Crystalline Window Tint by 3M

[kings1527]

The other day I had 3M's Crystalline series tint installed on my car. When I first bought my car last year, the factory tint that was still on there was completely degenerating and turning very 'gummy'. It was a coating as opposed to a tint. So I took some brake cleaner and removed all of the old stuff, which left me with regular glass. There were times where I felt like there was a 300,000 pound fat kid holding a magnifying glass right over my car. It was unreal. To the point where I thought that there might be a problem with my AC. Truth was, so much heat was getting inside the car and the AC, even though working great, was having trouble taking care of it. Enter: 3M's Crystalline.

I installed 40% all around the sides and I also put 70% on the windshield. Their lightest is 90% and 70% is second darkest. The thing is, darkness doesn't even factor into it. 90% is invisible and 70% is recognizable but only when you get right up on it and at that, it looks no different than the UV windshield DMCH offers. But I wasn't about to go for a new windshield just for this. The heat rejection between the 90 and the 70 is significant, so I went with the 70.

40% is the darkest in the Crystalline series, compared to Limo-tint which is about 9%. 40% Crystalline will still reject more heat and keep you cooler compared to 9% Limo. The stats on Crystalline are located on the bottom of this link:

http://www.epdwindowfilm.com/Page.aspx?content=sec.Specifications

The difference was amazing. Unreal. I was driving to a friend's birthday party the other day in Canoga Park, right in the middle of the Valley, and it was about 90 degrees. I had my windows down a little bit, just up enough to keep the sun off my forearm, and I had only the fan on at speed 3. I was fine. I never even turned on the AC. It was definitely warm, but it was fine. It was an interesting experiment.

So you might want to check it out. What's that, you ask? The Southern California price tag?

$999. Ouch.

I've seen prices swing wildly depending on your location, but this stuff is awesome.

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[Silverbullet]

Looks great!... Seems like it will be worth it in the summer, to cut down on the solar heat.

Craig

[kings1527]

Looks great!... Seems like it will be worth it in the summer, to cut down on the solar heat.

Craig

It came out looking real good. And you don't have that 'blacked out' look. There's still personality to the car since you can still see inside. The installer was asking about removing the rear view mirror but of course I didn't want him to touch it out of fear of cracking the windshield. So there's a tiny splice running from the top of the mirror mount to the top of the windshield. You can't see it from the inside and you can only see it from the outside if someone points it out.

[Ryan S.]

Thanks for posting. Looks very nice. I am getting mine done this weekend. It will be 3M but I don't think it's crystalline.
Is 40% legal for front sides? I don't want any fix it tickets later.
Thanks

[kings1527]

Thanks for posting. Looks very nice. I am getting mine done this weekend. It will be 3M but I don't think it's crystalline.
Is 40% legal for front sides? I don't want any fix it tickets later.
Thanks

Per CA law, the tint has to let more than 70% light in for the front windows. So by definition, even 70% would be too dark for CA. I decided to go ahead and go with 40% anyways and worry about it later. Here's a great website that details each state's tint laws:

http://www.tintlaws.com/

[Rich]

Just to be clear, so to speak and as already mentioned in this thread, in California there is NO tinting allowed on the windshield below the 4 inch line at the top and the 40% in the side glass is also forbidden.

The IR-reflecting windshield from DMCH does comply with all federal and state regs. It meets current OEM windshield rules for visible transmission. It uses a different technology than that found in 3M Crystalline so it can reflect lots of IR while letting in most of the visible light.

Tinting below regulations may look neat and improve comfort vs. following the tine rules BUT it also compromises your safety and that of others because in low-light situations you will not see what's out there. If you cause an accident and your car was illegally modified you could open yourself to a big(ger) lawsuit.

And cops hate illegal tints because they need to see what your hands are doing when they walk up alongside the car to talk with you...

[wrkey]

So I've been comtemplating tinting on Della seeing how I'm fighting the South East Texas sun every friggin day....

Here's my quandry for all to comment on. Della has 15,000 miles on her and is extremely close to original and I have decided to keep her that way and slowly fix/replace the non-original stuff. In this line of thinking, how does window tint fit in to the 'keep it original' mode of thinking?

Thanks for any and all comments. Great topic by the for if I decide to tint I'll be looking here for advice.

[kings1527]

So I've been comtemplating tinting on Della seeing how I'm fighting the South East Texas sun every friggin day....

Here's my quandry for all to comment on. Della has 15,000 miles on her and is extremely close to original and I have decided to keep her that way and slowly fix/replace the non-original stuff. In this line of thinking, how does window tint fit in to the 'keep it original' mode of thinking?

Thanks for any and all comments. Great topic by the for if I decide to tint I'll be looking here for advice.

I was in the same situation with you. I just located and installed NOS seat covers and completely redid my interior with a repro carpet set and re-dyed the vinyl. I didn't want to have to worry about parking it outside or have to always put up a sunshade on the dashboard. Tinting the car turned out to be the best way to go for me.

There are two things that will hurt your interior: 1) UV rays, and 2) heat. 3M has several different tints available for cars but the Crystalline series, although extremely expensive, worked best for me due to the heat rejection that was available. Crystalline's 40% rejects up to 59% of incoming heat and has 99.9% UV blockage. That's the darkest tint Crystalline has available yet visibility is outstanding, either day or night. The link from my previous post will show you all of the different heat rejection percentages for 3M's various lines of tint. But in general, to get the heat rejection that Crystalline has to offer with a different series, you'd have to go with a much darker tint and significantly reduced visibility. And at that, depending on the line of tint you still may not get the same heat rejection as Crystalline.

A car's AC system works by removing heat from the passenger compartment so the less heat that's in there to remove in the first place, then the cooler the car will be and the less AC you'll have to use.

I think the biggest benefits are a cooler interior, less AC, cooler AC, and keeping the interior in better shape by reducing exposure to UV rays (which reduces fading and drying/cracking of the seats). The only downside I see is the $$ to do it.

[Farrar]

When I first bought my car last year, the factory tint that was still on there

DeLoreans were tinted at the factory? I've never heard this before!

[dmc6960]

DeLoreans were tinted at the factory? I've never heard this before!

There is an extremely slight darkening of the factory glass, but its not really any kind of tint. What Alex described was just a previous tint film which had been applied to the windows of his car.

Curious what you (Alex) did with the 50?

[Farrar]

It looks great, by the way. How's the visibility out the side windows at night?

[kings1527]

DeLoreans were tinted at the factory? I've never heard this before!


There is an extremely slight darkening of the factory glass, but its not really any kind of tint. What Alex described was just a previous tint film which had been applied to the windows of his car.

Curious what you (Alex) did with the 50?

Yeah, I might've been mistaken on that. The 'tint' that was on there before wasn't a tint like a traditional sheet or anything like that. It was like a coating that was applied and I've never seen that done before, so I presumed it was factory. It was very gummy and tacky and I could even scrape it away with my fingernail.

Jim, I was going to touch base with you on the 50 but I forgot to. I decided to go with the 40 since the heat rejection between the 40 and 50 was pretty significant and in terms of darkness, it didn't look like a big difference. So I still have the 50 although it did get krinkled in a couple areas on the flight home but shouldn't be a problem. Would you like me to send it back to you? I have no issues at all with that. Just let me know and PM me your address. I'll put it in a poster tube.


It looks great, by the way. How's the visibility out the side windows at night?

Thanks Farrar! One thing I didn't mention was how dark it looked in the pics. It looks that way at that angle, light, picture, etc but you can clearly still see inside which is nice. You want the character of the car to stay the same unless you really want to go with that 'I'm a mysterious guy' look. As far as night goes, it's perfect. It's not too dark at all. One window I didn't touch was the rear defroster window. That one is plain glass. With the louvers, it wouldn't make any sense to tint it plus at that point it really might make things too dark.

[dmc6960]

Would you like me to send it back to you?

Nope. Find someone else who could really use it, and pass it on.

[Farrar]

One window I didn't touch was the rear defroster window. That one is plain glass. With the louvers, it wouldn't make any sense to tint it plus at that point it really might make things too dark.

Agreed -- a previous owner of my car tinted just the door and rear QP glass and left the windshield and rear glass alone. Looks fine.

The nearest 3M-authorised dealer for this tint is ~40mi. from me. Not so bad a drive if they can do it while I wait. I think I'll go with the tint levels you chose -- it looks great, and will come in handy on those over-100-degree days here! Thanks for all the info!

[wrkey]

I would be interested in this tint. Please send PM if still available.

Thanks!

Rusty


Nope. Find someone else who could really use it, and pass it on.

[DMC5180]

Alex,

Take some photo's inside the car looking out. Include shots with the side glass down and compination quartering A-pilar shots shots through windshield and door glass. A light colorered background would also be preffered. I am curious if their was any bubbling issues?

[kings1527]

Alex,

Take some photo's inside the car looking out. Include shots with the side glass down and compination quartering A-pilar shots shots through windshield and door glass. A light colorered background would also be preffered. I am curious if their was any bubbling issues?

Hi Dennis,

Here you go. As far as bubbling goes, there is some microbubbling that I'm seeing and if it doesn't go away in another week, then I'll have them fix it. Supposedly it takes a little time for the tint to fully seat itself sometimes. But 3m warranties the tint against turning purple and bubbling for life.

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PS Rusty, I sent you a PM

[kings1527]

Nope. Find someone else who could really use it, and pass it on.

Will do. Thanks again, Jim!

[Kenny_Z]

I went by a 3M shop today just to get an estimate on what it'd cost to do Red's windows. 150 for the windshield only and a little over 400 for the entire car. It's cheaper than I expected. I'm going to save up and have it done before I start the interior work. I'm going to ask them to cut around the rearview mirror. Anything else I should make note of or do before I have this done?

[jawn101]

Hi Dennis,

Here you go. As far as bubbling goes, there is some microbubbling that I'm seeing and if it doesn't go away in another week, then I'll have them fix it. Supposedly it takes a little time for the tint to fully seat itself sometimes. But 3m warranties the tint against turning purple and bubbling for life.

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PS Rusty, I sent you a PM

Alex - did you see a big drop in interior temps? I am thinking of having mine done soon as well.

FWIW, the quote I got to do the whole car including windshield is right around $350 as well. The guy did ask that I remove the upper door cards for him before bringing the car in so he didn't have to risk damaging them. Seems fair to me, I'd rather do it myself anyway!

[dmc6960]

Are you guys getting quotes for actual "Crystalline" tint by 3M? Those quotes seem way too low. There are other good tints out there, some made by 3M, some by others. These are more in-line with those price quotes. The 3M Crystalline is the absolute top of the line tint available today. It is not cheap.

[jawn101]

Are you guys getting quotes for actual "Crystalline" tint by 3M? Those quotes seem way too low. There are other good tints out there, some made by 3M, some by others. These are more in-line with those price quotes. The 3M Crystalline is the absolute top of the line tint available today. It is not cheap.

Yes - 100% that this is the 3M Crystalline 90 (at least in my case)

[kings1527]

Alex - did you see a big drop in interior temps? I am thinking of having mine done soon as well.

FWIW, the quote I got to do the whole car including windshield is right around $350 as well. The guy did ask that I remove the upper door cards for him before bringing the car in so he didn't have to risk damaging them. Seems fair to me, I'd rather do it myself anyway!

Sorry...I didn't see this until now. Like Jim said, if that's for 100% Crystalline series 3M then that's outstanding but I've NEVER seen it that cheap. I paid a pretty penny at a premier place in LA and it was $1k and I probably could've looked around and got everything done for $800-ish. But I'd be real concerned and make sure that you're getting what you think you're getting. The 3M Crystalline has a '3M' logo spaced out about every 12" or so throughout the sheet of tint (and can be taken off with rubbing alcohol after installed). That way, you know you're getting legitimate 3M.

But yes, I've seen a huge drop in interior temps. To the point where I'm not really running my AC all that much. If anything, I'll run the fans with vent but that's been it lately. I don't really think this has been the hottest summer ever and I do live right at the beach but even if I drive inland, I'm pretty easy with the AC. If anything I'll run it hard for a bit and then dial the fan down to 2 and that's plenty.

[cybercusp]

I had the Crystalline placed a few weeks ago. I did 40% on the sides and 90% on the windshield and am very happy with the result. Previously (last August) I had my side windows tinted from Cosmos Car Care and the tinting job was poor; bubbles that never came out and inadequate coverage. I had the tinting re-done with the Crystalline by Dalo in St. Louis and the result is dramatic. The heat reduction is phenomenal on the dash and the glare is reduced during during daytime and nighttime driving. The car sat out in the sun all day last Sunday at a car show and the dash never got hot.

The total cost for the job was $800, but this also included removal of the old tint and placement of 3M's Invisible Bra over the front bumper. The shop ended up reducing the labor cost because they felt bad about the other installer's poor workmanship and wanted to show that not all installers do bad work. So, a shout out to Dalo's in St. Louis for great work and great customer service.

As a side note, my car was being tinted alongside a Lamborghini and a Ferrari, but they said the DeLorean got the most attention sitting in the parking lot with people stopping to take pictures.

[Squall67584]

When tinting the windshield, what about inspection/registration stickers? I would think that when it came time to peel off the old stickers that it would damage the tint, especially if the inspection place used a blade.

[Spittybug]

When tinting the windshield, what about inspection/registration stickers? I would think that when it came time to peel off the old stickers that it would damage the tint, especially if the inspection place used a blade.

+1

[Rich W]

When tinting the windshield, what about inspection/registration stickers? I would think that when it came time to peel off the old stickers that it would damage the tint, especially if the inspection place used a blade.

Any suggestions about mounting an I-Pass on the inside of a tinited windshield? Cut out small rectangles for where the I-Pass sticker mounts get mounted?

One of our DMC club members was just asking about this at the Woodward Dream Cruise last weekend and I did not have any first hand install experience.

I know Dennis S. does some type of remote location for his I-Pass ... just curious if there is a tried and approved method with windshield tint installed.

If you have tried an I-Pass install on the inside of the tint, please post the results (or PM me if it went bad) and I will pass along the info.

Thanks,
Rich W.

[dmc6960]

Using the 3M Crystalline tint, you will not have any issues with a toll transponder. It does not block any RF signals. Its a much higher quality tint than normal IR blocking tints which use a metallic film (the new DMC IR windshield uses a metallic film). Its even a few grades higher than other ceramic based tints.

[dmc6960]

When tinting the windshield, what about inspection/registration stickers? I would think that when it came time to peel off the old stickers that it would damage the tint, especially if the inspection place used a blade.

Not living in a state requiring a big ugly inspection sticker, I dont know how they are applied. Are they given to you? Or does the inspection place have to stick them on themselves? If you can get by with being "handed" the sticker, you can always laminate it and lick-glue it onto the windshield. Tinting the windshield is generally illegal in all states except under a few special exceptions. That is why I chose to replace my windshield with the new IR one, instead of tint. Tinting it with Crystalline 90 would be superior functioning than what I have now, but I'm still very happy.

[DMC5180]

I know Dennis S. does some type of remote location for his I-Pass ... just curious if there is a tried and approved method with windshield tint installed.
Thanks,
Rich W.

Yup,

Due to my IR windshield, I VHB mounted the I-PASS transponder to back side of the grille. When positioned correctly it just fits within one of the 3 Rectangle openings in the facia when the grille is snapped in place. Mine is in the right side opening.

It works great. I had looked into a front license plate mounted transponder. They were rather Large and Ugly. I opted to experiment with moving the in car transponder to behind the grille.

[Rich]

Due to my IR windshield, I VHB mounted the I-PASS transponder to back side of the grille. When positioned correctly it just fits within one of the 3 Rectangle openings in the facia when the grille is snapped in place. Mine is in the right side opening.

An invisible yet functional transponder mount? Well done.

That is quite an elegant solution. Thanks for sharing it.

One of the things I like about DeLoreans is the relative lack of badging and decoration it has compared to what we see on so many other cars - so having a hidden transponder solution for a D is great.

[jawn101]

When tinting the windshield, what about inspection/registration stickers? I would think that when it came time to peel off the old stickers that it would damage the tint, especially if the inspection place used a blade.

Good question. In CA we don't have windshield stickers. But in MA and NY we did. Fortunately I'm not going back there any time soon!!!