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A few quick questions about tinting a 07 bmw 335 coupe

pjr710
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pjr710

pjr710

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Hey guys, I have a roll of practice film .. it's suntek 1 ply.

 

I am using my own car its a 2007 bmw 335 coupe. I have a few questions that I think would help me out a lot. I am trying to just get better at window tinting.

 

1. how long should it take to shrink the side drivers window? does the 1 vs 2 ply play a roll in this? (i just attempted today but sucked and also realized i was going "against" the grain trying to get fingers out).

 

2. In general how many fingers should a basic side window have? How long should I be spending on it? having a baseline will be very helpful.

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pjr710

pjr710

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28 minutes ago, pbalentine said:

Most roll ups I’ll shrink about 4-6 fingers, taking about 1-3 minutes. When you lay your pattern for shrinking, squeegee it side to side mostly, so you don’t create more fingers than there should be. 

 

I must have been doing something wrong. I don't understand yet how many times i have to heat up and shrink a finger.

 

Should I do an "H" pattern on the window? Or just go left to right from the middle only? Should the bottom of the film be totally contoured to the window when done?

 

I was heating for 20-30 mins and still was having fingers! LOL you can tell I am not used to it

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pjr710

pjr710

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well that pic definitely helps. B/c i have a 40" roll and instead of slicing it in two, I just cut 18" from it. This means I was trying to shrink the blue lines!

 

The yellow circles are the whole width right? So if I cut a 40" roll in two .. I could shrink the fresh cut edges right? ... that's just going with the grain

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pjr710

pjr710

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That's good to know about 1 ply.

 

I got it b.c it was cheap and I knew I needed runway to screw up a lot I have a 100ft roll.

 

My plan is get it downpat with 1ply, even if I crease here or there. Then ultimately I'm going to do my car in ceramic. 

 

Bc all I care about is uv and heat protection and actually prefer lighter 50% tint 

 

The thing I really need to nail down is shrinking. The fact I was trying to shrink against the grain is encouraging. 

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Stewy

Stewy

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13 hours ago, pjr710 said:

well that pic definitely helps. B/c i have a 40" roll and instead of slicing it in two, I just cut 18" from it. This means I was trying to shrink the blue lines!

 

The yellow circles are the whole width right? So if I cut a 40" roll in two .. I could shrink the fresh cut edges right? ... that's just going with the grain

Yes. 

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pjr710

pjr710

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A few updates I just tinted again today going "with the grain" and it was much much much much much much better! lol

 

Right now i'm only doing my drivers side door

 

Here are some new questions that came up.

 

1. I kind of had difficulty getting the top line even following the slope, is there a recommended angle to put the blade and place the tint? The mirror gasket kind of screws me up with alignment.

 

2. Is it ok to heat and shrink fingers when the tint is installed? I shrunk all the fingers before hand but once I installed it there was only one tiny finger that came up in the middle bottom when i installed it - i heat shrunk it and seemed like there were no issues.

 

3. Last thing, what are the tools needed to install the tint? Is it like a squeegee first and then a hard card? Right now I only have a Conquistador but that sucks so I have to buy much better tools.

 

4. Edit: does anyone wear gloves? I keep getting little cuts on my fingers and I don't even realize it when it happens!

Edited by pjr710
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