3M Obsidian
From $225
2hr · SUV 2hr 30min · +1hr w/ windshield
See the film →3M Crystalline Black
3M's top-line film. Two hundred layers of optical film and ceramic, rejecting up to 98% of infrared at shades light enough to look through.
Crystalline is 3M's top-line automotive film, and it is built differently from everything else we fit: two hundred layers of multilayer optical film with ceramic nanotechnology. The point of all those layers is selectivity. They turn away a large share of the sun's infrared while letting visible light through, so the film rejects more heat than many darker films without making the car look darker.
That is the honest way to read this tier. On total solar energy, Ceramic IR still edges it at the dark end — up to 66% against Crystalline's 61%. What Crystalline does that nothing else here does is keep working when the shade gets light: its lightest, CR BLK 80, lets 72% of the light through and still rejects 45% of the sun's total energy. If you want the heat gone without the blacked-out look, this is the film.
Infrared rejection runs from 95% to 98% across the range, UV rejection is 99.9% on every shade, and the series carries the Skin Cancer Foundation's Seal of Recommendation. It is non-metallised, so phones, GPS and satellite radio carry on as if it were not there.
It is also the film we fit to windshields, for the same reason, in the four lightest shades — CR BLK 50, 60, 70 and 80. See /windshield-tint and /tesla-tint. It carries a lifetime warranty on the film and on our labour. The full 3M brochure is here: /downloads/3m-crystalline-brochure.pdf
As with every film, California allows only near-clear film on the front side windows. Tell us the car and we will tell you which shade is legal on which glass before you book.
The numbers
- Shades
- Seven — CR BLK 30, 35, 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80
- Windshield shades
- CR BLK 50, 60, 70 and 80 — 48% to 72% visible light
- Visible light
- 29% to 72% depending on shade
- UV blocked
- 99.9% — Skin Cancer Foundation Seal of Recommendation
- Total solar energy rejected
- 45% to 61% depending on shade
- Infrared rejection (IRR)
- 95% to 98% — 900–1000nm
- Glare reduction
- 2% to 61% depending on shade
- Construction
- 200-layer multilayer optical film with ceramic nanotechnology, non-metallised
- Signal interference
- None — phones, GPS and satellite radio are unaffected
- Warranty
- Lifetime on film and labour, original owner only, non-transferable
- Figures measured on
- 6mm 73% VLT automotive green glass
- Source
- 3M Crystalline Series brochure, 75-5100-3070-5 (2024)
The Other Tiers
3M Color Stable IR
From $325
2hr · SUV 2hr 30min · +1hr w/ windshield
See the film →3M Ceramic IR
From $425
2hr · SUV 2hr 30min · +1hr w/ windshield
See the film →Ready When You Are
Tell us the car and what you want out of it. We will come back with a price and a day that works.