Help rear window tinting -brake light in the way

[RomanEleven]

Hey guys, I am getting my car tinted in a couple of days and i just notices B8's brake light is on the rear window. I dont really like tint being cut around it..how did everyone here go about that problem? Please post some pics if you got some. thanks alot!!

[Ryan_T]

No matter what, your tinter will have to pop the rear lights off. I say have it cut to shape. Keep in mind that putting tint over it will reduce its brightness, which will lessen the responsiveness of the driver behind you. Not something you want when you're braking hard.

My tinter pulled the rear areas of the headliner down by hand, and the lights just slide off. It's pretty simple. Just take your time.

[linet90]

I tinted mine over the light, I think it looks much better and cleaner. But that is me I just dont like the look of it.

[Ryan_T]

I'm all for looks, but safety takes priority.

[hender]

No matter what, your tinter will have to pop the rear lights off. I say have it cut to shape. Keep in mind that putting tint over it will reduce its brightness, which will lessen the responsiveness of the driver behind you. Not something you want when you're braking hard.

i'm gonna respectfully throw a -1 there.
cutting around could look weak (depending on tinter, not sayin this is the case in your situation) and the actual brake light is virtually flush against the glass, which hardly affects its brightness. not to mention a lot of cars / SUVs have tinted rear-windows from the factory with the brake light behind it, and they wouldn't do that if it was in the slightest bit unsafe.

[Ryan_T]

Doesn't matter if it's virtually flush, a film is a film in front of the light source.

I've never seen an SUV or car that has film over their brake lights. It's either on the spoiler up top on the SUV, or it has a cut-out. Or it only has the typical 70-80% factory tint.

I could be wrong, or just haven't seen enough cars in my life. Do whatever you like. There's still two more brake lights, anyway.

[hender]

Doesn't matter if it's virtually flush, a film is a film in front of the light source.

hey, i hear your logic loud and clear. but i have 20% tint all around and if i put the brake light on, its still blinding; doesn't look dimmed or anything... alternatively, if you stand 3 feet from the car at night you can't see a thing inside. i really don't think it makes any difference in terms of the guy behind me.

who knows, maybe one day there will be a GTA meet and we can check it out

(FWIW it was my last SUV that had the brake light in the windows, and there's a couple more no doubt but meh!)

[RomanEleven]

Thank you all for the input, I'm more interested in how y'all move the brake light so I can get the whole rear tinted. Thanks again!

[Ryan_T]

Like I said, yank the headliner, and the brake light assembly slides out. I can't remember if it slides back or down along the glass. The headliner is held in by tabs, they should snap back in. There's a cable you should probly disconnect before you slide out, cause it's pretty short.

[ThePiombino]

My guy cut it by hand...and you can tell =0(

[Smeghead]

the light slides toward the glass, there's two clips that need to pop and a channel that the headliner fits into. It'll feel as though you're going to break it but you're not. Once it comes away it'll still be attached by the wiring. Pull the plug and you're done. I have 20% on the rear and the brake light still shows brightly. Putting it back was harder than removing it (tinter didn't want to do it as he broke the last B8 he did and didn't want to pay for another).

[rtc5250]

Can u guys post up pictures on how to do this? I'm nervous about breaking the headliner or third brake light.

[Runge]

My guy cut it by hand...and you can tell =0(

+1 only if you look really closely, rather be seen then hit. Knowing some dumb people and insurance companies, if someone were to rear-end you, it would be your fault since you got 'after-market' 'racing' 'modifications' 'black tint' to your car that prevented them from seeing 1 of 3 brake lights.

[NWS4Guy]

Like I said, yank the headliner, and the brake light assembly slides out. I can't remember if it slides back or down along the glass. The headliner is held in by tabs, they should snap back in. There's a cable you should probly disconnect before you slide out, cause it's pretty short.

Yep my installer pulled the headliner loose and did it right.

As for safety and tinting over the 3rd tail...If someone cannot see I am hitting my brakes, that tiny ass little 3rd light is not going to save an accident.



You can see it here through the tint just fine, but to be honest the brake lights on the rear are VERY visible being LED's and all

[rtc5250]

I had told the tinter to just pull the headliner down and they will not touch it >.<!! Argghh! Help me please!

[ThePiombino]

Yep my installer pulled the headliner loose and did it right.

As for safety and tinting over the 3rd tail...If someone cannot see I am hitting my brakes, that tiny ass little 3rd light is not going to save an accident.

You can see it here through the tint just fine, but to be honest the brake lights on the rear are VERY visible being LED's and all

HAHA- way to "sneak" in a dyno of your S4, lol!!!

[NWS4Guy]

HAHA- way to "sneak" in a dyno of your S4, lol!!!

Oh that's old news, did that a long time ago, just the only view I had of brakes being on with the tint to state the case.

[B_Boy]

jus remove it yourself then have him tint it, then reinstall it.

[ThePiombino]

Oh that's old news, did that a long time ago, just the only view I had of brakes being on with the tint to state the case.

I jest out of jealousy

[rtc5250]

In order to get the headliner down; do i pull it directly down from the middle where the brake light first, or do i pull it down from the sides first? And if I get the headliner down do I pull the brake light out against the glass or I pull it down away from the ceiling? Arggh this is a pain in the butt.

BTW NWS4Guy you have a fine ass S4!! What is the dyno numbers?

[linet90]

In order to get the brake light out you do not need to pull down the headliner. Slide the brake light down along the glass and that's it.

[NWS4Guy]

In order to get the brake light out you do not need to pull down the headliner. Slide the brake light down along the glass and that's it.

Good to know, not sure why my guy pulled the rear of the headliner down, but they did a perfect job, so not complaining.


As for my dyno, it was a baseline, was underwhelmed since other S4's are pushing mid 290's at wheels, mine was:

Max WHP - 276
Max WTQ - 286
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...-Sat-4-17-10am

Still the TQ curve on the S4 is crazy, it's not a curve, it's a flat line straight across.

Still it gives me a dyno I can run on again changing only things on my car to rate changes. I have a Strat intake now, and will have the APR exhaust for it in a couple of weeks, then I will dyno again and we'll check the delta.

[rtc5250]

In order to get the brake light out you do not need to pull down the headliner. Slide the brake light down along the glass and that's it.

Thank you so much!! I just got back from a different tint dealer and he have pulled it out with ease, but putting that sucker back in was a biaatch!

Good to know, not sure why my guy pulled the rear of the headliner down, but they did a perfect job, so not complaining.


As for my dyno, it was a baseline, was underwhelmed since other S4's are pushing mid 290's at wheels, mine was:

Max WHP - 276
Max WTQ - 286
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...-Sat-4-17-10am

Still the TQ curve on the S4 is crazy, it's not a curve, it's a flat line straight across.

Still it gives me a dyno I can run on again changing only things on my car to rate changes. I have a Strat intake now, and will have the APR exhaust for it in a couple of weeks, then I will dyno again and we'll check the delta.

Not bad at all. I have a dyno run thread some where in this forum with the GIAC tune, and I'm not pulling that much either. There are alot of factors of dynoing; dyno brand, heat, humidity, all kinds of other crap that can make your car hp read lower than others. I'm still happy with the tune and dyno.

[Hyperionguy]

yeah, don't need to pull down headliner. However, my tint guy didn't know what he was doing on this car and he grabbed it and pulled downward rather than rearward. 1/4 of the housing snapped off in his hand. He drove to the dealership and bought a new one and fessed up to me when I returned and showed me the broken one and the box the new one came in.

[rtc5250]

yeah, don't need to pull down headliner. However, my tint guy didn't know what he was doing on this car and he grabbed it and pulled downward rather than rearward. 1/4 of the housing snapped off in his hand. He drove to the dealership and bought a new one and fessed up to me when I returned and showed me the broken one and the box the new one came in.

Where you got yours done at? I went to All-Stars Tint off of HWY 6 a guy name "Bubba" did a super job on my car. And it was his first time doing the new Audi A4, boy we was sweating trying to get the damn brake light out.

[Hyperionguy]

Where you got yours done at? I went to All-Stars Tint off of HWY 6 a guy name "Bubba" did a super job on my car. And it was his first time doing the new Audi A4, boy we was sweating trying to get the damn brake light out.

I got mine done at All Star! They do a lot of work for dealerships and the work was damn good. He told me that he did put a guy on my car that was doing a B8 for the first time, so I guess that is why the problem occurred. He said the other guy in the shop told him how to take it out but obviously he misunderstood. They guy did try to glue it back together ( i saw that when he gave me the old piece) but the owner told him that was wrong and they needed to replace it.

They seemed to be real stand up guys. I was happy.

[rtc5250]

I got mine done at All Star! They do a lot of work for dealerships and the work was damn good. He told me that he did put a guy on my car that was doing a B8 for the first time, so I guess that is why the problem occurred. He said the other guy in the shop told him how to take it out but obviously he misunderstood. They guy did try to glue it back together ( i saw that when he gave me the old piece) but the owner told him that was wrong and they needed to replace it.

They seemed to be real stand up guys. I was happy.

They are the best tinters in my book by far, but man I'm sorry to hear that they broke your brake light. Those damn brake light are a pain to take out and put back in.

[KlRBY]

They cut around my rear brake light.

I'm very happy with the result. The lines are clean and everything.

[eliteglasstint]

[QUOTE=KlRBY;5624389]They cut around my rear brake light.

Cutting the third brake light demonstrates lazyness! especially on an audi which is very simple to remove and replace. All that is needed is two hands. You need to first get your finger tips behind the front side of the light and use the back palm of you hands to apply forward pressure to the light and slide the in and forward toward the trunk . You will see that it just slides out. all that is holding it in place is two brass spring/tension clips.

You should consider taking your car to a seasoned Tint shop that knows high end cars like Audi's. Just because a shop does Dealer work does not make them good or bad.

Please see our Audi Album on our FB page and see what you audi should look like when properly Tinted.

http://www.facebook.com/EliteGlassTi...type=3&theater

[MSteele]

All they did on my car was remove the plastic cover that sits flush against the glass. The computer cut film had 2 notches on it they lined it up and then put the cover back on. They didn't remove the headliner or the brake light, just that black cover.

[eyrah]

My third light has vibrated ever since I got my windows tinted when the bass hits. Anyone have anything similar?

[SmellMyFart]

Damn it. My tinter just broke the plastic break light windows when he was tinting the rear windows. Now he has to order it and replace it for me. And he couldn't even get the whole thing off. Anyone knows how the cost of the plastic cover? He said he called his workmate and its like 90 bucks.