[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Palio_2005

Is 37% visible light transmittance allowed in Chennai. In Mumbai RTO does not allow below 60%

Where did you get that from? The legal limit is 50%, but there are enough cars running 35% that do not get hassled at all. Delhi is the city which is most strict, along with Chandigarh I think.

[Dr.Vikas]

Hi all,

At last I got the 3M complete car kit (RE50 for sides and RE70 for front & rear wind shields) installed to my new Fabia, paid Rs.6.75K for one kit as a purchase price.

It all happened so unexpectedly, when a friend of mine had a business trip to Delhi. I placed the order on phone with Mr.Rajiv, who arranged a doorstep delivery at the hotel. We bought 2 kits in all for Rs.13.5K (the other one for my friend’s Linea). I tell you, it was a very smooth & hassle free deal.. One can notice the 3M watermark all over the RE50 film, that stays there even now, but no such watermark on the RE70 film (obviously for the reason as being used to the front & rear wind shields) ..

It was surprising for us when we found it a more difficult task to get the films installed to our cars than its purchase issue. Nobody seemed to accept the job for some or the other reason. Nevertheless a person working at a car showroom (not for more than 4-5K per month) somehow agreed to work for us at our doorsteps on his weekly off, but quoted 3K towards the installation of the 2 cars.

Finally, I got the films installed on 28th Feb. (along with the rear speakers/ tweeters also) at 'Samarth Car Accessories', College Corner, Sangli. Speakers- Sony XS GTF 1626 (16 cm Coaxial) & Tweeters- Power Bass (sound just ok for my taste). Paid a sum of 3.7K towards the audio components & film installation in all.. (Rs.500 approximately towards the complete film installation charges)..

Mr.Vinayak installed the rear wind shield in a single piece. No dust particles seen or bubbles formation noticed in any of the glasses so far. The film is well set by now & I could surely appreciate the end result as the job has been done neatly & remarkably well. He performed the installation on the Linea 2 days later & with good results once again.. He took not less than 4 hrs per car..

Initially, I noticed few 'streaks' (resembling scratch marks?) especially on the side films, but those disappeared within a day or two (instantly after wiping out both the sides of all glasses thoroughly) .. Prohibition of winding & unwinding of the windows during the first 2 days was strictly followed..

Nevertheless, there are 2-3 creases at the left upper corner of the front wind shield (1-2 sq. inch area) & that's the only concern, I have right now.. Not easily noticeable.. Anyway, it can be overcome with the help of a sticker/ doctor's logo. So, in all it was a happy ending of the much awaited issue.

Here is a query for the fellow BHPians- Vinayak indicated that these 3M films have a very less sticking property as compared to the Garware films or any other brands in market! Has anybody noticed the same before? Do share your views & the reason behind, if any…
Posting few pics of the films very soon…

Regards,

[rr_zen]

Originally Posted by Dr.Vikas

Hi all,

One can notice the 3M watermark all over the RE50 film, that stays there even now, but no such watermark on the RE70 film (obviously for the reason as being used to the front & rear wind shields) ..

This is strange. I have CR70 installed on my front windscreen and it does have the 3M watermark. Point to note is that CR70 is a premium variety which is used on the front windscreen and there is no reason why the water mark should not be there on RE70.

[Sridhar K]

^^^ I have observed a similar thing where the front 3M film from a 3M roll box did not have 3M watermark and wondered why. Per Balaji Agencies (authorized 3M dealer in Chennai), RE70 is not recommended for front windscreen and so it is possible that there may not be a car specific windscreen roll with the watermark.

Also learnt that car accessory shops could buy rolls of films, do a custom cut for the car in question and install it. These rolls may not have the 3M water mark. Saw this first hand last week at a accessory shop in Chennai.

@Dr. Vikas, Did you get the 3M gaurantee card with the installation details (RE70 for front and back? The guarantee is valid only if the film is applied by a 3M authorized applicator. In lot of accessory shops, they may buy the film and the gaurantee may be honoured only by the shop in question.

Secondly, I am not convinced about 3M having lower sticking property than Garware etc. To the contrary, was advised by many to go for rain visors with 3M stickers and in fact have seen many rain visors brands advertising the fact that they use 3M stickers to show that their visors have superior sticking quality.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by rr_zen

This is strange. I have CR70 installed on my front windscreen and it does have the 3M watermark. Point to note is that CR70 is a premium variety which is used on the front windscreen and there is no reason why the water mark should not be there on RE70.

Yes - I've got CR70 on my car's front windscreen as well and the 3M logo is clearly visible. It's also visible on the RE35 on the rear windscreen.

Originally Posted by Sridhar K

Also learnt that car accessory shops could buy rolls of films, do a custom cut for the car in question and install it. These rolls may not have the 3M water mark. Saw this first hand last week at a accessory shop in Chennai.

On the RE35 on the sides, two of the four windows will typically have the logo. This is because one roll of film suffices to cover all 4 windows and when that roll is cut into 4 pieces only 2 of the 4 pieces will have the logo on them.

Originally Posted by Sridhar K

Secondly, I am not convinced about 3M having lower sticking property than Garware etc. To the contrary, was advised by many to go for rain visors with 3M stickers and in fact have seen many rain visors brands advertising the fact that they use 3M stickers to show that their visors have superior sticking quality.

It could be due to the inexperience of (or lack of detail on part of) the installers that worked on my car, but the film on the co-driver's side window had to be changed twice out of which once was due to a large bubble that formed in the "middle" of the film and not at the edge. This happened some 2 days after the install, which was surprising.

I can also make out "streaks" at various places on the front windscreen (CR70). These are visible only around high-contrast edges in the view through the glass, and not say when you look at something uniform (like the sky). Luckily it doesn't impact day-to-day driving, including night driving, at all.

Again, this is probably only due to a somewhat shoddy job. The installers didn't mention anything about an inherent lack of stickiness with 3M films, but they did point out multiple times that it's a challenge to get the film to stick onto glass with a pronounced curve, despite priming the film before finally fitting it.

Regards,
spadix

[Dr.Vikas]

@Dr. Vikas, Did you get the 3M gaurantee card with the installation details (RE70 for front and back?

@ Sridhar K,
Yep, the guaranty card was given along with the bill (tax invoice) & a pair of 3M stickers was also there provided with the packing. In fact, it is a combo kit supplied per car & that is exactly sufficient enough for one car..
The 3M logo is visible there on all the 4 side glasses of both the cars, but it's not there on the front & rear glasses as well.. Though it is mentioned as 3M RE70 sun control film in the bill..
Initially, I was under impression that the 3M logo shouldn't be there for clarity/ visibility or some other issue as a general rule..
So now I am smelling something fishy over here.. I am a bit confused & it has certainly become a matter of concern for me now..
May I need to check it out with Mr.Rajiv once again?
What do you people think?
BTW, the said RE70 film is comparatively more transparent (& it has to be) than the RE50 supplied along with.. And there is no obvious difference in the color tints/ shades of the 2 also..
Thanks & regards,

[dot]

Installed CR70 for the front windshield of the Civic today. This was done at the 3M Car Care shop, Viman Nagar, Pune. They would not negotiate, saying that other distributors are protesting against low price offered by the 3M shop. So finally negotiated a deal which includes interior detailing + CR70 for 7.5K with taxes. They also accepted the fact that one can get the same film at a lower price like 6+ k in other cities. Pune is more expensive as it has octroi issues.

Anyways, the film has 3M water mark. The installation was very professional, no bubbles or tears.

The benefits were apparent immediately. Drove out at 12p.m. Outside temperature in Pune is already hitting high 30s. However inside the car the blazing sensation on my face and hands has gone. This used to come before due to sun's radiation. AC, which was set at 25C, felt chilling. Holding my palm below the windshield (without touching it) did not feel hot.

I also kept the extra pieces to test the heat rejection properties, which I hope to do sometime.

[Sridhar K]

My car has RE35 on the sides and the rear. 3M logos is there on all the windows and at the rear.

Dr. Vikas: Pls. check with Mr. Rajiv. Had asked the question to a few non authorized dealer doing 3M installation about the lack of the 3M logo and how would the warranty be honored if they are not authorized dealer & applicator? The answer I got from all the dealers was "Sir, we buy the film from 3M only and why worry about warranty card sir, if you have a problem with the sunfilm, come to me and will get it fixed"

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by Palio_2005

Is 37% visible light transmittance allowed in Chennai. In Mumbai RTO does not allow below 60%

RE35 has only 37% light transmittance as per the RE 35 product page in the 3M brochure, and it also has a logo in that page saying approved by the Indian Motor vehicles Act or something like that.

Even the equivalent model in Garware has only 40% light transmittance.

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by Sridhar K

Dr. Vikas: Pls. check with Mr. Rajiv. Had asked the question to a few non authorized dealer doing 3M installation about the lack of the 3M logo and how would the warranty be honored if they are not authorized dealer & applicator? The answer I got from all the dealers was "Sir, we buy the film from 3M only and why worry about warranty card sir, if you have a problem with the sunfilm, come to me and will get it fixed"

I am sure about this as I checked with 3M India itself. If the product is Original, It must come with a bill and warranty, irrespective of where it is installed from. Insist on a bill and 3M warranty card. 3M warranty Card looks like as mentioned below. I purchased a 3M CR 70 Sun Film and i got this warranty Card.

[dot]

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

I am sure about this as I checked with 3M India itself. If the product is Original, It must come with a bill and warranty, irrespective of where it is installed from.

Thats right. I received one such document too.

[raghu.t.k]

Looking for 3M in Hyderabad, any idea where the stock is reliable and does a clean job? Also looking at the cost for CS and CR ranges for an AStar, which I intend to purchase.


Raghu

[santosh.s]

Guys, does 3M watermark mention model name of the film? Tried to search the net for pictures, but the one that I found showed only "3M" written in dot-matrix style. Garware watermarks that I came across had both company logo as well as model of the film.

How can I be sure that CR70/CR50 is being installed, and not RE, for example?

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by santosh.s

Guys, does 3M watermark mention model name of the film? Tried to search the net for pictures, but the one that I found showed only "3M" written in dot-matrix style. Garware watermarks that I came across had both company logo as well as model of the film.

How can I be sure that CR70/CR50 is being installed, and not RE, for example?

The watermark only says 3M like you saw on the net.

CR 70 will have a light grey/grey tinge while RE will have a greenish tinge. You can also check the roll from which the film is removed, if its in a box it will have the film model no on it.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by raghu.t.k

Looking for 3M in Hyderabad, any idea where the stock is reliable and does a clean job? Also looking at the cost for CS and CR ranges for an AStar, which I intend to purchase.

Hi Raghu, there are many shops that can do it.

I got it done at Car Jewel on Ministers Road. These guys are the authorized distributors for 3M in Andhra Pradesh. While their customer service is great, the quality of work wasn't the best in my case at least. It necessitated two follow-up visits to rectify issues (replacement film for free, to their credit). Even after that I wouldn't say I'm 100% satisfied.

Indian deCars (Himayat Nagar and Banjara Hills) offer better prices and apparently better quality of work. While I haven't seen them working, I've seen cars which got film fitted at this shop and the job looks very clean and professional.

The other options are Pit Stop on Raj Bhavan Road, Somajiguda (no experience with these folks) and your car dealer. I've seen Honda and Tata dealers price the film competitively enough. The Tata dealer's job on my father's Indigo (~5 years back now) was very well done as well. You might want to check out your MUL dealer in this regard.

By the way, CS and CR are at polar opposites. CR is the ultra high-end and CS is the second-most economical. Do consider RE (which sits in between CS and CR) as well. I really love the look of RE film on my black-coloured car, and of course it works very well too against heat and prying eyes!

Regards,
spadix