Can anyone recommend a shop that's in the Sterling/Reston area?

Also, what's the maximum legal limits for tinting in VA? Did some searches but didn't find anything about this.

Thanks

--curtis

i believe it's 35% ... not sure if that applies to the front also cause the front could be even less

edit: as for the tint shop, it really depends on what kind of tint you want

http://www.tintdude.com/laws.html

http://www.tintdude.com/laws.html
Thanks Brian.

That's exactly the info that I was hoping to find.

--curtis

I got mine done at Roadblock in Sterling. Ask to speak to Al (703.421.1875).

They take the door panels off to put the tint on (if you're OK with that), and the price was good from what I remember...it's been a while.

I got mine done at Roadblock in Sterling. Ask to speak to Al (703.421.1875).

They take the door panels off to put the tint on (if you're OK with that), and the price was good from what I remember...it's been a while.
Thanks - will give them a call!

If you don't mind driving to ALexandria, give Gary Martin @Martins Motorsport a call. He can give you the low down and he is an M3 guy to boot. He's right off Van Dorn and the beltway. seven o three 823 9735.
If you looked at my car over the weekend, I have VA legal in the front, and 50A% on all the back glass.

ceramic? i believe that's the only place around here that does ceramic

If you don't mind driving to ALexandria, give Gary Martin @Martins Motorsport a call. He can give you the low down and he is an M3 guy to boot. He's right off Van Dorn and the beltway. seven o three 823 9735.
If you looked at my car over the weekend, I have VA legal in the front, and 50A% on all the back glass.

ceramic? i believe that's the only place around here that does ceramic
Sorry if this is a dumb newbie question, but what does 'ceramic' refer to in the context of window tinting?

--curtis

http://www.tintdude.com/laws.html
What % tint did you have on yours again Brian?

ceramic? i believe that's the only place around here that does ceramic


:nixweiss:

What % tint did you have on yours again Brian?


35% all the way around :banghead:

edit:
35% http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v405/nappa6/photos/fav1/IMG_1101.jpg

there's different kinds of tints, and depending on them, the costs are different. There's the usual metallic kind which everybody normally gets and then it ranges all the way to ceramic, which I believe is the most expensive. Now, quality wise, metallic can be good if you get a reputable vendor to do it, however, the downsides of metallic are that it will interfere with your radio and possibly nav functions. I know for sure, if you do a search, a lot of people who have metallic say that they have problems with their radios for obvious reasons being that the tint is metallic. Now ceramic, only certain places around here do it, one of which I hear is Martin Motorsports, actually I believe that's the only place in VA that does it. They did it for my friend and it was a hefty price, but 1) you wont get bad reception and 2) the quality is pretty much unmatched. Now, it really depends on how much you want to spend what you want. The ceramic tint only comes in I believe 45%, I could double check with my friend but I believe that's what it is. They wont go any lower just cause they know it's illegal. That's pretty much a crash course in tinting. I'm probably going to do the ceramic myself although you could probably search around for another kind of tint that possibly wont affect the reception of radio. Those are just some things to think about when you're going to go do your tint.

Sorry if this is a dumb newbie question, but what does 'ceramic' refer to in the context of window tinting?

--curtis

oh, i was just wondering what kind of tint you got since I believe they do the ceramic tint. i'm sure they also do metallic but I know they do ceramic, so I was wondering what kind of tint you got.

:nixweiss:

Thanks for the tinting explanation Yuanren.
I bought my car the way it is now, but had the seller switch the front side windows to be VA legal before shipping me the car from TX. There is a difference in tone, but in bright light, it isn't that noticeable.

No problem. The only reason I know all this was cause I looked into it when I wanted to get my car tinted. It' just a matter of decision now that I know the info. I would actually prefer my tint to be darker like your car ... looks very nice.

Thanks for the tinting explanation Yuanren.
I bought my car the way it is now, but had the seller switch the front side windows to be VA legal before shipping me the car from TX. There is a difference in tone, but in bright light, it isn't that noticeable.

Here's my info dump on tint (cut and pasted from last summer)

NOTE: M3s require a 2-inch? black vinyl strip across the top of the rear window where the 3rd brake light is... cuz you have that dot matrix that won't look good if tint is applied directly on it.

The Laws:
http://www.doityourselftint.com/tintlaws.html

Tint info:
- Metallic (what I have-was told it was the best... metallic won't fade (color) over time, but it does effect my FM and AM reception):
http://www.llumar.com/

- Ceramic
http://www.huperoptikusa.com/home.cfm

- misc
www.tintdude.com


The Recommendations:
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=252489

www.latint.com

california tint
7037579535
10200 colbin run road
great falls, va 22066

TNT Tint
Alexandria off South Picket Street. 703.239.2460 Matt
Matt operates in Alexandria using a bay at Martin Motorsports

Al @ Roadblock offers ECB discounts and has just upgraded his shop with tint cutting equipment. 703-421-1875 (office)

Huper Optic Ceramic tint is available at Performance Window Tinting in Columbia, MD 1 866 827 TINT or 301-455-3097

Performance Window Tinting is in Annapolis, MD and has a $10 off coupon here: http://www.performancewindowtinting.com/coupon_auto.pdf