Ive been looking around the web and mercedes forums for pictures of W202's with tinted windows, prefibly 35%.

Im seriously thinking of getting my 1997 C230 (Black)'s window's tinted, but I want to see some pictures of what it will look like before I go spend $200.

Does anyone have any pic's of black w202's with no body mods but with a tint?

Thanks,
Evan

 

I don't have any photos, but have some info that you might want to know.

After-market window tinting ruins a car by one of these ways.

(1) Real bad tinting: Installer is not experienced and leave many visible bubbles. Also plastic has a cheezy blue cast to it.

(2) Average tinting: No bubbles. Good color plastic. But plastic is applied without the removal of window, so tinting does not cover borders and edges; very annoying when you lower your windows.

(3) Good tinting: Installer removes door panels and switches, takes the whole window out. Laminate 100% of the window. But the question is...can someone remove the door panels perfectly and reinstall them perfectly without leaving scratch marks and VSR?

My point is -- other than original factory tint, the rest will cheapen your car.


ps. You will also find backing up at night very difficult coz your rear window is now black. Try it and you will regret it, unless you are a drug dealer.

 

number 3
and yea first time i put a window back in i caught it on the door frame when lowering it in and put the tinyist of scratches in it, so ripped it off and did it again.
its pritty easy if u have any idea what your doing, and some shops are absolutly awsome at it.
I have a few pics and it would look good! cant post the pics tho.

dont listen to fly_major_fly hes a monkey
jks

 

I heard that they did with some kind of laser darkening.

 

Well I just wanted to give my 97 a more modern-european-sporty touch, but if its going to cheapen the value and class, forget it.

 

That is nasty stuff, but any professonal shop will use metalized tint and it never turns color.

This is the way most, if not all, aftermarket tinting is done. (In my experience) Once again, a professional shop, with a skilled person will make sure the gaps at the tops of the windows that open will be close to a 1/16th of an inch and certainly smaller than 1/8th.
Personally, I never notice the small gap and I don't think most people do.

For me, aftermarket tinting that cheepens a car is 1.) darker than 35% on rear windows and back and darker than 50% on front windows.
2. Stylized tinting with part of the tint being highly reflective.

But, bottom line for me is that it is personal taste. I've seen cars with tint jobs I would never have but had to admit they visually worked well.



BTW, any bubbles in the film are a screw up and need to be fixed.


My concern is that my radio antena is part of the rear window and since I would only use a high quality metalized film, am affraid it would hurt the reception. Anyone know about this?

 

Just take it to a good shop. Check their work on other cars they've done if you need to feel warm and fuzzy about their work. I'm sure they'll show you some.

Putting tint on your car won't cheapen it's value. It may become undesirable to a buyer if some knothead amatuer does the tint and screws it up and you leave it that way. If it's messed up, have it removed.

The cheap-looking bluish tint isn't used by pros.

Pros don't leave bubbles. If any appear, and they occasionally do, you can take it back and they'll pop them. You won't be able to tell there was a bubble.

You don't want tint going all the way to the edge of the glass. It will peel away because the glass's edge isn't squared--it's rounded off a little bit so it doesn't cut you. The tint needs to be cut about 1/64" from the edges. Removing the door panels isn't necessary and is never done, unless I suppose a customer insisted on it.

Now, go get tinted. It's just personal taste, but I think tint enhances the look of a car instead of cheapening it. If someone doesn't like tint, that's fine. It's just like eating chicken livers. I wouldn't touch one.

The only problem with aftermarket tint is the modern rear windows with the blackened edges that feather out to black dots towards the center of the glass. Feel your back window along the edges where the dots are and you can feel that the dots are raised. The tint won't adhere 100% where the dots are. If you look at examples of the shop's work, pay particular attention to this area to see how they handle this. Some shops are better than others at this.

 

...a gorilla, not a monkey. in fact, a very proud one with cool shades!!

 

Also, Mercedes does not recommend tinting of windows, why I have no idea, but it is in my owners manual.

 

I agree with most of what people have said in here, however some food for thought. Tinting the windows will protect the leather and dash from be dried out by the sun. For me this was more important than anything else. I would much rather have tinted windows, than have seats that are cracking and dash to replace. Just make sure you follow everybody else's advice and get it done by a reputable place, and I would say do it only with 3M tint or something comparable. Looks the best from the outside, not cheap at all, and it is guaranteed to never change colors.