Model S gets lighted vanity mirrors

[herb_k]

That headliner that I show was from a facelift car. My facelift car has them also.

Ok. I see the location is different where they are hidden.
And what kind of plugs are these, they look different than the old ones. Are these the same plugs as the lights in trunk etc

 

[jelloslug]

Ok. I see the location is different where they are hidden.
And what kind of plugs are these, they look different than the old ones. Are these the same plugs as the lights in trunk etc

They may be the same but without the lock on it. I was able to feel them on mine but I did not unbundle them from the roof harness.

 

[vigge50]

How is it, did Model S not have lighting before or did it not even have a mirror there?

 

[GatorGuy]

I don't even know the last time I used a mirror in a car.

My wife might have a different feeling about these mirrors.

 

[Daniellane]

How is it, did Model S not have lighting before or did it not even have a mirror there?

Had a mirror but no light.

 

[SDRick]

Give me something worth upgrading my 2016.

 

[Matias]

Give me something worth upgrading my 2016.

This is not enough?!

 

[SDRick]

Well maybe if the sunshades also extended from the pivot point like some other cars.

 

[Matias]

Well maybe if the sunshades also extended from the pivot point like some other cars.

English is not my first language, but do you mean, that you can turn the sunshade to the side? You can.

 

[SucreTease]

Well maybe if the sunshades also extended from the pivot point like some other cars.

English is not my first language, but do you mean, that you can turn the sunshade to the side? You can.

He meant a visor that slides along a shaft to extend its length after it has been swung to the side.

Although I was disappointed that the Tesla visor did not have a slide, now that I have my vehicle for a while, I personally find that a slide is not very necessary because the Tesla Model S visor is unusually long and rarely could benefit from it. The times when I felt I needed a slide because of the angle of the sun, I found that rotating the visor slightly towards my head blocked the light that bothered me.

 

[Matias]

He meant a visor that slides along a shaft to extend its length after it has been swung to the side.

Although I was disappointed that the Tesla visor did not have a slide, now that I have my vehicle for a while, I personally find that a slide is not very necessary because the Tesla Model S visor is unusually long and rarely could benefit from it. The times when I felt I needed a slide because of the angle of the sun, I found that rotating the visor slightly towards my head blocked the light that bothered me.

Thank you for clarification.

 

[SDRick]

In my mind a slide would be better, but Sucreis is correct in that rotating the shade works fairly well when the sun is coming in at a low angle from the side.

My comment was actually more tongue-in-cheek. Upgrading my 2016 is probably a $50-$70,000 bill so it will actually take more than the lighted mirror AND a slide feature.

But...

Adding coat hooks might just do it!

 

[cruiserlarry]

While many might not feel a sliding sun visor wouldn't be of much use, I disagree. Taller folks, like myself (6'7") who likely have the seat all the way back and down low, have a large gap that allows the sun to come glaring in regardless of the current visors position on the side. Being able to slide it further rearward would definitely make my drives more comfortable. It is another on a long list of simple creature comfort features that were just "left off" the model S. I'm sure there were cost issue decisions made on some of these items, but I sense many were not considered by younger designers, or just axed by Elon for style / personal taste reasons.

I hope they add lighted vanity mirrors and sliding visors, along with many of the other small amenities that give folks a reason to diss the Tesla when comparing it to similarly priced ICE vehicles...

 

[SucreTease]

My comment was actually more tongue-in-cheek.

Certainly got the hyperbolic humor.

Adding coat hooks might just do it!

These aftermarket coat hooks are really good (though ridiculously overpriced, in my opinion). I find them to be as good as I could possibly need—and removable.

 

[SDRick]

I do use those aftermarket coat hooks and they work well. I just hope that when Tesla gives me enough reason to upgrade I will not have to remove my coat hooks from the 2016 for use in the new Tesla.

 

[mknox]

He meant a visor that slides along a shaft to extend its length after it has been swung to the side.

The best visors I ever had were in my 1994 Eagle Vision TSi. There were actually two: You could flip the main one over to the side, and yes it would extend along the shaft. But with it at the side, there was a second visor that you could swing down over the windshield. On those days where the sun keeps going from front to side, you didn't have to keep swinging the main visor back and forth. Genius. (and FWIW, not only lighted mirrors, but the control was on a dimmer).

 

[jelloslug]

The best visors I ever had were in my 1994 Eagle Vision TSi. There were actually two: You could flip the main one over to the side, and yes it would extend along the shaft. But with it at the side, there was a second visor that you could swing down over the windshield. On those days where the sun keeps going from front to side, you didn't have to keep swinging the main visor back and forth. Genius. (and FWIW, not only lighted mirrors, but the control was on a dimmer).

My old Taurus SHO has that feature.

 

[JPP]

I make them over a year already....

By the way, the connection for the vanity mirrors was there on the pre-facelift Model S. After the facelift the connectors were gone. Since than I connect them to the rearview mirror

View attachment 285403

View attachment 285402

Herbie (TMC member) runs an aftermarket accessory business in the Netherlands. About a year ago he developed a retrofit system to take an existing Model S sun visor and install a new mirror and LED lights and a switch, and wire it to the proper Molex connector. As he noted, some earlier builds of Model S have a wiring harness with the matching connectors and 12V power, but later builds did not. I did some 'exploratory surgery' to try to find the connector and power. You have to deinstall the visors, remove the A pillar trim, and gently pull down the headliner. It is hard to see under the headliner (you are looking through the windshield) and reach with your hand to find the proper wire bundle and connector. FWIW, I did find the connectors in my 2013 S85, but after a lot of struggling, I was never able to find them on my wife's mid 2015 (pre-refresh) S70D. Yes, you can fish wires back to the microphone grille in the headliner, then splice (use Positaps?) to grab power from the existing always on 12V (meant for the EU cars with the intrusion alarm). That is what most of us use for our dash cams.

A second issue is matching your existing headliner/trim. Herbie can take your existing visor (if you ship it to him) and do the retrofit. But if you are able to get Tesla to sell you the new ones, what choice of color and 'fabric' will you get? For sure I doubt I could get the old light colored fabric to match my mid-2015 S85. My wife's car has black Alcantara headliner and black Alcantara visors. Does Tesla still make Alcantara headliners/visors for the S?

 

[JPP]

Here are some images from the Tesla diagram for the wiring in the headliner (courtesy of Herbie) for the older builds:

 

[herb_k]

With the VIN number I can order at my local Tesla SC the correct matching sunvisors.
I did this for a couple of clients.
They run from €140,- for the fabric up to €190 for the alcantara ones.