Maryland Inspections

[GTBrandon]

Just got my Yas F80 recently and love it, but I need to find a place to bring it for the MD inspections. It came from Florida so the tint is dark, and I’m having a hard time finding a place that will pass the inspection. If anyone knows of a chill spot, any help is appreciated here!

Please don’t respond if you don’t have anything constructive to add. I understand why tint is a danger to cops, I understand why inspectors don’t want to lose their license, etc etc.

[fernisatree]

Not trying to be negative, but after living here for the past decade the inspectors have tightened it up a lot. I know you used to be able to find a favorable inspector in the past, but I think those days are gone. I know at least in Southern Maryland you will not find an inspector that will put the money blinders on. The MSP has been cracking down heavily on this recently, good luck in your search.

[M3SQRD]

I have a friend who does MD state inspections and I know he won’t look the other way for front bumpers without the yellow reflectors. So there’s no way he’d pass a car with illegal tint. As fernisatree stated, I think you’ll have trouble finding a MD state inspector (I’m in Montgomery County) that will pass illegal tint. I’m not certain but I believe there’s potential liability for an inspector that passed something that was illegal and then post-inspection there’s an issue/accident due to the passed illegal item. Forget the cops. I personally find illegal tint to be a big safety issue because you can barely see through it at night and it becomes virtually impossible to see through it when it’s raining/wet.

[fernisatree]

M3SQRD Funny you mention the reflector thing, my M3 passed at a Mr. tire with painted reflectors. They failed me for stickers on the windshield, which was my vingette(toll sticker) from Switzerland so i had to scrape it off. They also dinged me for windshield wipers. Sometimes i do feel like it is inspector to inspector what some look for and others don't.

[95M3_06X5_16M4]

Originally Posted by GTBrandon

Just got my Yas F80 recently and love it, but I need to find a place to bring it for the MD inspections. It came from Florida so the tint is dark, and I’m having a hard time finding a place that will pass the inspection. If anyone knows of a chill spot, any help is appreciated here!

Please don’t respond if you don’t have anything constructive to add. I understand why tint is a danger to cops, I understand why inspectors don’t want to lose their license, etc etc.

I feel for you - but the inspections stations I know who used to be lenient are no longer there or lenient.

I'm up in Bel Air and spoke to my trusted independent for you this past week - he says 'no luck'.

[Yuille36]

The issue I see, is that these inspectors can lose their accreditation from the State of Maryland, if they're found guilty of not enforcing these laws. And it's not worth it to them to pass an illegal car, for a few extra bucks. So, can you really blame them.

[GTBrandon]

Appreciate everyone's input here, after trying to find a chill shop I ended up just rolling the dice at a local place. Failed for tint and got it all removed, luckily with no issues on the rear defrosters. Honestly I'm slowly appreciating being able to see that Amaro brown interior now, but will probably throw some 40% ceramic back on eventually. No rush since it's a garage parked car.

[Yuille36]

I wished that I had paid more attention to this thread, I have a shop in Lorton VA called Skyline Tint that I highly recommend. When I bought my F80 M3 last November, the rear window tint was distorted like they applied too much glue adhesive when they applied the tint. Honestly, it only bothered me at night. Anyway I was worried that removing the tint would interfere or mess up the rear defroster, well these guys took their time, and removed the tint in one piece preserving my rear defroster. And reapplied ceramic tint, not only could I see much better out of the rear window, it also cut down on the heat inside the car. You should definitely get ceramic tint with UV protection.