Originally Posted by MainelyA8

Casco Bay Tints is where I've had a few vehicles done. Matt runs the place solo, and he has nothing but good reviews. I know a couple of people who have had him tint their windows as well, and I believe that's where my brother had his S500 windows done.

Originally Posted by MP4.2+6.0

[The car in the pic is seems tinted BTW, so not sure i understand unless that is an exemplar--looks like maybe 30% light transmission rear (70% down), maybe 70% transmission front (30% down; might be 50%). But if shades are up in back, that could be why it looks darker back there and/or why whole car looks somewhat dark thru the glass.]

I will skip the specifics for now of exactly which film, but can observe some stuff from having mine done w/ the same colors like 8 years on now. I am in NorCal too so can't really give you direct ideas there. BUT, what you might do is search on the regional boards (what i did) and also maybe look at the newer high volume boards where people are getting it done on new vehicles. Prime suspects there would be Q5 and then A4.

Also realize D3 is one of a handful of vehicles where if tint shops know them they duck, hem and haw or avoid outright absent special consideration, prior relationship, etc. Or, sometimes do a hack job. The issue is you cannot tint the rear window in full without taking out the back deck/hat shelf because of the way the height of that is several inches up into the glass area. Look from outside and you will see the issue right away; not very many cars are like that. Variously to kludge it some shops might cut film short or try to tuck it down there and get a bunch of crap stuck on film no doubt. Some don't even tint the rear window apparently. The problem with that is usually when I see old Audi's the two places most damaged/faded are the dashboard (warping, delimitation, etc.) and around the back window--up high and hat shelf area in general.

Net, the right answer is take that deck out. That is involved and basically means disassembling the whole back of the car upholstery wise. I did it. Another poster is running a thread literally right now about doing it, so look there too. And once you do it, you can also get at those little side windows a lot better that are back by the C pillar to tint them nicely. My preferred shop would only touch the rear window of my A8 if I pulled the interior in advance, which I did.

As you get into choice of product, with a dark car like that/mine, I would get a higher performance film and pay up for it. Focus on not just uV for sun fade but also IR for heat rejection. Then you also don't have to go way darker quasi limo stuff/ticket me/make a cop nervous stuff. Being in CA you know that front tint is technically a no no, and some get fix it tix for it. Others seem in the real world to be tinting to avoid getting busted for the incessant texting and phone use going on, but maybe just coincidence or overlapping correlation of owner patterns. My net is I went 30 % down (70% transmission) in front and 50 in rear. You can hardly tell it is in the front so it passes any casual LEO look, but still performs. Strong uV protection, about 50% on IR/heat rejection. On newer vehicles, especially as pano roofs get more common, I am tinting the roof panel too. Again, with a film that only rejects modest light--10% down or 30% for me; shops have suggested as much as 50% at times. Even by only 30% down takes out the 50% or so on iR over a flat (roof) piece of glass that probably has about as much sun load as the two front windows combined for any given angle of the compass.

Last, as you probably know, you will likely want to go to certain firm colors/shades. Given black and amaretto it is probably neutral gray or perhaps a little brown. What it isn't is toward green or blue. And that in turn may take out certain film brands. Thus in my world that kind of crossed off the Huper Optik stuff and brought the 3M Crystalline in. I think Huper Optik may have tweaked their colors some though. And this is also to say, don't get too scope locked on a brand before knowing the color family it is in. A good shop knows these nuances, knows the iR rejection issue that isn't just about darkness of film but also about the chemistry (ceramics, nano, etc.), and has the specs for several products in a range of price points to choose among. A really good shop also knows how to mix and match that can save some $, especially if you do progressive/variable shade tinting like mine from front to back. Thus they might use a high light transmittance film up front to stay closer to stock and LEO smile look, but use a cheaper and darker conventional but still quality film in back like a Suntek. Darker films will typically reject more iR anyway; the nuance is to reject a lot with a lighter film, the pricier ceramics, nano, etc. films generally get the nod.

Originally Posted by hqbmw1@gmail.com

MP4 (great name) I am curious as to who you used for your install and apx pricing. I am in NorCal East Bay, where we have hot direct sun. Planning on tinting my allroad and would appreciate your sharing the shop if convenient to Co Co County. TIA

Originally Posted by MP4.2+6.0

This guy (Sidney) in Fremont: Auto Mall Tint Specialist - Professional Window Tinting. In Fremont, California. South Fremont off 880 toward bay near Wallyworld, Tesla plant, etc. Later did our Mini and Q5 (and pano roofs on those). Knows his stuff. Not the cheapest. Been a while, but prices like what TSHong mentioned if ceramics; IIRC somewhat less if some ceramics (like front) and some conventional. But it has been many years since mine was done and I'm remembering the other vehicles he did too. Workmanship has no flaws even now on D3 (and the others). He knew D3 glass situation in rear as I mentioned, and did not want to do rear until I told him I would take everything needed out. With it out, I remember he took a bunch of time with heat to pre shape the rear glass to all three dimensions of the curvatures involved; did it by laying and forming it on outside first and then applying when pre-shaped to inside.

Do realize BTW (for anyone interested) in doing rear glass the defroster lines become more visible if you are sensitive to them; I don't think about it any more but it is unavoidable given they are on the inside surface. Some skip it I guess, a little more so w/ the tough D3 rear window/back deck situation.