Hi everyone,

I never tinted before and I want to get it done (as I think everyone should). I am more looking for making the car look better because the glass is just pretty much fully clear. I have a Black XF with London tan interior.

Being able to see at night and heat rejection is also important plus the cell reception so I am essentially looking for the right balance. Most likely going for a ceramic tint.

I want to keep the car still classy - what I mean is I do not want to go Limo tint or too dark. I am not going for the gangsta look - more of a sporty classy look. I think some of you will know what I mean. For this reason I was thinking 35% tint but when I read online people always say that you get 35% and wish you went darker.

Should I get same % all around or darker in the rear?

If you have a tinted XF can you please post your photo and tint%.

Thanks for your input and advise

 

Can't say i've heard of tint affecting cell reception, but it does make a huge difference with heat reduction. I went 5% on the backs, 20% in the front 2, and 50% on the windshield. Was on the fence about darkening the windshield since the headlights are already crappy, but it was a huge heat sink in the summer and i wanted to protect those pricey dashboards.

Here's the sides, looks darker than they are due to the angle.




Here's the windshield:





And for comparisons sake heres my old LS with 35% in the front and 20% in the rears, or so i was told by the dealer when i bought it:





IMO 20% is the sweet spot for looking dark enough to make it worth it while keeping out light/heat. 35% on the front of my LS was horrible and if i hadn't sold it i would have removed it and went darker.

 

The brand of tint and who installs it plays a big role in how well it looks. I put 20% on my Corvette when I lived in Florida and it is dark in rain or at night in rural areas (where I live now). I have 35% on my XF and it is great. At some angles it looks full black with my black interior yet still light enough that I don't worry about a ticket. I also have 85% on the windshield. When my dash needed replacing I did the windshield to help prevent it in the the future. The downside though is the dealer scratched it up in two places when replacing the dash. I'm 50/50 on whether I would do the windshield again. Here's some pics of my XF that show the lightest and darkest the 35% looks.

 

Thanks for the post and pics guys.

I am actually liking the tint on BlckCat in certain lighting doestn look too dark and other lighting it looks fully dark - is that 35% all around? What brand of tint is it?

 

For what you're looking for, I would recommend 35% for the front and 20-25% for the rear.

Forgot to ask, is tint legal on the front windows where you live?

 

SunTek CXP (nano hybrid) 35% sides/rear and 85% windshield.

Shot of the rear:

 

The law for me doesn't state specifically just says should not "substantially obscure" for the front windows. New cars manufactured after 2017 there's a no lower than 30% limit on fronts. So I think 35% in the front works for me .

About the rears I am not sure if I want to go darker or uniform all around. I think this is the hard part for me to decide. If I go darker will it blend nicely or be easy to tell that they r different shades ?




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Don't forget that the law quotes total transmission of light. The tint percentage is just what the tint does. So if you put a 35% tint on a car window that isn't fully transmitting already you may end up with under 30% of total transmission
Good tint places will know this and be able to give you the appropriate tint that doesn't go below the legal requirement

 

hahahahahahahahaha was told at the time there is 5%... 20% ...35% and then limo..... mine is 35% 20% is legal...... anything darker ...is not.........im an outlaw

 

It sounds like you have fallen into the common misconception that a higher number is darker. Actually it's the opposite, since the number indicates the percentage of light that is passed through. Factory tint is 70%, "limo" tint is 5%, which is essentially impossible to see through. As has been pointed out, aftermarket tint percentage must be combined (not by subtracting) in calculation with the factory tint in figuring the total light transmission percentage. If you applied 35% film to your factory windows your total light transmission percentage is 24.5 (over 3/4 of the light filtered out), which is very dark and illegal in many areas. A windshield should not even be tinted this dark as it is considered unsafe for night or low light driving. Yes, irresponsible tinting shops will happily sell you something even darker (20% film on factory glass = 14% light transmission), they care nothing about either your citation fines or about safety.

 

I actually dont mind if you can see the fronts are lighter as the police can tell that you aren't trying to violate the law. Cops here love to ticket from window tint, but I haven't been bothered in over 5 years of having multiple cars done. It's just light enough where they can see me, which from what I understand is the big issue.

 

[QUOTE=Swimref;1874388]It sounds like you have fallen into the common misconception that a higher number is darker. Actually it's the opposite, since the number indicates the percentage of light that is passed through. Factory tint is 70%, "limo" tint is 5%, which is essentially impossible to see through. As has been pointed out, aftermarket tint percentage must be combined (not by subtracting) in calculation with the factory tint in figuring the total light transmission percentage. If you applied 35% film to your factory windows your total light transmission percentage is 24.5 (over 3/4 of the light filtered out), which is very dark and illegal in many areas. A windshield should not even be tinted this dark as it is considered unsafe for night or low light driving. Yes, irresponsible tinting shops will happily sell you something even darker (20% film on factory glass = 14% light transmission), they care nothing about either your citation fines or about safety.[/QUO

aaah yes... im at 20% 35% i think was as dark as you could go and be legal....mine had no factory tint to start with

 

All Jaguars for the North American market come with tinted glass, as do nearly all new cars you can buy currently. The tint is in the glass, not an exterior film.

 

I went with the 35% CTX Ceramic Tint by LLumar and installed by California Tint. Here are some pictures.https://photos.app.goo.gl/JoQDwO94QZrhPuCz1 As you can see they are not very dark as I took most of the pictures on a bright sunny day. The rear door windows look darker as the back window is tinted as well, while the front windshield is not. The last picture shows that I didn't have any tint on the windows. This is what is legal for the state of Maryland. I could probably go a shade darker (30%) and still get away with it, but I didn't want to attract the attention. I also have my sunroof shade pulled back so that light comes in. It looks quite a bit darker on cloudy days and when I have the sunroof shade pulled closed. As you can also see, it does darken it a slight bit from the inside looking out and does a good job of keeping the car cooler in the hot weather and protects the interior from UV rays, though it is illegal to put it on the front window. To protect the dash from UV, I use 303 UV protectant on the dash. Here is Llumar's website for the CTX tint. CTX Window Tint | LLumar

The ceramic tint's don't have any issue with blocking wireless transmissions. The metallic films will decrease your wireless reception/transmissions, so I would definitely avoid those unless you are looking to do your house and don't want external people to intercept your wifi or wireless land line phone calls. Of course it will prevent you from having cellphone reception, that is if your walls are also lined. ;-)

An important thing to remember is that for safety you don't want to make it too dark, especially as it makes it more difficult to see at night if cars are next to you.

 

Looks great

You don't have to worry about UV through the windshield as they are designed to absorb essentially all UV (both UVA and UVB) due to the laminate layer inside.

Side windows typically block UVB (as they are glass) but less effective against UVA. So tinting can help there

 

wow, what wheels are those?

 

35% sides and back. 35% is the legal limit here in NC and I have passed an inspection since it was done, so I think that I am okay.

I am happy with it... but if 20% was an option here, I would have done that.

 

Mine didn't come with a tint on it, although mine is a 2014 so maybe it is on the newer cars

Niche Milan's

 

I am leaning towards 35% all around ... if I can do 35% front and 30% back I might debate with that depending on the tint available. I like the medium look where you can see inside on some lighting conditions but still looking 'tinted'. =

Thanks everyone for the photos, all were helpful. In my opinion any tint looks way better than no tint.

Cheers

 

This is extremely important to note if your state has specific "light transmittance" requirements. Here is MD it is 35%, so as BritCars mentioned, adding a 35% film to already factory tinted windows immediately makes them illegal. It's usually not a problem unless you get a Safety Equipment Repair Order (SERO) which will force you to get an actual measurement from an inspection station. It's a PITA!