Im going to get my 2002 S430's windows tinted, I was wondering if i could take it to the dealership and they could do it for me or would i have to go somewhere else, if so are there any good tint shops in Milwaukee, WI. I was also wondering about and radio probelms and such with the tinting and about anyother problems that would rise, please let me know

 

The dealer I use refused to tint my windows as Mercedes does not recommend it, why I don't know. I would go to a private shop, but be careful, some of these tinters ar lazy especially with the side windows andyou will have a gap of no tint from the area where the window goes into the frame when up or on the bottom if they tinted the window while it was open. A shop in this area takes off the door panels and does it from the inside and up. Only downside they charge almost double then other shops. My son had his Acura hatchback tinted and within a week the hatchback glass bubbled, they fixed it twice, and it still bubbled so, I got out a sewing needle bought a bottle of the solution tinters use to install this stuff and fixed it myself. I pricked needle holes in the bubbles and sprayed the solution and patiently worked out the bubbles. Two years have passed and no bubbles.

 

No problems with radio reception. The tint goes on the inside of the windows. It will be underneath any antenna imbedded in the glass.

I wouldn't go to a car dealer. If they do it they'll over-charge you. Go to a tint shop that's been around longer than two weeks and they can install the tint without bubbles.

The rear window is a problem for all tinters. They're blacked out around the edges and feather out to clear. The feathering is little black raised dots that are spaced further and further apart until the window goes completely clear. There's no way to get the tint to adhere 100% where the dots are. Go take a look at your rear window and feel the dots. You'll see what I mean. Some tinters will sand them down a bit to improve contact.

 

an average person, including me, would think tinting is just pasting of dark plastic to the windows.

no, sir. that plastic film contains mostly metal....as in aluminum foil. why, i don't know.

so....the more metal foil you put around your car, the more it becomes "enclosed metal container".

any good electronics engineer will tell you that radio signals do NOT go in or come out of "enclosed metal container". such effect is simply known as shielding.

so...your cellphone WILL definitely has to struggle harder. if it cant, then you will have bad reception and drop-calls on your cellphone.

another thing to think about is....the rear window is embeded with radio antenna, right? if the tint has high metal content, wouldn't it mess up the function of the radio antenna?

however....there is good news.

you can save a lot of money by switching to geigo. just kidding. there is another kind of tint film that does not contain metal. what it contains...i dont know. but it is 200 to 250% more expensive than the traditional tint. $400 for all windows but front three.

some rookie tinters do NOT even know the stuff i am telling you here. they will either deny or downplay the negative effects of their cheezy tint films.

 

here is a quickie list that you need to know b4 and after tinting other than what i've said above:

[ul][*] some photo-sensitive eyeglasses act weirdly inside a tinted car; wont go dark even in a bright day light[*] the auto-dim function of rear-view mirror acts weirdly[*] radio and cellphone reception issues[*] check and make sure tint job covers the whole window; cheap jobs leave the area of window that goes in the frame when window is up[*] look out for bubbles
[/ul]

 

No problem with radio reception, unless you put the antenna on the inside of the window--that is, inside and to the rear of the car. An antenna embedded in the glass isn't affected. It's on the outside of the tint. I use an XM portable radio in my classic cars, both with tint. I put the antenna on top of the dash and don't have any problems at all with reception.

Cell phones work fine. I've never had a problem with one. Maybe because the windshield doesn't have the tint or because the tint simply doesn't affect it. And, I've never heard of cell phone complaints with tinted windows.

Non-metallic tints are the cheesy ones. They're much less effective. They are cheaper, though.

Photo-sensitive eye glasses won't darken behind glass. It doesn't matter if the glass is tinted or not. The eye glasses darken from UV-ray bombardment. Glass blocks UV rays. Have you ever noticed that you don't get sunburned through the glass, tinted or not?

I've never had an issue with the auto-dimming rearview mirrors. I've now owned five cars with the mirrors and tinted rear windows.

I've never had any issues with radio or cell phone reception. And, my radar detector and GPS work fine as well. I heard all kinds of stuff about the radar detector wouldn't work. It works just fine.

There has to be a narrow clear edge around the windows because of the shape of the edge of the windows. They're rounded. Otherwise, the tint will peel off. A good shop won't tint completely to the edge. Only a Goober would do that.

Bubbles are NOT an issue on professionally installed tint. I've never had a bubble pop up on one of mine. However, sheeet does happen. Bubbles do occasionally occur but can be taken care of easily. A lot easier than if a well-trained and very experienced urologist removed the wrong kidney from a patient, which also happens. There may be a bubble or two from a pro-installed job that can be corrected in about 30 seconds. It won't be like the tinted windows that Goober from down the street installed himself that are completely covered with bubbles after a month or two. However, as I said earlier, the dots on the rear window can cause some issues with 100% adhesion.

DISCLAIMER: I've only had legal tint installed. I've never had it installed on the front windshield, since that's illegal.