e-FTW
New electron smell
Nah, you did it yourself! It's not like we are going to pull out the motor and add a turbo to these beasts.
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Improved Trunk lighting - Is there demand?
- Thread starter pete8314
- Start date
GasKilla
No Gas Know Peace
How handy are you? I'm pretty handy and had no real problem installing the rear puddle lights on my Tesla that didn't come with rear puddle lights.
You do have to cut out the opening (with a razor knife or similar) but you can see the size of the hole by the indentation in the fabric. Err on the side of cutting the hole too small vs too big. You'll get a snug fit with a too small hole and I think that's better. You'll have to pull out the wires that attach to the light, I think one side was green and black and the other side was a different color on my car (late 2015 build) Anyway I have long fingers and could just pull out the wires. The tape that held the wires was relatively weak and I just pulled it out no problem. Once you cut the hole use a flashlight to look in the hole and you will see the clip that isn't attached to anything and that's what you need to grab. Once you've installed some other lights you'll know what the clip looks like that you need to fish out. After I was done I was surprised how easy it was ... all that said if you aren't that handy and like paying people to do things for you then take it somewhere and give them your money.
Btw the lights are great and super bright. Probably make the biggest difference on the puddle lights since that's where they are most helpful. I've replaced all of the factory lights except for the red door lights which at some point I'll probably order.
e-FTW
New electron smell
Pretty sure those wires are not the puddle-light ones, and your lights stay on when the doors are closed. Those are ambient light wiring. You have to go higher up in to the door to find the right one. I had to pop the panels on mine. YMMV
Details here: Improved Trunk lighting - Is there demand?
GasKilla
No Gas Know Peace
How did you determine which wires were the correct ones to use for the puddle lights?
e-FTW
New electron smell
Since they have the same connector, an easy test is to check if they turn off when the doors are closed. In a dark garage, you can actually see the light bleed from the door seam, from inside the car, when you have the wrong connections.
rking0122
Member
I've read this entire thread. Even though it is an older thread, I wanted to say thanks to all of you, I've successfully added new LEDs to the rear doors (puddle), the trunk, and under the rear seats that my S didn't come with. Updated all the others (well, the trunk has repurposed temporary original Tesla lights until my latest AO order arrives).
Mine is a November 2016 build.
Regarding the cars with no original rear door puddle lights: I popped the speaker cover off. It is held on by four clips, pull straight starting at the bottom, and it is easy to remove. On the side of the speaker cover there is a hole that if you look straight up (head looking directly up from the ground) you can use a finger to push aside some sound dampening material. If you shine a light in, and you are as lucky as I was, you'll see the taped wires and the connectors for the rear puddle lights. I used a screwdriver to loosen the tape, the connector had plenty of wire, and I was literally done with each door in 5 minutes. Used a razor blade to cut the fabric square and plugged in the AO lights. Did not have to pull the trim at all. Both sets of wire (each side of the car) were green and black. The lights do go off with the others, so I did not end up with the ambient light connector some people found by the nearby red lights. This was ridiculously simple, at least for me.
I do not believe I saw this speaker cover method discussed elsewhere in this thread, I think I saw someone suggest it in another post somewhere. If it is here, sorry for the repeat info, but I think the consensus in this thread is that the door trim requires removal.
I am adding a pic of where I was able to access the wire.
Regarding adding the two trunk lights that weren't there: Simply put my hand under the carpet and gently pulled down from under the trim. Found the wire connectors easily (for me passenger was easier than driver, but neither was difficult), razor bladed the carpet where it was scored already, and done in about 10 min total. Temporarily using some repurposed Tesla original LEDs until AO order arrives. Super easy.
Again thank you to all of you who helped. This was a fun project for me.
Mine is a November 2016 build.
Regarding the cars with no original rear door puddle lights: I popped the speaker cover off. It is held on by four clips, pull straight starting at the bottom, and it is easy to remove. On the side of the speaker cover there is a hole that if you look straight up (head looking directly up from the ground) you can use a finger to push aside some sound dampening material. If you shine a light in, and you are as lucky as I was, you'll see the taped wires and the connectors for the rear puddle lights. I used a screwdriver to loosen the tape, the connector had plenty of wire, and I was literally done with each door in 5 minutes. Used a razor blade to cut the fabric square and plugged in the AO lights. Did not have to pull the trim at all. Both sets of wire (each side of the car) were green and black. The lights do go off with the others, so I did not end up with the ambient light connector some people found by the nearby red lights. This was ridiculously simple, at least for me.
I do not believe I saw this speaker cover method discussed elsewhere in this thread, I think I saw someone suggest it in another post somewhere. If it is here, sorry for the repeat info, but I think the consensus in this thread is that the door trim requires removal.
I am adding a pic of where I was able to access the wire.
Regarding adding the two trunk lights that weren't there: Simply put my hand under the carpet and gently pulled down from under the trim. Found the wire connectors easily (for me passenger was easier than driver, but neither was difficult), razor bladed the carpet where it was scored already, and done in about 10 min total. Temporarily using some repurposed Tesla original LEDs until AO order arrives. Super easy.
Again thank you to all of you who helped. This was a fun project for me.
Chopr147
Active Member
i pulled my trunk lights apart, broke off the existing LED and diode and then put these amazon light strips in place and soldered them in place. They are 1 inch sections and it was a huge difference: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A79H03S/ref=twister_B07JVD1GJ2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
ALso made a small bar that goes on the side under where the privacy cover goes
ALso made a small bar that goes on the side under where the privacy cover goes
rking0122
Member
Which ones you having trouble with? The hole in the speaker area, at least for me, revealed the rear door puddle lights (shine a light upward) and the trunk lights are behind the carpet/fabric near where the prescored squares are (they score all of them whether the lights are installed or not).
Chopr147
Active Member
@pete8314 - I just placed an order for these lights - I ordered 9 white LED's for the footwell, trunk, frunk, glovebox etc. And 4 puddle lights for the doors. I can't wait to remove the existing OEM LED's and replace them with yours.
Do you also have the map light LED's? I hate the warm look of the current lights.
Do you also have the map light LED's? I hate the warm look of the current lights.
Thanks!
No on the map lights. I'm not near my S at the moment, but I also have a 2016 (facelift), and the lights seemed to be a little cooler than my previous (2013) S. I only mention this as the current version of the lights direct from Tesla might be cooler, but I'm not sure, someone with a more recent S will need to comment.
Please can you reach out to [email protected]? We're a little too busy to manage order changes via the forums these days
Just did - Order #50785Please can you reach out to [email protected]? We're a little too busy to manage order changes via the forums these days
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