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Improved Trunk lighting - Is there demand?

would you be interested in high-quality, brighter interior plug-n-play lights?

  • Yes - would buy a full set (trunk, Frunk, puddle lights and footwells)

    Votes: 143 46.3%
  • Yes, would start with a few to replace the weedy lights in the trunk

    Votes: 133 43.0%
  • Not sure - would wait for other reviews

    Votes: 20 6.5%
  • Nope, I'm good with the ones in the Model S

    Votes: 13 4.2%

  • Total voters
    309
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I had no problem with the two lower trunk lights, but today I gave up trying to get the trunk hatch light removed. I used plastic, then screwdriver, all it did was break the recess out of the light.

Was there any secret move? Did you just use lots of force until it finally came out?
It was really hard. I used the spudger to get it to lift the side of the light a little bit, then forced a flathead screwdriver underneath and loosened the light along the edges. It took about 20 minutes and a lot of patience.

I almost broke the edges of the light. You gotta get the angle right, and make sure you're using the spudger on the correct side of the light. It's the side with the little square for the spudger to fit under
 
It was really hard. I used the spudger to get it to lift the side of the light a little bit, then forced a flathead screwdriver underneath and loosened the light along the edges. It took about 20 minutes and a lot of patience.

I almost broke the edges of the light. You gotta get the angle right, and make sure you're using the spudger on the correct side of the light. It's the side with the little square for the spudger to fit under
Thanks. I'll try again tomorrow.
 
No secret move :) I guess the screwdriver I used was the exact width of the bulb recess, so that helped apply more force, and I do push into the bulb as I pry it out. As I've said to others, don't be shy with it, but equally be cautious of marking the trim around the bulb. Certainly once you get the bulb out once it becomes easier. The trunk is typically my test location since it's easy to get to, and they all pop out quite easily now.
 
Got my set today. Took about 15 minutes for the lower trunk lights and the footwells, tackling the upper trunk and frunk tomorrow. I'll do the doors (white and red) when I have the panels off to replace the speakers next week.

Very nice Pete! It's a delight to be the beneficiary not only of your hard work in getting these made, but the collective wisdom of this forum in making installation a breeze. Thanks!
 
No secret move :) I guess the screwdriver I used was the exact width of the bulb recess, so that helped apply more force, and I do push into the bulb as I pry it out. As I've said to others, don't be shy with it, but equally be cautious of marking the trim around the bulb. Certainly once you get the bulb out once it becomes easier. The trunk is typically my test location since it's easy to get to, and they all pop out quite easily now.
I used more force and finally got it out. Definitely very tight! The new lights are so much brighter, but Tesla missed it with the positioning of the hatch light which shines out towards someone standing at the trunk, rather than back into the trunk to light from above.
 
I don't have a light meter, so I can't test the 16x brightness claims. And that power supply is one small part of my electronics bench. I have a couple of bench multimeters, 4 portable meters, a signal generator, 4 channel oscilloscope, and programmable electronic load. I'm an electrical engineer and electronics is my hobby...so I have a pretty nice set up.

Here's a pic of the whole bench while I was testing a battery pack out of a hoverboard (I had several borrowed multimeters, and now I have an 8-channel DAQ).

View attachment 188287
Off topic:
I had to solder the wires in my daughters Hoverboard which kept loosening. Are you doing the same or just battery "investigating" :)
 
Off topic:
I had to solder the wires in my daughters Hoverboard which kept loosening. Are you doing the same or just battery "investigating" :)
Uh, I don't think I'd be soldering any wires to a hoverboard battery that I planned on riding again. I soldered some wires onto the battery management system so that I could pull the cell voltages from it, but I would never re-install this battery pack in the hoverboard and get on it. I plan on sourcing a replacement battery with Samsung/Panasonic/LG/Sanyo cells in it when I'm done testing this one.
 
Back to topic - I'm done with the first set of eight. My hatch light did come out relatively easily using the masking tape and flat blade screwdriver method Pete suggested before. Almost mangled the old light, but no scratch on the plastic. Bright lights everywhere!

Next will be the puddle lights and the red warning lights in the doors, but since I will be replacing the speakers, the door panels will have to come off for that anyway. I'll wait with the lights until that time - should be easier than laying on the ground underneath...
 
Back to topic - I'm done with the first set of eight. My hatch light did come out relatively easily using the masking tape and flat blade screwdriver method Pete suggested before. Almost mangled the old light, but no scratch on the plastic. Bright lights everywhere!

Next will be the puddle lights and the red warning lights in the doors, but since I will be replacing the speakers, the door panels will have to come off for that anyway. I'll wait with the lights until that time - should be easier than laying on the ground underneath...
The puddle lights look really cool when you open the door at night. I didn't notice the light with the factory bulbs installed, but with the AO lights installed, it lights up a pretty good chunk of ground.

I think my favorite addition was the rear footwell lights, though. I don't have the premium lighting package, and adding those lights in the rear really makes a difference.
 
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I didn't have premium interior lighting at all but managed to install all the trunk lights as well as the rear footwell lights. The puddle lights are also super useful when entering and exiting the vehicle in the dark. The red lights have also been replaced as well and they seem to really improve safety, especially having the door opened at night on the street.

Definitely worth it!

Gk3gN56.jpg
 
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Just adding a data point. Did the complete 17 light retro fit on my late 2013 P85+ with premium interior lighting. Overall took about 40 minutes to do everything. Now that I've done it, I could probably bang it out in about 20 though. The spudgers were mostly useless, I ended up using the flathead screwdriver on my Leatherman Wave to pry out each light with zero viewable damage and it went super quick once I figured out the right pressure and placement to pry them out.

I don't drive much at night, so I can't really compare the old lights to the new ones, but in my closed dark garage they all seem bright as hell.

The hardest ones to get were the front footwells. The glovebox was a little more tricky because of it's placement. The rest were easy-peasy.
 
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I concur with the members who have found this to be an easy upgrade and well worth the reasonable cost. The lights are great and really make a car stand out as unique. I didn't realize how good the license plate LED's look until I saw our car next to a car that had the stock lights.

I'd also like to give Pete kudos for excellent customer service. I ordered a second batch of lights to do the rear footwells, but the post office lost the package. Pete immediately sent a replacement shipment at no additional cost which I think went above and beyond what I expected.
 
Thanks, Pete for making these. Installed everything yesterday in only bout 90 minutes. Only thing left to do is the four puddle lights, which I don't have so will have to do the cut-outs for those first. Have you thought about creating a solution for the ambient door lighting for those of us who didn't upgrade to the Premium lighting package? I have the cutouts below my door arm rests, and I understand the wiring is present behind the door panel. All I need is the actual light inserts, and I would be set. I know there are other after-market options, but no light inserts that are made to OEM standards like what you have done with your other ones that are plug-and-play.
 
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To have the full capability of the ambient lights, the car also needs to be reprogrammed. That way, the lights have a control in Settings and are timed to operation of the headlights (when on) or when all lights turn on to light entry/exit.
My understanding is that the ambient power plug as well as the window switch always have power so if that is true it would just mean the ambient lighting would always be on. I would be okay with that.