Great post! It seems so easy. Feels like removing the bumper is easier than installing a dash camera.
I think it's q Actually it's a damned good price, especially given what must be incredibly high tooling costs and low volume production. It's close to the Tesla refresh look and that can't be retrofitted at any cost -- at least by Tesla.
I wonder where the tow hook goes for the Tesla facelift S? I think my pre-facelift, fairly new S already doesn't have the 12V terminals behind the nose cone.
I assume it like the Model X: There is a panel that pops off in the corner of the center intake, which reveals a threaded socket into which you screw in a eyehook (comes with the car).
You might be surprised how much a quality auto grade sheet of ABS plastic costs in small quantities. Probably $200. Then you have the labor costs and the tooling. This doesn't include the trim pieces.
Guess I'm just too used to all the local So Cal shops that create and sell plastic and FRP bumpers for Benz, Lexus, and other sports cars at $300-500 a pop and are still making a strong margin. However Karstyle seems to have no competition so they can set the price at whatever they wish as long as there's a demand.
I am also considering the Karstyle Facelift, which is how I found this post on the bumper removal. One thing to note about the Facelift bumper is, while it is very expensive, it does come painted to match. So, assuming you can do it yourself, the $3,500 price is all-in, and you won't have to pay to have it painted on top of the purchase price. I think I'm mainly trying to convince myself of its value....
A word of caution on the MC Red -- because of the way it goes down, apparently, its really hard to match. Someone had once posted that Tesla told them that the front of the car does not match the back of the car, but because the change is gradual from front-to-back you do not notice. Not sure of the validity of this, but thought I would mention it.
Good point, omar. Along the same lines, I was once told that no plastic bumper cover, in any color, matches the body of any car. I have no idea as to the validity of this, nor the rationale behind it, but I have noticed on quite a few cars that the bumper covers are often not perfectly matched to the body of the vehicle. My wife's brand new QX80 is actually one of the ones I've noticed that don't match. I am not trying to perpetuate misinformation, and I'm sure someone who knows a lot more about it than I do can correct me, but that's just something I'd heard in the past.
For what it's worth, the Karstyle Facelift is now $2,500 on their website (from $3,500), and the deposit went from $1,500 to $500.... I went ahead and ordered (not too bad considering it's already painted to match).
I removed the bumper but had a very hard time to remove the electric plug.So I removed the frunc "basket" which is very easy to do and you get easy access to everything. Lift the upper rubber a little and you are able to remove the outer basket cover. Once that is removed there are 4 screws to unscrew and the whole franc unit can be removed.
I'm really interested in this. Have you tried comparing the classic bumper to a facelifted bumper? Are all the mounting and screwing points the same? Can we just buy a facelifted bumper and fit it into a classic MS?
I did compare karstyle with facelifted bumper. The difference is the black stripe. In facelifed bumper, the stripe is a deadend space while on karstyle bumper, it's just a black trim. I don't understand aerodynamic much, but i think the deadspace is actually aero-functional. It creates a air curtain that route airstream to left and right sides of the car instead of going upwards over the car. The facelifted bumper is more aerodynamic, it lowers the tesla model s drag coefficient from 0.24 to 0.23
You guys might want to start a separate thread for the pre and post facelifted bumper discussion. Although semi-relevant to the bumper and headlight removal you would probably stir more discussion with a separate, appropriately titled thread. More importantly, it would also keep this thread clean for those wanting to ask questions and specifically discuss the process. Evan
Do you think it's possible to replace the fog light assemblies without removing the bumper? I want to replace my non-premium non-fog lights with the premium assembly and it would be nice if these come out without removing the bumper.
Have you had a chance to inspect the new facelift bumper? Wondering if the mounting tabs are similar to the classic style bumper.