Mercedes Forum - Mercedes Benz Enthusiast Forums

From the Home of Window Tinting, Phoenix, Arizona: Here are some things you and others might like to know about tinting your windows.
Here in Phoenix, just about every car has had the windows tinted, either by the dealer on new cars or by an independent shop, and there are
tons of places to get it done here. Prices vary WIDELY depending on a few things: Dealerships mark up the job typically (BIG SURPRISE< HUH!), the type of tint you select, the size of the vehicle, and how much shopping around you want to do. Recently, I became aware that Mercedes vehicles had a weatherstrip INSIDE the car (the one that rubs up against the glass on the inside) that is not soft felt like most. The one on my car is more like a hard rubber. And it's pretty tight up against the glass. Yes, you guessed it. Dirt gets in there and scratches the heck out of the film they use to tint the glass. Only THEN, when you return with it scratched, do they tell you about this. And, of course, no warranty for something "Mercedes did". One solution is to have the weatherstrips that hit the inside of the glass covered with a sticky-back felt (sometimes called moleskin). This requires removing the door panels and some labor. But the tint won't ever be scratched. Or....you can take a chance that the type of film they are going to use is more resistant to scratching and just go for it like most people do. If it were me, I would have the tint shop or wherever you're going to take it give me their opinion concerning this and make a recommendation as to which film did not scratch so easily. Take a look at the HUPER OPTIK films. These are great. All tint film blocks UV-A and UV-B. Only some of the more pricey films actually block HEAT from outside the car through the glass and inside the car. HUPER does. You can see on their website. The other day, I went to a tint shop that had this brand film. They had a demonstration thing set up where several pieces of glass were tinted and a strong heat bulb could slide along in back of them, allowing you to actually FEEL the heat that came through the glass. The difference was unbelievable with the HUPER. So, if heat is an issue, as it is here in Arizona, that's something to think about. In this state, you can do whatever darkness you want with your backglass and your side/rear doorglasses, but the FRONT doorglass must be legal. They will tell you/show you what's legal there. This is so police don't walk up to a car with almost black front windows and aren't able to see what's going on.
Hope this helps you and anybody else out there thinking about tinting a Mercedes. YOUR CAR MAY BE DIFFERENT: NOT ALL CARS HAVE THIS HARD RUBBER INNER WEATHERSTRIP. But it's worth checking out, or you will pay twice for the tint job. ;)