I had no tint on my 2007 MCS and my 2014 R58 came with tint from the dealer. I love it! I had talked myself into the "let lots of light in the cabin" on the other car but tint rocks even though I don't live where it's real hot. I don't know what kind/% it is but it's great. One friend of mine got a ticket for too much tint in Tucson.

 

I'm surprised the sunroof hasn't been mentioned. In sunny areas that's where most of the heat comes from! I went with my state's legal limit on the side windows, and nothing on the back windshield (I might do that one, too, if necessary). The sunroof comes factory tinted, but not dark enough, so I added to it.

The 4 side windows and roof cost $150 at a shop in Hot Springs. I had graphics done at the same time, so that might be a better rate than if I just did the tint.

 

i've always felt the front windshield is where most of the heat came from as it typically has 0 tint on it and is the largest. the sunroof has at least SOME factory tint plus the measly fabric shade.

 

That may be true, but do you really want to interfere with your vision, especially at night? It would be like wearing sunglasses at midnight!

 

In Arizona, many of us do not have a sunroof due to the heat here.

 

I can understand that, but if heavily tinted, it offers a way to continuously vent heat in the "ajar" position while parked, and to quickly expel it when ready to roll. I keep mine shut above about 75° unless parked, though.

I assume the F56 has the same ability to put down windows and open sunroof from afar by holding down the unlock button that my R56 had, but it's been too cold to test.

 

i'll have to disagree with you, mostly because of experience. some may or may not know that a higher quality tint does not need to be as dark to provide the same heat blocking benefits as lower quality tint. while i did go 35% ceramic all around, i went with a higher quality tint for the front windshield. specifically, i went with Llumar Airblue 80 (http://www.aptinting.com/llumar-air-blue-80/). it's EXTREMELY subtle in regards to the "darkening" and does a magnificent job of blocking heat from coming in.

below are 3 pictures. i took 1 the day i got my tint done in the daytime. the other 2 were taken last night, at 8:30PM. i would hope you can agree that my vision is not impacted at all by this tint.

 

Very cool (lol). JC, in NY is it illegal to tint the windshield? If so could they give you a big nasty ticket and make you remove the tint? Or can one even tell it's tinted compared to other windshields?

 

the answer is yes, it is illegal. can you tell...noone has yet. my wife knew i was getting tint but dind't know about the windshield until i told her. i was also concerned about how dark it would look but now that i did it, i'm glad i went the route as it's not noticeable.

as for removing, i accept the risk. the 35% tint is already illegal (70% in NY) so the windshield is the least of my worries. i will say though that the 35% ceramic tint looks like 70% low-quality tint, so i really do feel i'm in the clear simply due to the quality of the tint used. if you are going to do comparisons of % tint other car owners have done, you need to know the brands as well. i can put 35% brand vs no brand next to each other and the no-name brand will look like 0% limo tint compared to the name-brand.

here is one more picture of how it looks from the outside looking in:

 

Marco--just out of curiosity, how old are you? If you're young, you may find that as you age you want all the light you can get. Besides natural aging of your eyes, cataracts can be a factor. I'm 64 and Hubby is 71, and it's definitely something we think about. Not that I necessarily disagree with you, but it's something to consider.

I see people doing things with their cars that might look good, but have unintended consequences. My son-in-law put blackout film on my daughter's last MINI. I had a catfit when I followed her one time at night. With brakes on, the brakelights were barely what "running" lights would be. Great set up for an accident in the city traffic they typically drive in.

 

70% in NYC, those cops must wanna see wuzzup inside those cars lol. But the high quality thing makes sense. They're probably not gonna test yours over some guy who slapped some $5 garbage all over his beater Tbird.

 

34 years old. i can respect that with the varying genres, considerations may be different. i don't really see a negative consequence to what i've done, but im' sure time will tell.

 

100% agree. The film you used in front, does it help with glare?

Sent from cellular device.

 

cant' say that i noticed any difference in the glare both before and after. can't answer that, sorry. it really just looks like a regular window.

 

In Texas I'm permitted a film on the windshield if it is non-tinted. I wonder if I can find one that is not tinted but reflects heat. Going to check on that. Great idea Marco.

 

That came up the other day at our local Cars & Coffee. There is such a thing--not sure about heat reflection, but it wouldn't be a bad idea for an upright windshield like the MINI has. I'll try to find out more about it and post.

 

How do you do the inspection sticker and then when you have re-inspect the car?

 

TX, this might be what you need. Never used it myself, but I think it's what the Cars & Coffee guy was using:

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...omotive-Films/

Edit--I might mention that the film I saw the other day wais on the OUTSIDE of the windshield, hence the usefulness on preventing stone dings. I don't know if the 3M film is inside or outside. Obviously that would also affect windshield stickers, for those who live in states that have inspections (mine doesn't).

 

I put 35% on all the windows front/back/rear and 15% on the sunroof. I love it. Would not go darker on the windows. Could have probably done 5% on the sunroof. Luminar Pinnacle Ceramic.

 

I've had my windshield tinted on my non-Mini for a few years. I used AirBlue 80. I think it was the first tint marketed for use on the windshield. There are many others now including a clear film. I was hesitant to get it done for many of the reasons people posted above but I've had no problems and really glad I did. My wife got hers tinted as well.

1) Illegal... yes technically it is illegal but I've actually heard two arguments on this. 'clear' is actually not literally clear. Even the windshield itself is not clear. I think MB even sold a car with a factory tinted windshield. Our tint shop mentioned the 80% tint is legal because technically it is clear. Not sure I believe him, but in reality it is really hard to tell there is anything on the windshield. I've had the car inspected twice and they did not even notice the tint (obviously since they tore it with their razor blade). No one I've had in the car has noticed it. Even when I point it out they can't really tell.

2) Obstruct my vision... I was way too worried about this. In fact I think it improves my vision. Even with my 50+ year old eyes. The slight blue tint cuts down a little on glare and those annoying blue headlights at night. One of the reasons I got the tint is because sometimes the glint of sunlight off chrome on a car in-front of me can trigger a migraine. I think it helps in this regard but not as much as I'd like. Even at night I don't think the tint is a problem. If you had a piece of this tint in front of you, you'd see how transparent it is.

3) What to do with the %$#@ sticker... In TX we have an inspection and registration sticker. My solution was to have them cut the corner of the tint out and put the stickers on the glass. The inspection guys cut the tint by accident with their razor when they were removing it. Then I found this product http://www.stickershield.com/home.html and it works great. On my Wife's Mini we had them tint the entire windshield and used the Sticker Shield to apply the inspection and registration stickers. They hold firmly but you can remove them if you want. Somewhere I posted some pics of it. I'll try to find it. After Mar TX is getting rid of the inspection sticker so that will be one last thing to worry about.

We both like the tint and when I get a new car I'll tint the entire windshield and use the sticker shield.

 

Here are some pics of the Sticker Shield product. These pics are not on a Mini but that doesn't make any difference here. The product is very similar to a screen protector. In fact I think you could use a screen protector just as effectively, but may be a little pricey.

1) cut the product the same size as your sticker.
2) stick the sticker to the back of the Sticker Shield
3) remove the white paper backing and stick it on the glass.

In the pics below show the process. In the one pic you can see the old and new registration sticker on the windshield. The new sticker is using the Sticker Shield and is on the tinted portion of the windshield. In the last pic I moved it where the old sticker was. It sticks well enough that it won't come off, but you can still remove it.

 

Houston area peeps: Who do you recommend for tint? I have used Pablo Blue in Webster on my last two cars. He does great work but your car might smell like cigarette smoke.

 

How do you talk the inspection guys into using Sticker Shield? I can't even get them to let me put in the sticker. They always say they have to do it, so it ends up crooked and they never clean all the old adhesive off properly.

 

Go to xpert tint by 59 and beltway 8 kind of

 

I also used Xpert Tint. Turns out Momentum Mini gets their cars tinted there. I was over there checking the tint place out one day when one of the Mini sales guys came in. I had talked to this particular sales guy during the launch event and he was saying how they use the ceramic tint, but did not tell me where they had it done. I bought my MCS from Clear Lake, but did not want the tint they offered.

$500 for the entire job.