I realize this is an extremely vague Autopian Asks, but if there’s anything I’ve learned during the process of tinting my 2021 BMW i3S Rex Giga World it’s that everyone has an opinion on tint. Do you like the way it looks? How much tint is too much tint? Is ceramic worth it? Do you stay within legal limits? Do you have trouble seeing at night? Is it going to gain you appreciable EV range? Anyway, let’s get into it.
I recently got my BMW i3S tinted, and if I’m honest, I didn’t want to, I sort of had to. The truth is that driving in LA with a car that has untinted windows is true misery, and I found myself regularly having to put my left hand up near my door glass to block the sun from burning my face. (It doesn’t help that the i3’s sun visor does not telescope!). Not only that, but I had to crank on the air conditioning when it really wasn’t even that hot outside, it was just the radiative heat transfer toasting me. The result was reduced range.
Of course, AC compressors don’t really use up that much range when compared to a heater, but between the efficiency drop and the comfort compromises, it was clear to me that tintlessness was jut not gonna work. That’s a shame, because I don’t like the way tint looks on a car.
Have a look at my BMW i3S before the tint, and you’ll see that glass was a prominent element of its design. Look at how that raer window is squeezed at the rear, but expands forward into a tall second-row window, which rises up to join the front glass. There’s just so much of it, and it is a clearly well thought-out element of the car’s design:
I think, especially on the models that have body-colored roof trim, the glass looks amazing:
But tinting glass essentially removes it in the eyes of the viewer. It’s no longer glass, visually speaking.
My car’s tint is fairly modest, but you can imagine how a darker-tinted car would look no different than if you’d replaced the glass with a piece of black-painted sheetmetal:
Glass is a beautiful thing, and to essentially hide it by tinting it, I think, is actually a step backwards in some cases. I think the best example of this is cars with tall greenhouses — boxy off-road vehicles in particular. I’ve written about this before:
One example I give in that article (aside from the Wrangler shown above) is the Jeep Grand Wagoneer. Look at how gorgeous it looks with its stock glass:
And look at how much of the magic has been lost by essentially turning the glass into black panels:
Anyway, this concept of “glass is beautiful” isn’t a new one in cars or in architecture, but there are practical concerns that sometimes dominate, like in my case.
I could have just slapped some ceramic on there and it likely would have still kept the heat off my face without much tint, but ceramic coating still doesn’t look the same as perfectly clear glass from the outside. What’s more, as someone who wears glasses and doesn’t plan on getting prescription sunglasses, this is a little less straining to my eyes, so I’m quite happy with my decision to go 20% in the rear and what might look like 50% up front but can’t be since it’s not legal. I reckon it protects my interior from sun-damage, as well.
Driving at night isn’t an issue with this modest tint level, I use the AC much less, I feel comfortable, and even though I love the look of glass, I think on the i3S with the black trim it looks OK. I prefer the clear, but it’s not a big deal.
Anyway, tint is a hugely contentious topic, I’ve found while reading up on which levels I should get for my car. So let me know your thoughts in the comments!
First thing I do to any of my cars. It is a must. I love the way it looks, it decreases the heat in the interior (might be a placebo affect but oh well), and no one can see my fat ass eating an Egg McMuffin at the stoplight.
Spring for the expensive tint. Expensive light tint will be cooler than cheap dark tint by a shocking amount.
I bought a used car that had a Florida Tint. Dark in the back, lighter in the front. Someone had cleaned the back window with ammonia and it was impossible to see out of clearly as a result.
When I went to get the tint fixed, I found out that the front windows were too dark for my state. So, while I was having the back window re-tinted, I had the front windows re-tinted as well. I was concerned about interference of stuff like bluetooth, since I was going to caravan across the country with my wife behind me, so I sprung for the more expensive ceramic tint.
The result was something like 20 degrees cooler inside on a hot day than the cheap tint the car used to have, even though it is lighter *. I’ve parked the car in the middle of the parking lot on a super bright 120 deg day and the inside actually feels cooler than the outside after 10 hours of baking.
Of all the modifications I’ve done to a car, expensive tint is the best one.
* Oh, and if you are into that sort of thing, the expensive tint has a different tone and tends to be blacker and less dark gray. The result is the windows look like they are tinted more than they actually are. I still have the cheap tint on the back windows and it’s 15% darker than the front windows. But from the outside, the cars looks like the front windows are as dark, if not darker than the rears. You can tell a difference from the inside that the front windows aren’t as dark, but from the outside, you can’t.
I’m not pro tint but I can understand if someone gets it for tempurature control reasons. Just hate remembering in the 2000s when so many people were trying to get the “murdered out” look, and it also seemed that half the cars in my highschool parking lot had shitty tint jobs that were either turning purple, peeling off, or some combination of the two. I’ve been pro glass ever since.
For EVs particular, as you mention, AC is much more efficient than heat, so for an EV, a darker color with no tint is probably better to maximize passive heating in the winter. Unless you got vinyl seats and like short shorts, left many a skin graft on my parents cars in the late 1900s that way.
I think on the two tone with black like your i3 it doesn’t help, but on some cars without a black color it can look fairly sharp.
Also I recommend all those that really want to tint their front with 0% should totally do that, and then take a nice long drive somewhere desolate and remote.
I think modern EVs with heat pumps instead of resistive heating elements should get close to the same efficiency for heat and ac.
But only down to a certain temperatures, then I think they usually have some resistive in addition for really cold. Also seat and steering wheel heaters help.
Anecdotally, estimated range on my Bolt EV goes down about 20% during reasonably mild Carolina winters vs somewhat less mild Carolina summers.
Yes, we run the seat heaters, steering wheel heater and defrosters in the ioniq 5 and it definitely takes a toll on the estimated range. I don’t really know enough about it to know if there is also some sort of heating for the battery pack when it gets very cold.
Generally on liquid cooled batteries like the Ioniqs and Bolts they also have resistive heaters in the pack to help regulate temperature, so in the winter it will use battery power to maintain battery temperature. If plugged in to charge overnight it shouldn’t matter much but if not plugged in during the day at work in the parking lot it could definitely use up some charge.
I’m fine with it. EXCEPT if you tint the windshield completely. That is some of the stupidest @#$! you can do if you ever drive at anything but noon on a sunny day.
I don’t like it generally. It makes it almost impossible to see at night when driving, and I generally don’t think it looks good on vehicles. Also it very frequently looks like trash after a few years of sitting in the sun fading and bubbling up. That being said, I love the idea of films that are transparent in the visible spectrum but block UV and IR though for material protection and heat mitigation.
If you get it done by a quality installer, it tends to hold up pretty well. My daily driver Mazda6 was tinted in October of 2015 and still looks good with no peeling or bubbles.
As a convertible driver – my tint is sunscreen, sunglasses and a Dodgers ballcap.
You could save money and go with red tint by skipping the sunscreen.
Done that.
Got the Basal Cell scar from it.
Now I keep sunscreen and insect repellent in the driver’s door pocket – Lip balm and Altoids in the console.
The first sunny day I went out for a long drive in the Miata I thought I did well. Sunscreen all the face and arm bits. Have a hat handy (decidedly not Dodgers though).
I realized that the skin on my right knee was exposed the entire time *after* the drive. Worst sunburn I’ve had in my life – constrained to a 2 inch strip below the line of my shorts.
Ah yes – Crispy Knee Syndrome.
It’s an affliction amongst middle-aged men who drive cars without roofs whilst wearing very short pants.
It is closely related to, and often occurs in conjunction with, Crispy Arm Syndrome, Crunchy Ear Syndrome, My Neck Is On Fire Syndrome, and I Think The Top Of My Head Is Going To Melt And Take The Rest Of My Hair With It Syndrome
My pet peeve is mismatched tint between the front doors and anything behind them. Make it all the same percent tint and it generally looks decent. The mismatch drives me frigging crazy tho.
Some states restrict tint on the front windows but allow it very dark on the rear windows of an SUV / minivan. My Forester has barely tinted front side windows and dark rear glass, I assume from the factory since I didn’t choose it this way.
Yeap, my state is like that. My old minivan has a deep tint in the back with all that greenhouse, but a much lighter one on the front windows to stay legal.
I know, but it sucks. If that were the case I’d tint only the front windows to try to get it even.
My preference would be to un-tint the rest of the glass instead of going darker up front. Since it’s not an aftermarket film I assume de-tinting is not an option without swapping the glass if it’s even available less tinted.
First thing I did to my wife’s van when we got it from CarMax. It came from Ohio and the rear windows were tinted so much darker than the fronts. It looked goofy. Kentucky cares not about tinted windows, at least where we live in the cornfields. So, I had the front windows done to match (not excessively dark, just matched). It looks 100% better.
Mismatched tint looks bad. Fronts and rears should be close enough in % that you can’t tell they are different.
That’s a state issue. I got a minivan in a state that had no restriction on rear tint, but a lot of restrictions on the front windows. Since a minivan is basically a rolling green house, I went pretty dark in the back and lighter in the front to stay legal.
Speeding is illegal too… but who cares 😛
Yes, but you never want to stack offenses if possible. You’re more likely to get away with speeding if you don’t have any obvious illegalities.
I’m aware. It still looks bad.
In that case, it was a minivan. Cool looking was not anywhere close to as important as being actually cool.
20 back, 30 on sides. All cars. I have light sensitivity issues, so I’m thankful for it
Same here! Gotta get some relief from the glare, but without compromising night vision.
I feel like older cars look better with no tint, especially ones with large greenhouses.
Team fishbowl for sure. To me, the massive increase in popularity of dark tint feels like part of the anonymization and increased outward aggression we’ve moved towards as a society. Tint replaced fishbowls so you can’t see who is a terrible driver. Angry Jeep grills replaced smiley faced spare tire covers.
I saw a first gen new beetle the other day and was struck by how joyful it looked – red, no tint, a flower in the vase, and manual. It’s something that’s missing from our cars today. I will say though, I’m considering getting some high dollar UV and IR only tint installed on my XJ just to reduce the greenhouse effect in the summer. But I don’t want to lose my fishbowl!
I, for one, like the anonymization.
Like you I drive a fishbowl car (Fit), but I’m in Tampa Bay. Tint is crucial to survival. Looks good too.
I’m a huge fan of 50% tint, especially ceramic tint that blocks UV. The UV blocking alone does more for temperature control than the percentage of the tint, and is subtle enough to make no difference when night driving, but makes day driving/headlights from the rearview far more bearable. I can understand 35-40% if you live in Florida or Texas, but 50% is a great balance and 50 state legal as far as I know.
Definitely not 50 state legal.
In VT front three are not allowed any tint (except above the AS-1). The no tint on the windshield applies for 4 or 5 other states. 5 others plus DC are at 70% up front.
I thought most states banned any tint on the windshield, and yeah I think Utah required over 50% on the front windows too. I could be wrong on that though, it was 15 years ago the last time I looked at it.
I should have specified, I don’t run any tint on the windshield at all, including above the AS1 line, I was referring to front and rear windows and the back glass at most, but I think VA has some of the most strict tint laws which is what I get the joy of following.
I tint all of my cars, with ceramic, nothing extremely dark but it helps with glare recovery for me from bright lights around me at night. I think some cars do look great without it, but I think some cars look nicer with windows that become less of a visual element of the design.
I hate tints because I like driving at night. In my 91 Audi 90 Quattro 20V hand-me-down my brother put the darkest tint he could on the rear window while he lived in San Diego, I couldn’t see shit through the rear window backing up in the dark, and the tint on the front windows didn’t help me when backing up using the side mirrors either, so usually I’d roll down my driver’s side and passenger side windows when backing up in the dark.
One thing I think we can all agree on is tints should be OPTIONAL! Some of us don’t want tinted windows, some of us do, it should be an OPTION, NOT MANDATORY!
We live in a sunny area where summer temperatures are high. Window tint is an absolute requirement. Ceramic tint is the most costly, but it is worth it.
If you don’t like the look, then choose the lightest most transparent tint available. You will thank yourself for window tint. Actually, I will take that back. Once you tint a vehicle you don’t even notice that the day star is trying to cancer you, and you forget it’s there.
I have family members and friends that have had their windshields tinted with the lightest tint possible and they say it’s the bees knees. I’ve not experimented with full windshield tint yet, and would like to hear my fellow Autopians opine.
I have my windshield at 70%. I honestly can’t tell that it’s tinted and I don’t think anyone else could either. Made a massive difference with heat in the summer.
Thank you for your reply.
I used to despise tint. I removed it from dozens of cars as a detailer. Then, I got my E46. Even in PA, there were times where I had to roll down the windows in the middle of winter because the greenhouse effect was so intense.
After a lot of research, I found an awesome installer near me who charges super reasonable prices, and got 35% ceramic tint installed on all of the windows except the windshield. I’m a believer now. The ceramic tint is lighter from the inside than the outside, so it’s barely darker than untinted glass, but the reduction in heat from the sun is incredible.
For my E83, I went with 35% on the sides and 20% on the rear to reduce glare from headlights. What a difference! As a bonus, the AC doesn’t need to work nearly as hard in the summer, which is awesome as I previously felt the cooling capabilities of the E83 were slightly insufficient.
I don’t mind the look of lighter tints. Limousine tints look stupid and are dangerous, but practical percentages are fine. I think that seeing so many tint jobs that were poorly installed, way too dark, and used cheap, non-ceramic film gave me the wrong impression. Good tint is amazing.
I can’t stand the fishbowl and my wife has a bad habit of staring aimlessly out the window, which can appear to other drivers as her staring through their soul.
I like 20% as it matches OEM rear window tint.
If the tint is too dark for me as a pedestrian to be able to make eye contact with you the driver, it’s too much. I need to see where you’re looking to see if you’ve noticed that I, an entity 1/10th the weight of your vehicle at most, exist.
Also other drivers and motorcyclists! If I can’t see that you see me then no idea what you’re gonna do.
I hadn’t considered motorcyclists, very true! Bicyclists while we’re at it. I had thought of other drivers but didn’t include it to make a more specific point. But yeah, if I’m at a four way stop, I want to be able to see what everyone else is paying attention to so I know who’s going, since nobody knows how right of way works at those things.
Tint rules, 30% is a good compromise.
I understand the functionality of it, but I think it looks terrible in 90% of applications. It also has no business being on any car older than like 1995, unless in very specific circumstances.
I hate feeling like I’m in a fishbowl. Gimme the tint and the cooler temps that come with it.
Window tint for me, but I really only like factory tint that is laminated in the glass, those seem to be the only ones that last. The Cruiser has factory tinted glass for all windows except the front 3 and its excellent at keeping heat and prying eyes out.
I didn’t even read it yet, but I’m going to offer my opinion anyway.
Mild ceramic tint is great. Almost everything else is unacceptable. Any metalized tint should require immediate destruction of the vehicle and forfeiture of of a single toe of your choice.
I really want mirror tint for the vertical back window on my Del Sol so I can reflect brodozer laser beams back to their source.
You blind me? No, you blind you.
Okay, fair enough. You may keep your toes.
But wait, you didn’t stipulate that Buzz gets to keep their Del Sol!
Everyone gets to keep their Del Sols! They’re so awesome they are exempt.
Haha the problem there is that the reflection would hit their grill. They likely wouldn’t even notice.
Active window angle adjuster!
3M conspicuity silver/white striping will take care of that.
It is made in solid colors.
Bumper level or around there.
This is the dot grade.
Don’t waste time on lower grade reflective.
I agree, 20% ceramic for me also. The ceramic helps cut down on the hot feeling of the sun on skin. My wife went 50% ceramic and has regrets. We can’t see out the side windows of her car at night. She also had it applied over a factory ~10% tint so she is probably over the legal limit. But tint laws are rarely enforced in our state.
Exactly. On all accounts.