friend's kid got $275 tint ticket because X1 VIN & registration show "passenger car"?

[authentic-haggis]

I was talking with a friend this morning.

His daughter has a 2015 X1(E84) that he gave her, after he bought the X3 a few years ago. She took it to college and after graduation, she continued to drive it. She got it tinted last summer. The front door windows were a light tint, but the rears were "limo" darkness.(i.e. can't see in at all)

Last week, she was pulled for a rolling stop at a stop sign, which the trooper gave her just a warning. However, he then looked at her tinted rear windows and issued a $275 ticket for tint violation. The trooper somehow had a handheld tint meter and said that her rear door window and tailgate glass were much too dark. She told the officers that the state's tint law said the rear glass could be any darkness for SUVs.

The officer pointed to her registration car and the VIN# decal by the driver's door... apparently they both said "passenger car"??? As a passenger, the rears can only be 35% and no darker.

I assume that the window tint shop also thought that her X1 "SUV" was allowed to have *any* darkness in the rear windows per the state's ting law.

Was that a mistake by BMW? How can the E84 X1 be listed as "passenger car" and not "SUV"?

I just went to look at my co-worker's X1(2021 F48) and that VIN said type "MPV"(same as SUV?).

Can anyone help? Should my friend's daughter try to fight the tint ticket? Although trooper did say that the ticket could be dropped if she brought receipt or photos shows removal of the illegal tint in the rear windows.

[cwickberg]

Actually, the X1 E84 was based on the E9X car chassis and not classified as an SUV.

I found this out when getting insurance and it was classified as a car and insurance was a bit less

[gregthegr8]

In CA, surprisingly, both the DMV and insurance classify it as a station wagon. Besides, BMW would say it's an SAV, not an SUV! Ha!

[authentic-haggis]

Originally Posted by gregthegr8

In CA, surprisingly, both the DMV and insurance classify it as a station wagon. Besides, BMW would say it's an SAV, not an SUV! Ha!

they contacted BMW USA and was told that it had to be classified as a "Passenger Car" just like what the car's VIN plate said. (unless it's a 2016, which BMW changed classification to "MPV")