Is Madico window tint any good?

[bmwmsport]

.

[M3 Pete]

I got Madico Onyx installed a couple of months ago, no complaints. Looks good, true black color, not greenish and not reflective. Madico and Llumar are supposed to be good films. 3M WAS a good film, but I have heard negative things about it lately.

Always buy the best film you can, it is not that much more, and you will be happier for it in the long run.

[Ian]

I got Madico Onyx recently as well. Haven't been through a TX summer yet but it is supposed to have a very good reduction in heat transferred to the cabin.

Hey M3 Pete, how do the edges of your windows look, where those little black bumps are on the glass from the factory? Did the tint settle well over those little bumps?

Ian

[Josh///M3]

Madico Onyx is really good, my step dad uses it in his tint shop. The little edges of your windows have whats called matrix dots... those little black things... they are a BITCH to get tint to stick to. I've heard the only way to make the tint stick just right is to wet sand the matrix dots. They are really annoying... just be glad our cars don't have as many as hondas... they don't even bother doing 3-4" of the rear window because of the matrix dots everywhere.

Later,
Josh

[M3 Pete]

it settled "OK" over the matrix dots, not perfect, but good enough, it won't ever be perfect. You can improve how well they settle by taking a hair dryer to the OUTSIDE of the window over the dots and smoothing the film over them from the inside after you heat it. At least that's the way the shop was doing it during installation.

[North Florida]

I have tinted hundreds of cars in my life, as I formerly owned a window tint business. I still tint my own and friends cars now and then.

Many years ago, Madico was one of the lowest quality tints available on the market, and hence the least expensive. However, their quality has improved quite a bit in the recent years.

I have used Llumar the most, sometimes for reasons that have more to do with ease of availabilty from the manufacturer. Llumar is one of the best in quality. 3M is also one of the best, but usually found to be more expensive for base material cost by the roll. Also, 3M dealers often will not sell rolls of 3M tint.

One must remember, ALL tint materials fail after a certain number of years of exposure to the sun. Some faster than others, and some faster in sun from states like Florida as opposed to Pennsylvania or such. I usually retint my cars every four years if I still have them.

Poor quality tints fail (fade, blurr and bubble) in a very short time, like one year or so. Fade means both darkness and color. Blurr, well I have no use for tint material that blurrs or bubbles.

I took the most time ever to tint my M3, guess this one just had to be perfect. I put 5% all the way around, with one piece in the rear window (look mom, no seams !) The heat resistance is awesome, and the privacy factor is the best, even in straight up daylight.

Disadvantage: Definetely harder to see out at night, must be cognizant of this and drive accordingly. Two, possibly subject to a non-moving citation (Florida law). Three, if you run someone over and kill them at night, a sharp vehicle homocide investigator should not fail to document your tint darkenss, which would tend to expose you to an elevated level of civil liability risk. Blah, we don't even want to think of that (but you better if your gonna run dark tint). Best defense is a good offense !