Not happy with tint

[dr.bmw]

Tinted with formula 1 tint at Sol-ace tinting in Rosebery, Sydney a couple months ago now, not very happy with the result at all

the areas over dark dots, on side windows and rear do not stick, very uneven and looks wrong.

There is an edge on the rear window thats cut badly and clearly visible from the inside.

There are 2-3 small bublles per window on average

And most disappointing of all, now i have issues with the rear window demister. the top two lines don't seem to work, as well as part of the third line. Every time i switch the demister function on, i get static interference on the radio, like there's a loose connection somewhere.

Took the car back to the shop and the owner spent 30 minutes explaining that my expectations are unreasonable, that nothing ever sticks over the dots, that bubbles are normal and that he is sure that the demister de-function has nothing to do with his tint...

Anybody had similar issues? do you know a reliable professional i can take my car to for a second opinion? I've seen several BMWs where tint is applied evenly over the dots, is there a trick to it? or perhaps special tint films that should be used?

cheers

[dflatos]

Dunno about the tint Doc but does your driver seat recline all the way back ? This is my first BMW - a 125i convert and it only reclines back to about 20 degrees from the vertical. All my previous Japanese cars could reclilne all way back

[dr.bmw]

aye, it does

[dflatos]

Originally Posted by dr.bmw

aye, it does

Crap, I must got a gummy car - looks like I have to take it back to the dealer to fix. Others have told me that the seat does not recline back much so I was confused. Thanks doc.

[Lester]

The top two lines are for the AM antennae and are not used for demisting.

[Sprey]

Hi Dr. BMW,

Below are a couple of previous posts which contains information on tints and 'dot matrix':

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...highlight=tint

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...highlight=tint

Regards, Sprey.

[bobbynoway]

Youre expectations are not unreasonable at all.
You didnt mention what type of tint is used, Metallic tints may interfere with radio and comfort access reception. Ceramic is best to use.
There shouldnt be any bubbles at all if the tinting place is worth there salt.
I bet they didnt even mention that you may get bubbles before they took your money. A lot of tint shop have gurrantees on bubbles, tint not sticking, fading etc. Sol-ace is a big franchise, find there gurantee policy and make them fix it.

I went with the dealer tint, paint protection combo, yes it was very expensive (wont get it again ever) but the tinting was top notch. I dont know who they used but it is almost faultless. Just the black dot area could not get any better.

[dr.bmw]

Thanks for the info, there's still a part of the 3rd line thats not functioning but it may not bother me as much now.

The tint is Formula 1 which is metallic, but the film they use for the back window is ceramic, i.e. should not interfere with the radio. Mind you I have no problems with the radio at all unless i switch on the demister.

Had a look at the links suggested, the bubbles around the back window dot matrix look much much worse than that!!

[bfi2906]

Their reply is completely unacceptable!

True, the dot's are difficult to work with. I've had tint on all my recent BM's, and the finish does vary. But a decent installer will get a good result regardless - but it is all relative. My last car, an e46 coupe, had a large dot section at the top of the rear window, and that was much more obvious that other parts of the car.

Ironically, last Saturday, I was at the tint place I'll get to do mine, and we looked at all the aspects of doing the job. The lines of dots on the 135 are smaller than any recent car I've had, so I'd expect it to be much less problematic - and the installer agreed.

I've never had bubbles in the tint - that's garbage!

Can I suggest that you do two othings:
1) have a look at as many tinted 1 series as you can, so you know what a good job and a bad job look like.

armed with this,

2) approach Sol-ace "central" and ask them to have a look at the job, and tell you what they think of it.

If they say it's OK - I gues you're in a bit of a spot, and you have to decide whether you want to press on the issue, or just get it reinstalled at extra cost. If you do the latter, I'd make quite a fuss with Sol-ace about it, and let them know that's what you intend to do, and you hold them and their franchisee responsible.

On the other hand, if they agree it's not up to standard, they are entitled to the first go at fixing it. But I think you're enitled to ask that it NOT be the same installer - on the basis that, if he knew what he was doing, you wouldn't have the problem.

I'd resist any attempt to let them "repair" it. I don't believe you can "prick" the bubbles and squeeze them out, with any success. Others may disagree, but I think that's a reinstall to get it right.

[WOPALX]

I had my 335 tinted there, exact opposite story to yours.

As they are a franchise I'd get in contact with the franchisor and ask them to look at the job and give you their thoughts. Franchisee's can often be a tad tight when it comes to unhappy customers and a call from the franchisor can fix many attitude issues.

Originally Posted by dr.bmw

Tinted with formula 1 tint at Sol-ace tinting in Rosebery, Sydney a couple months ago now, not very happy with the result at all

the areas over dark dots, on side windows and rear do not stick, very uneven and looks wrong.

There is an edge on the rear window thats cut badly and clearly visible from the inside.

There are 2-3 small bublles per window on average

And most disappointing of all, now i have issues with the rear window demister. the top two lines don't seem to work, as well as part of the third line. Every time i switch the demister function on, i get static interference on the radio, like there's a loose connection somewhere.

Took the car back to the shop and the owner spent 30 minutes explaining that my expectations are unreasonable, that nothing ever sticks over the dots, that bubbles are normal and that he is sure that the demister de-function has nothing to do with his tint...

Anybody had similar issues? do you know a reliable professional i can take my car to for a second opinion? I've seen several BMWs where tint is applied evenly over the dots, is there a trick to it? or perhaps special tint films that should be used?

cheers

[Tj303]

i got the midnight express from sol-ace in Ryde, there was a small bubble which looked like a carpet fibre on the passenger side window -- i took it back and they reapplied a new film to the window, no hassles. I'm not too fussed about the film not sticking well on the dot matrix area... I don't think much can be done about that.

[Gumball]

Dot matrix is a real problem, did get my water sepage problem fixed mentioned in the links above (sprey) but back windows still look uneven when closely inspected.

Mine was done through the dealer at a place in Brookvale.

I have used Solace at Rosebery before for work cars and never has an issue but these were toyotas and did not have dot matrix.

God knows why BMW do this...

[bfi2906]

Originally Posted by Gumball

Dot matrix is a real problem, did get my water sepage problem fixed mentioned in the links above (sprey) but back windows still look uneven when closely inspected.

Mine was done through the dealer at a place in Brookvale.

I have used Solace at Rosebery before for work cars and never has an issue but these were toyotas and did not have dot matrix.

God knows why BMW do this...

Gumball - if you bought your car through either Crawfords or BMW Sydney - they both use Universal Tint in Winbourne Rd Brookvale. That's who I was speaking with on the weekend.

They use a 3m Carbon based tint which is both durable, and non-conductive (so no radio interference). Quoted about $300 to fit.

[Gumball]

Yep, that's the company who did mine.

Have had no issue with CA or radio just the dot matrix.