What's the story on tints on Minis?

I'm thinking about getting one, but I'm curious to know if there is anything I should look out for when shopping around for this.

 

My windows aren't tinted. But I did look into getting a UV shield film put on, but through my polarized sunglasses I saw iridescent patterns in the samples. So I did not get anything.

I hear that tint nowadays does not turn purple like the old film tint did.

As long as you can still see out the windows at night, go as dark as you or your local laws allow.

 

The car isn't too hard to do. If you go with a tint strip for the front windshield, make sure the person doing the tint knows how to compensate for the extreme curvature on our cars. If not, you'll end up with a strip that bends in the shape of a rainbow instead of going straight across. you can also tint the sunroofs if you have them.

 

Good point, SnYpR. That makes sense, I suppose a good question to ask in that regard would be "How many Minis have you tinted before?"

And yeah, I've noticed weird iridescent patterns on certain materials with sunglasses as well. Are there different materials that tints can be made from?

 

"Tints" is not plural for "tint," it is simply "tint" whether it be one or many tinted windows.

Your only concern should be reception interference with any antennas if you use metallic tint. But AFAIK MINI's don't have antennas embedded on any windows.

Oh and tint does turn purple, the aging process just takes longer now and it also depends on the quality and film type.

 

use ammonia free glass cleaner when cleaning your windows too. This will help help prevent your tint from turning purple. The tint shop I use has 3 different grades of tint. The most expensive has a lifetime warranty.

 

do the sunroof with limo tint. it will help tons in the summer

 

So does anyone have any problems with their defrost after tint. Here in NY when it gets cold the side window defrost flat out blows I am not sure if the tint makes anything worse.

 

Defrost works fine for me. I have tint all around, save for the windshield.

 

Tint was the first thing I did

 

Yeah, Hyper Blue! Its the best.

 

Ive had my windows tinted for over a year now. I have all the windows except the windshield done and never had any problems except my passenger window has about 3 scrathes in the tint from top to bottom, but i think that some dirt or smething had gotten trapped in the part when the window goes into the door

 

i went with 5% limo tint all around..i know its illegal but since the MINI's have black pillars going up to the roof from the fenders, it almost looks OEM and not as noticable that you have dark windows..no police attention so far..knock on wood..

 

to add a little more about tinting..(as i am a tinter..) and stating the obvious..
-tint has almost no effect on using the defrosts..
-polarized sunglasses do have that rainbow-y look on most films..so be wary of that..i've gotten used to it..
-try to stay away from metallic film..but its not the worst..its just better safe than sorry
-almost all..(ALMOST being the keyword..) films should not turn purple..these days they seem to be a bit more to the green side or blue side..definitely not purple..
-and try to find a place that gives something close to a lifetime warranty..ask questions about it too..some tint shops are shady about warranty fixes..
-my shop..(dad's shop ) we give lifetime warranty (free fix) on bubbling, peeling, and cracking..not fading..but we do have three different types of film..a regular one, $20 upgrade and then a $50 upgrade..

so make sure you shop around..and ask a lot of questions

 

MINJAE,

Good info. What's the difference between your "regular", + $20, and +$50?

Thanks.

 

why thank you n733lk

but most tint shops do use different film than, let's say..down the street from another one..

anyways..my tint shop has Charcoal (reg), High Quality (+$20), and OZ Infrared Ceramic (+$50)..

- charcoal..as i said is the regular film..its not 'cheap' film..but it does its job..blocks off some glare and a little heat
- high quality..is basically the same thing but lasts about 2 times longer than the charcoal fading wise..
- oz..has a very slight cloudy look to it from the inside out...but the heat it rejects is crazy..definitely way more noticeable than the other two films..and its a bit thicker too
(we have samples at our store to even show the difference in the heat it rejects )

oh and i dont think i mentioned this earlier but my dad distributes for the film we use too..(orders crates of tint, cuts them to different sizes and boxes them..as to why our film is called wat its called..)
i would give you the website (not professionally made) but i dont want it to seem as if im trying to advertise my tint/tint shop..

any other questions feel free to ask

 

I had my Mini tinted last fall. Lamin-X 20% tint.

 

ya ya tint was the first mod i did too

Side and rear recieved 20% and for the windshield i put on 40%

 

didn't think it was legal to tint the front?????

 

I love tint, on my gti i had 20% on the back 3 windows, 35% on the front 2, 20% on the front banner. but i got the MINI and the black pillars made it a problem, any tint that wasnt 5% on the back windows would look horribly noticable since they wont blend with the all black pillars so i did 5% on the back 3, 20% on the front 2 and banner. As soon as I get the funds though im going to get the 20% removed and change it to 5% because the back 3 look perfect and the front 3 just arent dark enough at all it makes me nuts. !!

 

new york allows 30% tint on the side windows and blackout, if i choose, on the back, so i want to do that ASAP. and i want to completely strip the sunroof of all tint, and put on white perf vinyl so i have a stealth sunroof, or white tint should i stumble upon it. (i should probably mention, my mini is indi blue with a white roof.)

unfortunately, i have no clue where to find white tint for my roof, so it looks like i'm being forced to do vinyl. and, NY law prohibits me from tinting more than the top six inches of my front windshield, which is exactly where i need full visibility...