Matt Wrap impacting the back up cameras?

[macd1995]

My rear camera will no longer tell me how far an object is behind, and I don't trust it to parallel park.
Tesla, as expected, blamed the wrap. My X has been wrapped since day one and the challenges started a month ago. Tesla has recommended that I get the wrap shop to cut out the outer edge of the sensor.

I am a little skeptical because every other sensor works except the two rear sensors. Works very well during Autopilot - so I wondering if the rear is more sensitive cold. Also perplexing is that every now and then i see the distance curve and inches away from object from the back sensors....

Anyone else have this issue? I am in the NorthEast and I started noticing the back up Sensor not responding at the end of Oct.

 

[BrettS]

The camera isn’t what the car uses to determine the distance of objects behind you, but rather the sonar sensors on the rear bumper. The sonar sensors are very sensitive and wrapping them can definitely cause issues. Even when clear paint protection film is installed the sensors are usually cut out to avoid interference.

 

[macd1995]

Yes, meant the sensor not the Camera. POint being that the sensors are working perfectly.

 

[Xtek]

They use ultra-sonic sensors for determining distance and they are very sensitive to being covered. You may want to make sure your car is turning on trailer mode. Look for a little blue trailer icon on the top left of your dash. If this isn't happening the it is likely the wrap. I've also heard of wraps impacting the falcon wing door sensors since they are even more sensitive to being covered.

 

[BrettS]

Yes, meant the sensor not the Camera. POint being that the sensors are working perfectly.

But the sensors aren’t working perfectly or you would be getting distance info. I know you don’t want to hear it, but the solution is to uncover them.

 

[GOPJEW]

Do your front sensors work fine and show distances with the wrap? Which wrap fo you have?

I am having the Suntek Ultra Matte installed this week - EVERYONE I have spoken with says the wrap does NOT interfere with their vehicles sensors (FWD, parking, etc) and I witnessed my guys installing the wrap on a beautiful Porsche 911 the other day and NOT cutting out the sensor ports either.

If your front ones work fine, and give you distances, I would run it by the SC if possible to demonstrate it.

If you have a color changing wrap, i.e. a different color and not just Xpel Stealth or Suntek Ultra Matte, they are a little thicker and the color can interfere....

I think it is their knee-jerk reaction to say it's the wrap, but if you polled all of the folks here who have wraps I guarantee you 95%+ would say no effect at all...there are TONS of forums where this question has been asked and overwhelmingly the people who ACTUALLY have a wrap on their vehicles say it does NOT affect their vehicles.

Good luck.

 

[Xtek]

Do your front sensors work fine and show distances with the wrap? Which wrap fo you have?

I am having the Suntek Ultra Matte installed this week - EVERYONE I have spoken with says the wrap does NOT interfere with their vehicles sensors (FWD, parking, etc) and I witnessed my guys installing the wrap on a beautiful Porsche 911 the other day and NOT cutting out the sensor ports either.

If your front ones work fine, and give you distances, I would run it by the SC if possible to demonstrate it.

If you have a color changing wrap, i.e. a different color and not just Xpel Stealth or Suntek Ultra Matte, they are a little thicker and the color can interfere....

I think it is their knee-jerk reaction to say it's the wrap, but if you polled all of the folks here who have wraps I guarantee you 95%+ would say no effect at all...there are TONS of forums where this question has been asked and overwhelmingly the people who ACTUALLY have a wrap on their vehicles say it does NOT affect their vehicles.

Good luck.

It is not a knee-jerk reaction to say it could be the wrap. The way ultronsonic sensors work is by measuring. They do this by emitting a sound and measuring the return rate. This is why the sensors are put behind plastic rather than aluminum. They are also tuned to work behind a particular plastic/paint thickness. Putting any material over them is going to have some sort of impact, it may be negligible, it may not be.

Even if you do take it to an SC they are going to see the wrap. They are likely going to see if there are any faults but it's going to be easy for them to say it's the wrap. I had a full frontal clear bra put on my X and when I went in for the first service visit they warned me about how it can impact the sensors and that they won't warranty issues with it due to the wrap.

The sensors could have also been damaged during the wrap installation. They are very, very fragile.

 

[mspohr]

My rear camera will no longer tell me how far an object is behind, and I don't trust it to parallel park.
Tesla, as expected, blamed the wrap. My X has been wrapped since day one and the challenges started a month ago. Tesla has recommended that I get the wrap shop to cut out the outer edge of the sensor.

I am a little skeptical because every other sensor works except the two rear sensors. Works very well during Autopilot - so I wondering if the rear is more sensitive cold. Also perplexing is that every now and then i see the distance curve and inches away from object from the back sensors....

Anyone else have this issue? I am in the NorthEast and I started noticing the back up Sensor not responding at the end of Oct.

I would unwrap Matt from the rear of the car. I don't think it matters if he is wearing matte clothing or not, it will still be a problem.

 

[macd1995]

The other sensors work perfectly well per my initial post. Front sensors and side sensor show distance and distance curve. It's only the back two sensors. Anyone else with a wrap have this problem in the cold?

As mentioned I took installation @ wrap shop - so this worked perfectly for 3 months.

I would unwrap Matt from the rear of the car. I don't think it matters if he is wearing matte clothing or not, it will still be a problem.

Is this a joke? The wrap is a color change.

 

[Xtek]

Most wraps are stretched during installation during a process they call "glassing". There's a chance that it's just thick enough to mess with your rear sensors.

Tesla will certainly give you a hard time with the repair with a wrap on the car.

 

[mspohr]

The other sensors work perfectly well per my initial post. Front sensors and side sensor show distance and distance curve. It's only the back two sensors. Anyone else with a wrap have this problem in the cold?

As mentioned I took installation @ wrap shop - so this worked perfectly for 3 months.


Is this a joke? The wrap is a color change.

Yes.
I was trying to be funny by taking advantage of the typo in the headline.

 

[chadcristi]

I had clear wraps done on my MS and my wife’s MX. No issues so far with the sensors. However, my detailer called me to ask if I was having problems. Apparently, some of his customers with the same wrap lost the function of their sensors after a software update. One of those customers had the wrap on for several months before having an issue. The only solution he’s found is to cut out the holes for the sensors. This has fixed the problem every time. I expect it to be a problem for our vehicles at some point.

 

[Freedom101]

I have a matte wrap and just had the rear sensors cut out because of this exact issue.

They stopped reading distance and it was more noticeable in colder weather (5 degrees Celsius and lower).

My installer cut them out no problem and it took about 5 minutes. Absolutely no sensor issues since. In my circumstance it was definitely the wrap that caused the issue.

*the front sensors were not wrapped as the installer didn't want to mess with front collision avoidance (glad he only did the back initially after my experience with it).

I'd definitely not be comfortable using self park with the rear sensors covered.

The sensors are so small I don't find it takes away from the matte look. I'd rather have the sensors working properly even if it did.

 

[BrettS]

*the front sensors were not wrapped as the installer didn't want to mess with front collision avoidance (glad he only did the back initially after my experience with it)

For what it’s worth, the ultrasonic sensors aren’t used for collision avoidance. They only have a range of 5 or 8 feet, which is way too short to avoid any collisions at speed. Collision avoidance uses the radar and the front camera.

 

[zxed]

I have a matte wrap and just had the rear sensors cut out because of this exact issue.

They stopped reading distance and it was more noticeable in colder weather (5 degrees Celsius and lower).

My installer cut them out no problem and it took about 5 minutes. Absolutely no sensor issues since. In my circumstance it was definitely the wrap that caused the issue.

*the front sensors were not wrapped as the installer didn't want to mess with front collision avoidance (glad he only did the back initially after my experience with it).

I'd definitely not be comfortable using self park with the rear sensors covered.

The sensors are so small I don't find it takes away from the matte look. I'd rather have the sensors working properly even if it did.

What did he have to do to cut them out? I already asked my installer for XPEL to make sure its cutout - i'm hoping that the cutout is big enough that it doesn't interfere, but if it isn't., just wondering how much work it is for them to do it... I am getting ceramic coating on top of it., hopefully it doesn't make it much harder...

 

[Freedom101]

What did he have to do to cut them out? I already asked my installer for XPEL to make sure its cutout - i'm hoping that the cutout is big enough that it doesn't interfere, but if it isn't., just wondering how much work it is for them to do it... I am getting ceramic coating on top of it., hopefully it doesn't make it much harder...

He used an exacto knife and I watched him do it. He did exceptionally well. It's a fine art cutting the wrap and not the paint. I definitely would not be confident doing it but he did great.

I'll try to remember to take a picture tomorrow and post it.

 

[macd1995]

Thanks everyone. I set up an appointment to get the sensors cut out next Tuesday. I really like how smooth it looks with them covered, and will be annoyed if this doesn't fix the issue. I'll get the interior seats opticoated and the windows tinted while I'm at it (smile).

 

[macd1995]

Shop cut out the sensors and fixed a couple of dings I had to the Matt Wrap. i think i need to look for the Black casings - White ones stand out too much. It looked better before than after, but my sensors do work now. Here is before and After.
Before ............. and After


I also tinted the windows so the front and back windows are more consistent:
Before ............. and After


I am happy that i don't have to see the two small white dings when I look at the ride.

 

[gaswalla]

love what you did to your X .