Installing a Instrument Cluster Dashboard Displayer mickey mouse

[bo3bdar]

“I'll have a proper unchanging UI for critical car info.” Until the 1st Tesla software update?

And then I update the software on the device? I don't really understand this fear of updates. Maybe if the company goes out of business in the meantime, but I'm expecting it to be like every other piece of software I 'own'- when it breaks, it gets an update. If you look at Shiva's videos, he's done 5 updates already and had no problem so far. Nobody using the Hannshow v2 has reported being broken.

I think probably these all use the ODB data buses, and so some updates can likely change the location/code of the data being used. If Topfit never updates the software then it's dead and I move on. I can't spend my life worrying about stuff that just doesn't matter and may never happen.

Imo guages don't really solve anything...with guages you need to take your eyes off the road to look down anyways...in teslas you have to look down and right...its pretty much the same motion and either way you take your eyes off the road. What they need imo are heads up displays...especially with a car that accelerates so fast you want to be able to see your speed but at the same time keep your eyes on the road or as close to on the road as possible.

I was actually fine with the UI before, but the christmas update has ruined it for me. They made the font smaller and greyer, so now it's low contrast, in keeping with the web and phone fads that are apparently required of all 'designers'. They also added the two superfluous speed limit signs right next to it, so at a glance it's confusing which is the right one. I've tried to get used to it, but I'm sorry, it's crap. If I could revert the software to last version, I'd be a happy camper. Instead, I'm looking at other cars and add-ons like this.

They shrank the drive gear display, and use that terrible grey-on-grey fad, so now I also can't tell what gear I'm in. Turn signal indicators are now in completely nonsensical locations, one near, one far. All car status indicators are blocked by my hand, so if the car is beeping, I can't immediately look to see what's up. When I drive with my hands in 10and2 position, my hand blocks part of my speed, so I have to move my head.

From my perspective- I don't get why you guys think Tesla is doing such a great job. This UI is terrible now. The fact that Tesla can just jack the UI, and give me zero options to change it or revert it, told me I need to control my own destiny and not rely on my corporate masters to do right. Just to be clear, I'm not expecting perfection from Tesla, but the zero options to make usable UI for me, and no way to revert to older builds totally sucks.

Maybe I'm just not the target market for the car. Tesla seems to be uniquely hostile to people without perfect vision. And that last update has made it more difficult and dangerous for me to drive, and I don't like it. If I can have a large high-contrast speed right below my vision I can read that by peripheral vision. The off to the side is no longer readable for me with just a glance.

ok, so I have been looking at this for a while. Looks nice but kinda expensive. There is many reviews on this product. I was wondering if this is ok to install on the Tesla. I have heard installing third-party accessories involving electronics is safe and not safe. I was looking at this instrument cluster for the tesla. Some ppl say they installed this and then when an update is installed the cluster does not function. Basically, your installing this through the MCU with a splitter harness then connected to the display. I was wondering how safe this is and the warranty. This just mostly displays the speed and basic functions. Any suggestions would be great thanks

I looked closely at both the Topfit and the Hannshow, and they serve different purposes. This Topfit one is more simple, fewer features, and should be more consistent and stable like a normal instrument cluster. The Hannshow has tons of great features like Carplay integration, and the ability to download apps, or to write my own UI and software, but I really just like the simplistic ethic of the Topfit. Everyone is different, choose what you like. Including letting Tesla toss you around like a rag doll, or waiting forever for updates, if that's what you prefer.

Shiva just did an extensive comparison between both that I thought was really well done. It basically comes down to personal preference, but he gives you a nice framework to mull over.

I bought the Topfit one today, and will report back on how it seems. Installing the plug is supposed to be the difficult part, but you also take apart the dash. I'm not afraid of modifying my car, it's just a car, and it's certainly not perfection on 4 wheels. In the US, Tesla cannot legally deny warranty work unless they can prove that the device caused the problem. IANAL but the Magnuson act says you are free to modify your car. It's also easily removable and not a permanent modification if it breaks or I want to do something different. Or maybe Tesla shockingly fixes their terribly broken UI. The device itself does not send any information back to the car, it's strictly read-only of the data.

 

[ssrobinson]

And then I update the software on the device? I don't really understand this fear of updates. Maybe if the company goes out of business in the meantime, but I'm expecting it to be like every other piece of software I 'own'- when it breaks, it gets an update. If you look at Shiva's videos, he's done 5 updates already and had no problem so far. Nobody using the Hannshow v2 has reported being broken.

I think probably these all use the ODB data buses, and so some updates can likely change the location/code of the data being used. If Topfit never updates the software then it's dead and I move on. I can't spend my life worrying about stuff that just doesn't matter and may never happen.



I was actually fine with the UI before, but the christmas update has ruined it for me. They made the font smaller and greyer, so now it's low contrast, in keeping with the web and phone fads that are apparently required of all 'designers'. They also added the two superfluous speed limit signs right next to it, so at a glance it's confusing which is the right one. I've tried to get used to it, but I'm sorry, it's crap. If I could revert the software to last version, I'd be a happy camper. Instead, I'm looking at other cars and add-ons like this.

They shrank the drive gear display, and use that terrible grey-on-grey fad, so now I also can't tell what gear I'm in. Turn signal indicators are now in completely nonsensical locations, one near, one far. All car status indicators are blocked by my hand, so if the car is beeping, I can't immediately look to see what's up. When I drive with my hands in 10and2 position, my hand blocks part of my speed, so I have to move my head.

From my perspective- I don't get why you guys think Tesla is doing such a great job. This UI is terrible now. The fact that Tesla can just jack the UI, and give me zero options to change it or revert it, told me I need to control my own destiny and not rely on my corporate masters to do right. Just to be clear, I'm not expecting perfection from Tesla, but the zero options to make usable UI for me, and no way to revert to older builds totally sucks.

Maybe I'm just not the target market for the car. Tesla seems to be uniquely hostile to people without perfect vision. And that last update has made it more difficult and dangerous for me to drive, and I don't like it. If I can have a large high-contrast speed right below my vision I can read that by peripheral vision. The off to the side is no longer readable for me with just a glance.



I looked closely at both the Topfit and the Hannshow, and they serve different purposes. This Topfit one is more simple, fewer features, and should be more consistent and stable like a normal instrument cluster. The Hannshow has tons of great features like Carplay integration, and the ability to download apps, or to write my own UI and software, but I really just like the simplistic ethic of the Topfit. Everyone is different, choose what you like. Including letting Tesla toss you around like a rag doll, or waiting forever for updates, if that's what you prefer.

Shiva just did an extensive comparison between both that I thought was really well done. It basically comes down to personal preference, but he gives you a nice framework to mull over.

I bought the Topfit one today, and will report back on how it seems. Installing the plug is supposed to be the difficult part, but you also take apart the dash. I'm not afraid of modifying my car, it's just a car, and it's certainly not perfection on 4 wheels. In the US, Tesla cannot legally deny warranty work unless they can prove that the device caused the problem. IANAL but the Magnuson act says you are free to modify your car. It's also easily removable and not a permanent modification if it breaks or I want to do something different. Or maybe Tesla shockingly fixes their terribly broken UI. The device itself does not send any information back to the car, it's strictly read-only of the data.

I’m interested in the Topfit. What did you end up thinking of it?

 

[bo3bdar]

I’m interested in the Topfit. What did you end up thinking of it?

Took me a bit longer to install than expected, but I went very slow to avoid breaking any of the trim connectors and also worked out a better cable path under the dash so that I could use zip ties instead of electrical tape to hold it down. I don't think using electrical tape is a good idea if you are looking for a semi-permanent installation, heat and time destroys the adhesive.

Install is not super hard, but is not for the faint of heart. Getting the connector out of the MCU was not that bad for me, only took me about 10 minutes or so after having studied it all. What took me the most time was getting the plastic shell to snap back into place over the steering wheel column. It replaces the Tesla plastic with identical color and shaped plastic, but it's non-trivial to get that back in place. Routing the cable took me two tries to get right, I ended up routing it under the very front lip of the dashboard, because there is a vertical gap there anyway.

Overall- I really like it. The UI has just want you need and nothing more. It's on the simple side, which is what I am looking for. I want an instrument cluster that doesn't change based on web UI fads, and this is that. It's got a certain elegance to it, nicely built, looks good. The black round frames match the black around the primary Tesla display. The screens are high-dpi so they actually look better than the primary Tesla screen. Good refresh rate, no slow updates or anything like that. It's not the device for tons of features and options, it's the device for more elegant simplicity and stability. That's good and bad of course, depending upon what people want. I'd actually like just a couple more display options, like removing the car image on the left display and putting the clock there. And maybe flipping the power/regen meter with the fuel gauge. The turn indicators are too far apart, and would make more sense on the center column. Similarly high beam and lights on are on different displays and would work better closer together. But those are minor quibbles of course.

The UI does sane and time-tested high-contrast, large, black on white or vice versa, and things like the battery charge use green instead of that stupid web/Apple fad of draining the color out of everything like Tesla did on the last update. It's very easy to get your speed by peripheral vision or a quick glance, it's not cluttered with other irrelevant info. The current speed limit is shown in a round red circle, small, and is far, far superior to the current Tesla UI. They also show Hold state as a red icon, which makes a lot more sense than grey for critical items like that. Drive mode on center display for clearly being in D/R/P, and it's a small thing, but I like having the odometer there. I've done a lot of UI design over my career, and I give it good marks for high usability.

I've only used it for a few days on 3 or 4 drives, and so far I think it's really what I want. I especially like the look, at least for me, it looks high quality and OEM. I feel like the Hannshow looks a bit clunky and hacker-style. The Topfit is definitely just a conventional automotive gauge, simple and to the point.

One big negative- it sits too high. I'm 5'6" and set my seat to sit high for better visibility. With my normal driving position, the display is too high, and the top of the gauges are cut off by the steering wheel. That makes it hard to see the power/regen meter on the left. On the right, it's part of the speedometer so no real loss there. Because the gauge cluster is attached to the steering column and not the dash, you can only change the view by raising or lowering the wheel. It seems like it was designed for either shorter people, or people who prefer to have the wheel higher. It also lines up better if you are driver who does not sit up straight, and prefer to recline a lot more. But that's not me.


At the moment, I plan to keep it, but will continue to play with it over the next days to be sure I can accept the visual clipping.

I'm an engineer, so I can build anything I want as far as that goes, and another option I'm mulling over is to build a smartphone based system instead, that would only need 5v USB or Qi charging, and a dashboard mount that is fully adjustable. Then I'd be able to write my own smartphone app, use any phone, and make it look and behave exactly as I'd want. A lot more work than I need at present, but it'd be cheaper and configured how I'd prefer. Always a tough call, I really like the round gauges and you can't do that with a smartphone.


One strange thing I don't understand is that there are 4 different vendors selling the device on Amazon. As near as I can tell the XMGE people are the ones who actually make the device, but there's no way to tell really. You can get 10% off with Shiva's code. When I went to do that, they were sold out, but Amazon showed the others, including the one from BMZX, which was on sale for 20% off.

How do Topfit and/or 'Carda' and BMZX and LMZX and ThinSGO relate to XMGE? It's a bit inscrutable, but I think if you want the actual company, go with XMGE.

 

[Stan930]

Some YouTuber put this association in my mind for that display and I can never get it out now:

View attachment 659290

Fisher Price at it s best! Fugly.

 

[bo3bdar]

Fisher Price at it s best! Fugly.

The entire internet embodied in one post- people complaining about decisions that other people make, that have no bearing whatsoever on their lives.

 

[bo3bdar]

This is working surprisingly well, and I'm really liking the overall instrument cluster design.

Thought I'd add a couple of driving shots for how it looks in use. This is a good comparison too of how the main display has wrecked the speedo by putting all the emphasis on the self-driving animations. When it was centered and larger I actually had no problem with the main display. I only started looking at solutions after the sucky christmas update. The speed limit sign is unreadable to me while driving, my actual speed is low enough contrast it's hard for me to pick up in a glance. I'm not 25 years old with perfect vision, in case that's not obvious. :->

Overall I really like it and have been planning to keep it, but I did just discover what might be a fatal flaw for my use. When I leave my car plugged in to charge, the display will stay on, even after the car has finished charging. My habit has been to leave my car plugged in all the time, so having the screens on all the time is not cool. The power draw itself will be miniscule, and the car itself sleeps as evidenced by the 400V actuator clunk. However, I'm fairly sure these are OLED displays, which is why they are so crisp and bright during the day. Leaving OLED on like this will cause burn-in, so I'll have to decide if I care enough, or whether being unplugged is acceptable.

Just weighing the pros and cons during the return window from Amazon. It's interesting to me that this display makes me smile whenever I see it in use, as much as the new software on the main display has sapped my smile for it. That 1/3 of the screen totally wasted bums me out every time I drive, so being able to just put a bag over its ugly head is really attractive to me.

If I get an answer from the crazy seller on Amazon about the display not turning off, I'll report back. Seems like a huge oversight to me.

 

[Transformer]

Just weighing the pros and cons during the return window from Amazon. It's interesting to me that this display makes me smile whenever I see it in use, as much as the new software on the main display has sapped my smile for it.

Sounds like a keeper!

 

[bo3bdar]

Part of buying an aftermarket device like this is trying to get a feel for whether the company behind it is going to support it. Especially with Chinese companies and limited legal protection, I want to have some assurance they are serious about their engineering. I'm not expecting perfection, just some sense that it's not some fly-by-night operation.

I contacted the Topfit people via the Amazon weblink, the only contact info I can find. Their company name there is XMGE. It's worth noting that every time I've contacted them, they respond and try to help out. I double checked my firmware version to see if it was up to date and they assured me it is the latest build. In response to my question about the display being left on, they responded that it's actually by design, so that you can see your charge state without waking the car.

I'd rather have it turn the display off, but it's not a power consuming item. I left it for a full day, and didn't lose any mileage greater than normal Tesla drain. Small scale electronics displays compared to that giant battery is not meaningful drain. Couple of small drawbacks to the device, but overall I find it really great.

In case anyone stumbles across this thread, the latest firmware version (as of posting date) is as seen here. It's worth noting that they even have a separate version for the MCU data bus itself, which shows they know about and are ready for any Tesla updates that change the ODB bus data.

 

[JHCCAZ]

Part of buying an aftermarket device like this is trying to get a feel for whether the company behind it is going to support it. Especially with Chinese companies and limited legal protection, I want to have some assurance they are serious about their engineering. I'm not expecting perfection, just some sense that it's not some fly-by-night operation.

I contacted the Topfit people via the Amazon weblink, the only contact info I can find. Their company name there is XMGE. It's worth noting that every time I've contacted them, they respond and try to help out. I double checked my firmware version to see if it was up to date and they assured me it is the latest build. In response to my question about the display being left on, they responded that it's actually by design, so that you can see your charge state without waking the car.

I'd rather have it turn the display off, but it's not a power consuming item. I left it for a full day, and didn't lose any mileage greater than normal Tesla drain. Small scale electronics displays compared to that giant battery is not meaningful drain. Couple of small drawbacks to the device, but overall I find it really great.

In case anyone stumbles across this thread, the latest firmware version (as of posting date) is as seen here. It's worth noting that they even have a separate version for the MCU data bus itself, which shows they know about and are ready for any Tesla updates that change the ODB bus data.

I just want to let you know that I'm following this quite closely and I really appreciate the time you've put into explaining everything.

I have extremely similar feelings about the current subtle, low-contrast UI design practices (as in this recent post) and I think this Topfit/XMGE display is going to go a long way towards solving the issue. I don’t have my MY yet, but I drove my son's M3 during a recent visit. The speed display was just OK, but I noted some difficulty in quickly comprehending the various other icons and their states. I don't want to squint or puzzle over those while driving, so the colorful in-your-face supplemental display will be welcome. I'm sure I'll use your improved cable routing also.

One minor point - I watched two or three of the YouTube vldeos by Shiva Sapkota and asked him a question. He confirmed that this display, while it has very distinctive indicators for AP (two cars with the follow-setting shown) and for AP hands-on-wheel nag, it makes no visual distinction between TACC vs. AutoSteer AP modes. He said he's asked them to address this, but who knows if or when they'll get to it. I'd think a nice large blue steering wheel added to the lower-center of the current AP display, appearing only in AutoSteer mode bur not in TACC, would do nicely.

Anyway thanks again!

 

[Transformer]

Also see the thread DIY Tesla Model 3 Driver Console / Instrument Cluster?

 

[JHCCAZ]

Also see the thread DIY Tesla Model 3 Driver Console / Instrument Cluster?

Thanks for the tip, that is very cool! I replied over there also. I'd love to collaborate or at least shadow his project, but in the short to medium term I'd probably still go for the existing TopFit unit - I want the visual help right away when I get my Y.

I see he got some Disagrees; I guess that's just people who are defending the Minimalist Design Ethos of the bare dash and they'd hate any of these displays (otherwise how could you complain about such a neat project?). Design language is wonderful but this is about functionality and low-stress driver assistance.

 

[Transformer]

The DIY project is very very cool.

One person disagreed. To each, their own.

 

[bo3bdar]

I just want to let you know that I'm following this quite closely and I really appreciate the time you've put into explaining everything.

I have extremely similar feelings about the current subtle, low-contrast UI design practices (as in this recent post) and I think this Topfit/XMGE display is going to go a long way towards solving the issue. I don’t have my MY yet, but I drove my son's M3 during a recent visit. The speed display was just OK, but I noted some difficulty in quickly comprehending the various other icons and their states. I don't want to squint or puzzle over those while driving, so the colorful in-your-face supplemental display will be welcome. I'm sure I'll use your improved cable routing also.

One minor point - I watched two or three of the YouTube vldeos by Shiva Sapkota and asked him a question. He confirmed that this display, while it has very distinctive indicators for AP (two cars with the follow-setting shown) and for AP hands-on-wheel nag, it makes no visual distinction between TACC vs. AutoSteer AP modes. He said he's asked them to address this, but who knows if or when they'll get to it. I'd think a nice large blue steering wheel added to the lower-center of the current AP display, appearing only in AutoSteer mode bur not in TACC, would do nicely.

Anyway thanks again!

Thanks for the note. Sometimes on these threads it gets to be a bit too much of me talking to myself, so I appreciate knowing that it's not just a waste of time.

All in all, I really like this display and am going to keep it. The drawbacks are minor, the usability is easily worth the price of admission.


For people who are concerned about the difficulty of the install but might still want it- have a stereo installer do the work for you. It'll only take them maybe 2 hours to do, because they'll have experience with all this type of stuff. Any good installer could watch Shiva's video and do it.

Also see the thread DIY Tesla Model 3 Driver Console / Instrument Cluster?

Really cool, thanks for sharing that link. It's an interesting take on the instrument cluster.

One other one that I ran across while researching alternatives to the dud christmas update is jwardell's microDisplay that fits into the air vent. Much easier to install, works wirelessly to his canserver. You can buy these off his website.

 

[Reid]

This is pretty neat, and really kind of what I've been wanting. I dislike not having a display right in front of me; not so much that the main display is hard to use or see, but that it's a missed opportunity to show more info at once. Plus being able to actually tell when your turn signal is on.

The displays they show in the Amazon listing look awful, but the ones you show are a lot better.

Sounds like it has the same problem I have in most cars, though, that the steering wheel blocks the gauges.

 

[nelsond003]

Thanks for the note. Sometimes on these threads it gets to be a bit too much of me talking to myself, so I appreciate knowing that it's not just a waste of time.

All in all, I really like this display and am going to keep it. The drawbacks are minor, the usability is easily worth the price of admission.


For people who are concerned about the difficulty of the install but might still want it- have a stereo installer do the work for you. It'll only take them maybe 2 hours to do, because they'll have experience with all this type of stuff. Any good installer could watch Shiva's video and do it.




Really cool, thanks for sharing that link. It's an interesting take on the instrument cluster.

One other one that I ran across while researching alternatives to the dud christmas update is jwardell's microDisplay that fits into the air vent. Much easier to install, works wirelessly to his canserver. You can buy these off his website.

I am looking for the Topfit/XMGE model on amazon now and it seems to only offer ThinSGO. Wonder if Topfit was pulled from Amazon??

 

[JHCCAZ]

I am looking for the Topfit/XMGE model on amazon now and it seems to only offer ThinSGO. Wonder if Topfit was pulled from Amazon??

I noticed this also just yesterday, it says
"Currently unavailable
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.".
But Topfit is a major Tesla accessories supplier and there are plenty of other Topfit items still on Amazon.

There is also a website seemingly run by Topfit themselves, at this moment it says there are 2 in stock but I didn't hit the Add to Cart button. Often I don't mind ordering directly from small businesses in order to help their margin, but OTOH there can be more protection in case of problems if you go through Amazon.

Topfit Tesla Model 3/Y Display Head UP Performance（free shipping） - Topfit

 

[bo3bdar]

Yeah, I don't really understand how all these chinese stores work on Amazon. They all sell the same thing, that is clearly actually made by someone else.

The logo on the device itself is 'carda', but I've never seen a store with that name anywhere.

I bought mine from Amazon, from the BMZX store, because at that moment, the Topfit store was out. They seem to go in and out of stock periodically. There are another 3 stores at least on Amazon with random text names that are likely just chinese distributors.

We think that Topfit is the manufacture, but honestly there is no way to know that I can see. They did have the updated firmware for Shiva, and my contact with BMZX was not particularly impressive, but I think you should expect limited to zero support from any of these people.

However, the box that I got had already been opened, but the device did not look like it had ever been used. I think what happened there is they opened the box to update the firmware before they sent it out. No idea if this happened at BMZX or elsewhere, but clearly not from the original manufacture, or they would have resealed it. The firmware distribution is cheese-wiz, it's some google drive, not off of topfit's web site for example. Doesn't really bother me, mine did not need updating, and the nature of the device is that I don't expect to need to update ever- unless Tesla breaks the canbus codes, which is not likely.


I'd say the Topfit store itself is a safer bet. We know for sure they don't want to exit the market any time soon, the Tesla stuff has to be a winner for them. The others like BMZX seem like fly by nite operations to me.

If you want to be a little more daring and save a couple of hundred bucks, you can by these directly off alibaba. That's where all these amazon stores get their product anyway.


Edit: As a quick status- the device is still working terrific, and I still really like it and the simplicity of the cluster. No regrets. It's also worth noting that I've done two Tesla updates to 2021.12.25.7 and just now to 2021.24.4 and the device is still working fine after those.

 

[Leeroy]

Evoffer (Tesla offer) now stock this instrument panel. I’ve installed their power frunk kit and they were great to deal with. Fast shipping (even to Australia) and their support was also excellent.

Model 3/Y Round Instrument Cluster

The Round Instrument Cluster matches Tesla car style and will not block the air vent. It comes with 2 display styles and you can control the settings directly with the button on the steering wheel. The IC shows the following information: Speedometer Battery Level Gear Head Light Status...

evoffer.com

 

[JHCCAZ]

Evoffer (Tesla offer) now stock this instrument panel. I’ve installed their power frunk kit and they were great to deal with. Fast shipping (even to Australia) and their support was also excellent.

Model 3/Y Round Instrument Cluster

The Round Instrument Cluster matches Tesla car style and will not block the air vent. It comes with 2 display styles and you can control the settings directly with the button on the steering wheel. The IC shows the following information: Speedometer Battery Level Gear Head Light Status...

evoffer.com

Thanks very much for this heads up! EVoffer had the best price and apparently the best customer satisfaction/support. So I placed my order with them just now.

I had the impression that the original manufacturer was selling on Amazon as XMGE, but now I'm not sure that's correct. In any case I had planned to order from Topfit using Shiva Sapkota's discount code from his YouTube channel. but it didn't work out because of the out-of-stock situation. However I will support Shiva separately by Patreon; he's had the best info on these displays and other interesting stuff.

 

[Leeroy]

No problem, let us know how you go. Evoffer say it doesn’t block the vent but I can’t see how it won’t, I’ll be interested in your feedback.