Thread: 2006 Mercedes C230 SPORT Restoration

What a hot car to own with the almost clear glass. Run in Walmart for 30 minutes and you can't hold the steering wheel when you come out. I was waiting to get a few miles on the car after the tires. The Cooper tires are super over the top performers with a fantastic ride as well as grip.

Now that its Summer here Tint had to happen. I researched installers, questioned what films by brand and systems within the brands so I would get a high performance film to begin with. I settled on Pinnacle Protection Solutions in Gulfport MS HOME for my installer. After a brief conversation on the phone I looked up their Tint SunTek CIR series Ceramic. 85% Infrared solar radiation rejection without the use of and metal particles that disrupt cell phones.

CIR™ Series | SunTek



Here is a picture after returning home. The owner Jeff Penuel was very friendly, informative, and responsive to my questions (Marine Engineer - I ask a lot of questions). While taking in his film cutting setup (I have a plotter so knew what I was looking at) I could see a CAD program or Vector file system was purchased by Mr. Penuel so he could cut perfect fitting film pieces on demand. Pinnacle's stock of films was very impressive too, when you see a dealer of retail product in any industry with a lot of current, good looking product inventory, usually they are a good place to spend your hard earned cash.



Mr. Penuel is helping with the windshield film in this shot. The Ceramic film is thicker than the cheaper films and so far I'm blown away with the Infrared Solar Heat rejection.



After plotting & cutting the film Mr. Penuel places the panels at the ready in their custom clear staging boxes mounted on the wall.



One of the installers is working all the water out from under the film with a squeegee. Notice how the entire dash is covered to prevent water damage.



When first applied the film looks horrible from the outside but when I drove my car home the windshield was perfectly clear. They patiently worked out every bit of application fluid.



As most of you know I can do most anything. I am so happy I had this done right the first time at our local tint installer Pinnacle Protection Solutions. No discount or paid endorsement here, this job included doing the Sun Roof too and with tax was $812 out the door. It was so worth it, in todays money 1-1/2 car payments. I'm spending this kind of money on this car every 8-9 months to continue the restoration. Well worth it for the final product. I am including links to the Film Manufacturer and my local dealer. The Manufacturer has a dealer locator on their website.

I did a experiment with my windows up in the sun most of the day seeing how hot the car gets inside then with the windows cracked. A Astounding Difference if the heat can escape. The Ceramic Tint I had installed really slows the warmup rate of the car interior in full sun and if your driving I have to turn the A/C way down now the car is so much cooler. The Tint was worth every penny. I have Vent Shades on everything I drive just about and after feeling & seeing the difference in cracked windows interior temps in full sun the Vent Shades were ordered. Took a long time to get here.



The first thing was to clean the painted area where I was going to attach each Vent Shade with fine machine compound to remove any Ceramic wax coating. Then followed that with a alcohol wipe. once I did a door I left it open.



They suggest removing the double stick tape backing from the back of each Vent Shade. I guess so you don't touch the most critical point of the mounting the leading edge.



I did a door at a time closing them once finished. I thought they were going to look funky but I think they blend in well.



Cooler Day Ahead Now...................