How dark is limo tint?
It’s the darkest shade on LLumar’s performance data sheet, the first row of each tinted line, and the shop’s own stock steps up from there:
| Shade the shop sells | ATC measured VLT | IRX measured VLT | Glare reduction (ATC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5%, limo | 5% | 6% | 94% |
| 15% | 18% | 20% | 79% |
| 35% | 38% | 39% | 57% |
| 50% | 60% | 54% | 32% |
A window passing 5% of the light is hard to see into, and it dims your own view out by the same measure, which matters most after dark. That trade-off has its own page on night driving with dark tint.
Darkness isn’t heat control, either. IRX 05 is almost the same shade as ATC 05, yet it keeps out 18 more points of total solar energy, 62% against 44%, because its ceramic stops more infrared.
Where is limo tint legal in BC?
On every window behind the driver, and nowhere ahead of that. MVAR s. 7.05(8) sets no darkness limit for rear side windows, or for the back glass of a car fitted with a mirror on each side; the two-mirror condition has its own page.
Up front it’s the opposite: neither front door window may legally carry film, limo or clear. The shop will apply it on request only after telling the driver what follows, a ticket that Mission RCMP says typically means a $109 fine, and the chance of a Notice & Order, under which the film must come off before the car is inspected at a designated facility.
South of the border the name fits the law more closely. Washington’s RCW 46.37.430 lets limousines, hearses and for-hire buses, along with vehicles their makers class as trucks or multipurpose passenger vehicles, run film under its usual 24% behind the driver; a sedan isn’t on that list.
What to weigh before choosing limo tint
Think about reversing at night and the glass you start with. Over factory privacy glass, the two darknesses multiply: 5% film on 20% glass leaves about 1%. One way to split it is 5% on the rear doors and a lighter shade on the back glass; 5% vs 20% tint lays out the difference.
The 5% window tint page has the packages and prices for ATC 05 and IRX 05, and whether police ticket 5% rear tint in BC answers the roadside question.