I have ‘97 M3 with stock windows - any benefits in having my windows tinted?
Does it help and is it worth it?
What would be a reasonable cost?
What recommendations do you have?
Thanks for the help.

i would definitely tint.
it does keep the temp down a bit on hot days.
there's nothing i hate more than the sun glaring in my eyes..
and blazing up my left forearm.

i go to al's tinting in aiea.
they do a really good job.
they remove your door panels and tint all the way up to the edge of the glass.
some places do not.
i believe the cost is $220.
prices went up :(
and last time i checked..
tnt tinting was charging about the same.
but tnt will not do illegal tints.

also ask if they have lifetime guarantee against fading, bubbling, peeling, etc.

Definitely tint. I went to TNT because they were the most convenient but I agree that Al's does a nice job too. Cost was $250 for a '02 M3.

TNT did a good job on the acura, i don't know who did my bmw (previous owner).

one thing i noticed about the materials. if you're tinting purely for function (heat reduction), the titanium does a better job. the jet black tint makes the glass hotter on sunny days. this is from a side-by-side comparison. but i do think the jet black looks better.

I also think tinting is a necessity in Hawaii, even though I never park in the sun, it really helps reduce interior temps which will save your interior, and the privacy while driving and reduced glare are a plus too. Just don't go too dark, and keep in mind your annual safety check price will increase by $5.

I like the smoke tints, but metallics definitely reject heat better, which means the a/c doesn't work as hard. My tinter has a film called "true gray" which looks like smoke but has great UV and heat rejection. Works great on my A4.

I use Oliver at Tintwerkes which is in the old round "Auto Audio" shop near Ala Moana. He cahrges me $99 for small cars with smoke tint, and I think it was $140 for the A4 with True Gray. Lifetime Warranty on films, and the warranty is good at any shop that carries the same films, not just his shop. Be sure when you get a lifetime warranty that there will be someone out there to honor it 5-10 years down the line.

Thank you for the help, the info is much appreciated.
Any other suggestions?

I had mine done at TNT over 9 years ago. Still no problems whatsoever, it still looks like new. I have the titanium on mine (works great, but black looks better).

i would definitely tint.
it does keep the temp down a bit on hot days.
there's nothing i hate more than the sun glaring in my eyes..
and blazing up my left forearm.

i go to al's tinting in aiea.
they do a really good job.
they remove your door panels and tint all the way up to the edge of the glass.
some places do not.
i believe the cost is $220.
prices went up :(
and last time i checked..
tnt tinting was charging about the same.
but tnt will not do illegal tints.

also ask if they have lifetime guarantee against fading, bubbling, peeling, etc.


Yeah Al's is the best and they dont mind doing darker than legal stuff either. ;)

Please PM me where you guys are geting safety checks on illegal tints. I wouldn't mind going a little darker on the M if I can avoid hassles from the "man".

I recommended my dad to Al's for his 350Z cuz they do good work. I went to tintwerkes for my bmw cuz I got a deal from Oliver

Can you guys elaborate as to what makes a tint job form Al's so good that its worth twice the price? Not trying to be a wise guy, I really want to know. As long as its trimmed well, bubble free and has a warranty I don't see why it would be worth paying extra. I watched Oliver do my cars and he treated them with care and removed the door panels when he tinted. So how is Al's or TNT worth $100+ more? :help

Can you guys elaborate as to what makes a tint job form Al's so good that its worth twice the price? Not trying to be a wise guy, I really want to know. As long as its trimmed well, bubble free and has a warranty I don't see why it would be worth paying extra. I watched Oliver do my cars and he treated them with care and removed the door panels when he tinted. So how is Al's or TNT worth $100+ more? :help

Here's a little story:

When I bought my car it had tint on the windshield. I took to TNT by the Saltlake Costco to have it removed, they wanted $100 and told me that they couldn't guarantee that water wouldn't run down into the electronics behind the dash, causing future problems... :eek:

I bailed out of there and went to Al's, who I had used before. Al charged me $25 and guaranteed me no problems...he said TNT wouldn't give me a guarantee because they don't know what they are doing.

I've used TNT before, and have even had them tint windows in my house, but based on the above experience I'll always go to Al's.

Wife's e34 and my mini-truck. Excuse my ignorance, but what is the difference between "smoke tint" and "true gray"?

Since I have your attention at this moment, I also looked Oliver up in the phone book and it only lists his business name & phone number but no address. Is he on the Atkinson side or the Piikoi side of Ala Moana?

Thank!
Astroboy

Well I always knew TNT tinting was insane pricewise. I just want to know what makes Al's so good...I guess its customer service. Good for them. I've never had a problem at Tintwerke though.

Astro: Tintwerkes is in the Auto Audio shop on Pensacola and, I think Queen. Just as you pass McKinley High school heading toward Nauru tower/Ala Moana, you cross Kapiolani and it right there on your right. Round building and hard to miss.

Smoke tint is just a dark film of gray. It looks good, and is not mirror finish, but it often lacks good UV and heat rejection. True Gray is a film with metallic layers in it (??) that make it look like smoke, but with excellent heat and UV resistance. Oliver has samples down there that you can pick from.

I guess it's True Gray for the e34 and smoke for the truck :cool
As soon as I sell those wheels... :D
Astro

Is it just me, or do like 75% of the people who get their windows tinted in HI go for mirror tint? Everytime I've been to the islands I seem to see a lot of it.

Well, 95Dinan3 has mirror tint. :biglaughb

Well, 95Dinan3 has mirror tint. :biglaughb
:flipa :flipa :flipa :flipa :flipa :flipa
You are trying to provoke me to get me banned aren't you.

:flipa :flipa :flipa :flipa :flipa :flipa
You are trying to provoke me to get me banned aren't you.
Nah, I think you're the only one on here that has mirror tint. I have that metallic black tint on all the cars. Thrlls, IslandS52, Sushiman, Gene V, desmobob, 2xM, ... all have the black or metallic black tint. So that makes it 12.5% at the most.

I think you see a lot of it here because it definitely has better heat and UV rejection properties, which is a big deal in the summertime. Most folks either don't know enough about films to ask for non-mirror mettalic tints, or have older tints.

I was actually thinking about upgrading to the new ceramic-embedded films but can't justify the $500 cost :D

Haha well I guess heat protection would be the most important issue out there so that really is no surprize. I just think it looks ugly on most cars. With my car I think it may get warmer inside on hot days...but then again I bought it with the tint so I can't give any before/after experience. Oh well, a black car will be hot no matter what.

I found a coupon for Tintwerks if anyone is interested:

http://www.ecouponshawaii.com/PartnerSearch.asp?PartnerID=27

Any chance we can get a BMWCCH discount? I thought I heard that it was in the discussion stage?
Thanks!
Astro

T n T' Tinting sucks donkey balls!!

OK, so my 2002 MCoupe was tinted on 11/2004 by the original owner, and it is already starting to crinkle on the driver's side window. So I call up TnT Tinting (there is a sticker and warranty # on the door jamb) to schedule a repair, and they do not want to honor the warranty. Keep in mind all my cars done at every other shop has given me a TRANSFERABLE warranty. They wanted $75 to re-do the window, but when I bitched knocked it to $55. Which is still 50% of what Tintwerkes would charge to do the entire car ($100)

So I'll say it again. TnT Tinting you suck big time. I hate you :mad

T n T' Tinting sucks donkey balls!!

OK, so my 2002 MCoupe was tinted on 11/2004 by the original owner, and it is already starting to crinkle on the driver's side window. So I call up TnT Tinting (there is a sticker and warranty # on the door jamb) to schedule a repair, and they do not want to honor the warranty. Keep in mind all my cars done at every other shop has given me a TRANSFERABLE warranty. They wanted $75 to re-do the window, but when I bitched knocked it to $55. Which is still 50% of what Tintwerkes would charge to do the entire car ($100)

So I'll say it again. TnT Tinting you suck big time. I hate you :mad
:lol :lol :lol
You mean MONKEY BALLS!
I would never take my car there for tinting. I've seen so many bum jobs that were done by them. On all of them, the rubber molding is cut...not my idea of a good tint job. They may have been good when they first started out, but not now!
The tint guy I use, used to work for them when they first started, but has since gone on his own...and does a fine job at that..so far anyway!

:lol :lol :lol
You mean MONKEY BALLS!
I would never take my car there for tinting. I've seen so many bum jobs that were done by them. On all of them, the rubber molding is cut...not my idea of a good tint job. They may have been good when they first started out, but not now!
The tint guy I use, used to work for them when they first started, but has since gone on his own...and does a fine job at that..so far anyway!


well whomever's balls...they suck 'um!!! :shifty

UPDATE: TnT tinting saw the posts here and on ForumsHawaii. They called me in, and yesterday, retinted the window that was crinkling.
So thanks to Henry and the staff at Iwilei TnT for stepping up to the plate and placating a jerk like me.

FYI, TNT staff is indeed reading these posts, so feel free to give them feedback on what they can do to improve their service.

Regards,
John

In tha past, I got tint from lots of different places. This time, I went with Al's tinting. Spent a little more and got the ceramic tint. Wow, cut heat in half. They did a great job. Had them do my truck and home.