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I currently own a 2018 model s. The led headlights on it are terrible. ive had them replaced 3 times under warrant and the are still having problem. Teslas asking price for replacements is $3,298 and I didn’t want to pay for headlights that are going to fail again. I want to put in the pre facelift hid headlight. my only issue is that the car controls its current headlights with Using LIN, is there any way to read or conver it to just the basic 12v signals?

I will post updates on my project once I start.
 
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Project has been called off😔. Since I share the car with my mom she doesn’t want me to mess with anything because it’s the only car we have😔.
im sorry.
Why not try upgrading to matrix led when those headlamps can be ordered from Tesla?

I don't know how much retrofitting anything beside a new plaid/LR would benefit anyone with an older S because you probably won't benefit from the actual matrix feature if they require some sort of camera or additional hardware/software to control it.
 
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echo others comments- I received my car with both headlights set too low, in fact the nearside one was so low it was more like it had had a stroke, setting them right made a world of difference

simple LIN USB adapter if you want to have a go at a project yourself, mostly LIN is fairly basic stuff, shouldn't be too hard to decode, the more complex control goes on CANbus.
USB LIN Converter by ucandevices on Tindie
 
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I raise the left light one full turn of the adjuster and the right one and a half. Makes a big difference and no complaints from other drivers. I think they set them too low at the factory.
I did not realize you can do this! They are definitely too low. Just googled and found this is how you do it. Will have to try it in a min.
  • Go to the settings menu.
  • Select "Service"
  • Select "Headlight Leveling"
  • When it prompts you, use the roller wheels on the steering wheel to adjust your headlights up or down to your preference. Keep in mind this adjusts the angle, not the brightness.
 
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I did not realize you can do this! They are definitely too low. Just googled and found this is how you do it. Will have to try it in a min.
  • Go to the settings menu.
  • Select "Service"
  • Select "Headlight Leveling"
  • When it prompts you, use the roller wheels on the steering wheel to adjust your headlights up or down to your preference. Keep in mind this adjusts the angle, not the brightness.
Apparenty this option isn't in v11.0 :(
 
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I find it interesting that Tesla will likely be shipping Matrix headlights with the matrix feature currently disabled, both for software development and testing, but also regulatory reasons.

ironically this means that there is some chance that you could DIY retrofit because the code to enable full matrix will likely only be tested on MCU3. Hopefully you wouldn’t have to stay on a pre “full matrix” build to keep it working.
 
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Oops, I had pasted the wrong link from my clipboard. 😣
I meant this one: Want new HID headlights

Nothing specifically helpful but that person had the same question and a few people chimed in. Maybe a direct PM to some of the people in that thread can get more answers about what they found out.

Bonus: Here is another thread on this forum of people talking about the aftermarket HID bulbs:
Everything is being done. Changing the configuration to HID in the gateway, and re-pinning the headlight connectors - and the xenon headlights start working fine. Another thing is that the factory xenon is very weak (the luminous flux is limited to 2000lm mainly due to Tesla's unwillingness to bother with headlight washers :)). Replacing the HID unit with 55 watts and lamps with standard D2S will give an increase in brightness. If that's not enough - then just replace the lenses with new ones or immediately install LED light modules in HID headlights
 
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I currently own a 2018 model s. The led headlights on it are terrible. ive had them replaced 3 times under warrant and the are still having problem. Teslas asking price for replacements is $3,298 and I didn’t want to pay for headlights that are going to fail again. I want to put in the pre facelift hid headlight. my only issue is that the car controls its current headlights with Using LIN, is there any way to read or conver it to just the basic 12v signals?

I will post updates on my project once I start.
This can be done. We have Used HID lights available. We have converted the HID to LED using all OE parts and controls. LED and HID can also be done in a very similar way. However this is not something we can do remote and we can old do at our location. Using HID with upgraded projectors gives really good light output.
 
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This can be done. We have Used HID lights available. We have converted the HID to LED using all OE parts and controls. LED and HID can also be done in a very similar way. However this is not something we can do remote and we can old do at our location. Using HID with upgraded projectors gives really good light output.
I am very interested in the native HID to LED process. Is it just a re-pinning? I see the HID and LED headlights are the same connector with different pin-outs. What other parts are needed? I have read a lot about the canbus/linbus adaptors - but you say you don't need them?
 
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