. Switched to a dyed film, it didn't give me issues, switched to a ceramic film (and fairly dark at 18% VLT) and it gave the most issues, then switched to another dyed film and no issues. Fingers crossed for you!

[golferboy2312]

I did not end up getting it done. They only had a choice of 30% or 80%. I thought 80% would be worthless, I was too worried about the 30%.

[jsandhu96]

Got 3M color stable on all my windows except for the windshield. 50% in the front and 35% in the back. No problems to see yet. Wanted to get darker and a ceramic tint so hopefully they fix the issue eventually, but the color stable definitely looks good and my car isn't burning like usual lol.

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by jsandhu96

Got 3M color stable on all my windows except for the windshield. 50% in the front and 35% in the back. No problems to see yet. Wanted to get darker and a ceramic tint so hopefully they fix the issue eventually, but the color stable definitely looks good and my car isn't burning like usual lol.

Congrats! Yes they definitely need to find a fix. Mine are dark (20% all around) but a color stable dyed film as well...not ceramic which I want. But I'll take it for now until they make an update.

[jsandhu96]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

Congrats! Yes they definitely need to find a fix. Mine are dark (20% all around) but a color stable dyed film as well...not ceramic which I want. But I'll take it for now until they make an update.

20% all around probably looks great. Stupid California with the front window tint law, just didn't want to take the risk of getting pulled over for no reason other than that lol

[cigaro]

Man this whole issue is such bullshit.

Its starting to get very hot in So Cal and I want to put a ceramic tint on the car. I cannot believe I have to second guess my decision. And I definitely dont see an update being issued for this.

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by cigaro

Man this whole issue is such bullshit.

Its starting to get very hot in So Cal and I want to put a ceramic tint on the car. I cannot believe I have to second guess my decision. And I definitely dont see an update being issued for this.

It definitely does suck. That being said, you being in a very sunny climate makes the dimming issue not as bad. It's pretty simple, the more visible light and infrared light that can hit the sensor on your gauges, the less you will notice the dimming issues. I honestly don't think some cars have the problem and some cars don't. I think it's the same, but location plays such a big factor as well as how much someone even notices something like this. I'd wager that the few people who have said they have zero issues with a 20% ceramic tint, if I actually showed them what the issue is there would probably be a lot of head scratching (and many people wishing they had never seen it lol).