[IRL-MN]

I haven't really been a big window tinting fan, but being back in Ireland to visit family for the holidays, I'm seeing quite a few bimmers on the road with the factory "sun protection glass" option. This is not available in the US, but basically it is what you would see on an X5 stateside where the rear window and rear side windows only are tinted. (Anyone know what % this would be?) Seeing this in person on an E92 makes me want it on my car!

Anyway, when I got my E92 a couple months ago it had a pretty dark tint all around (except for the windshield) and I asked for the dealer to remove this prior to taking delivery. There were alot of tiny little air pockets around the edge of the glass, i.e. the little black dots, and also around the heating elements where the film could not sit flush. As I am in no way familiar with tinting, my question is, is this typical of aftermarket tint, to have these tiny air pockets around the high spots on the glass? Or was it just a bad install on my car? If there is a way to do this neatly, adding it back to the rears might have to be put on my to do list...

Thanks!

[barbados]

Originally Posted by IRL-MN

I haven't really been a big window tinting fan, but being back in Ireland to visit family for the holidays, I'm seeing quite a few bimmers on the road with the factory "sun protection glass" option. This is not available in the US, but basically it is what you would see on an X5 stateside where the rear window and rear side windows only are tinted. (Anyone know what % this would be?) Seeing this in person on an E92 makes me want it on my car!

Anyway, when I got my E92 a couple months ago it had a pretty dark tint all around (except for the windshield) and I asked for the dealer to remove this prior to taking delivery. There were alot of tiny little air pockets around the edge of the glass, i.e. the little black dots, and also around the heating elements where the film could not sit flush. As I am in no way familiar with tinting, my question is, is this typical of aftermarket tint, to have these tiny air pockets around the high spots on the glass? Or was it just a bad install on my car? If there is a way to do this neatly, adding it back to the rears might have to be put on my to do list...

Thanks!

There are usually small pockets around the dots on the rear windows, but it's not too noticeable with a good tint job. In the rear, my tint shop used black vinyl at the top to prevent the bubbly look and they did a very nice job. I would recommend that you have a vinyl strip added at the top of the rear window if you decide to tint your car, it makes a big difference and you can't tell that it is there.

[IRL-MN]

Originally Posted by skibbs

There are usually small pockets around the dots on the rear windows, but it's not too noticeable with a good tint job. In the rear, my tint shop used black vinyl at the top to prevent the bubbly look and they did a very nice job. I would recommend that you have a vinyl strip added at the top of the rear window if you decide to tint your car, it makes a big difference and you can't tell that it is there.

So you add the black vinyl strip over the top of the dots thus creating a straight edge? That certainly sounds like it would make an improvement. Did you consider this for the rear side windows too? I guess this is the area I noticed the air pockets the most, as it's right next to where you enter / exit the car. Maybe the shape is too awkward to get a nice edge compared to the rear window?

Thanks for the response!

[barbados]

Originally Posted by IRL-MN

So you add the black vinyl strip over the top of the dots thus creating a straight edge? That certainly sounds like it would make an improvement. Did you consider this for the rear side windows too? I guess this is the area I noticed the air pockets the most, as it's right next to where you enter / exit the car. Maybe the shape is too awkward to get a nice edge compared to the rear window?

Thanks for the response!

Yeah, the vinyl strip is a straight edge covering a few inches at the top of the rear window. It's not visible from outside the car. I just went with my tint shop's recommendation to do the vinyl in the rear - they might be able to do something nicely for the rear side windows as well, the bubbles kinds bug me there as well.

[IRL-MN]

Originally Posted by skibbs

Yeah, the vinyl strip is a straight edge covering a few inches at the top of the rear window. It's not visible from outside the car. I just went with my tint shop's recommendation to do the vinyl in the rear - they might be able to do something nicely for the rear side windows as well, the bubbles kinds bug me there as well.

I'll shop around a few tint shops and see if they have any ideas. I'm sure I wouldn't be the first to ask the question by the sounds of it. Thanks!