Glare from dashboard?

Hi,

I should probably wait two weeks until I actually take delivery, but during my test drive in very sunny weather I noticed a lot of windshield glare/reflection of the top of the dashboard. Has anyone had issue with this? If it turns out it is a problem - aside from buying one of those carpet style covers or spray painting it matte black, any ideas?

I use polarized sunglasses and it solves the problem for me.

canuckjc said:

I use polarized sunglasses and it solves the problem for me.

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Interesting. It's driving me nuts. I haven't used polarized sunglasses in years because it made the head up display on my last two cars disappear. Since the i3 doesn't have one, perhaps it's time to get a new pair of sunglasses.

I agree.

Having got used to my car and covered around 1,500 miles - I still find the dash reflection on sunny days really irritating.

Most manufacturers got rid of reflection issues like this decades ago.

Anybody know if it's practical to wrap the area in matt black?

Methinks BMW should use fewer white yogurt containers in the recycle blend for the dash. I ended up getting the windshield tinted with Wincos HCN70. It struck me as odd how much trouble I had finding installers with wide enough rolls, as I originally was seeking Crystalline or PhotoSync.

It helps only somewhat on the glare though I do notice a lot of heat rejection which is great and was 1/2 the cost. Thankfully I can still wear the polarized sunglasses with the tint on.

I also am interested in some sort of black matte covering, though I have a strong feeling the carpet looking covers from the 90s may not match well. Spray paint?

Pull it out and upholster it in leather.

ericblz said:

Hi,

I should probably wait two weeks until I actually take delivery, but during my test drive in very sunny weather I noticed a lot of windshield glare/reflection of the top of the dashboard. Has anyone had issue with this? If it turns out it is a problem - aside from buying one of those carpet style covers or spray painting it matte black, any ideas?

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I mentioned that in my "i3 Dislikes" blog post: http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/06/after-2000-miles-part-two-dislikes.html

Having the car for four months now, I have learned to ignore it. It's still there, I just don't really notice it anymore.

After 2000 miles, I am indifferent to it and just don't see it any more.

As others have also noted, polarized sunglasses make the glare totally disappear for me.

-RRi3

Race cars and rally machines use black felt flocking. Try this:

http://www.hubfabric.com/Coating_services_and_flocking.htm

You could also cover it in Alcantara

Yes it's hard to believe that BMW would put the kenaf material out with it's glare potential. It seems like the overboard effort to be greener than Kermit has it's detriment, and I'm especially not fond of the kenaf look.

However, since I lose my sunglasses faster than money at a casino, I just looked at Dashmat and they already make a dash mat for the car ! I am going to order one immediately. 49 bucks.

Now if they just made something to cover up the rest of the kenaf on the inside....

DeafSoundGuy said:

Yes it's hard to believe that BMW would put the kenaf material out with it's glare potential. It seems like the overboard effort to be greener than Kermit

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BMW and Kermit go back a ways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSkP43A-LQ4

DeafSoundGuy said:

Yes it's hard to believe that BMW would put the kenaf material out with it's glare potential. It seems like the overboard effort to be greener than Kermit has it's detriment, and I'm especially not fond of the kenaf look.

However, since I lose my sunglasses faster than money at a casino, I just looked at Dashmat and they already make a dash mat for the car ! I am going to order one immediately. 49 bucks.

Now if they just made something to cover up the rest of the kenaf on the inside....

Click to expand...

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Same problem.

Good tip as to Dashmat. Will definitely check it out. Thanks!

A very minor point...I think you meant "its," not "it's," which means "it is," for example.