At today’s event @ Chrissy Field in SF, I had the opportunity to talk with Jerome G, and get a close look at his personal (well..corporate with MFG tags) red P85+ (debadged). He was very generous and gracious with his time, and fairly candid. He noted that essentially every new feature/add-on/update/retrofit gets put on his S early (he really is on the bleeding/alpha edge), with all of the attendant woes and benefits. He has tested tires (original Contis, new Michelins), suspension upgrades, parking sensors, power folding mirrors, and so on.
I asked about the power folding rear view mirrors and the engineering/retrofit. The mirrors had to be redesigned. Specifically, the chromed casting that is the mounting stem/arm had to be redesigned/re-engineered, and is a bit beefier to contain some of the components, specifically the motor. He in fact was a bit disappointed about the need to rework and slightly alter this component. The power and control wiring is however present in all Model S (no new/additional wiring or power needed). Jerome opened up his driver’s side door to show me that the existing ‘standard’ driver’s armrest window control panel (presumably standard Mercedes part) is swapped out for one (likely another Mercedes part from the bin) that has 3 additional mirror control buttons at the top (sorry, no photo—I did not want to impose). He pressed the buttons to show me the mirror folding/unfolding. I asked about the complexity of the retrofit—he said about 1-2 hours of tech time, and no major issues. Just deinstall/reinstall 2 mirrors and the new armrest control panel—no software/firmware issues. I did not specifically ask, but I assume that your existing body color shell/housing for the mirror gets reused/reinstalled. The upgrade should be available shortly. I did not ask about price—again was trying to balance data gathering against his generosity of time and information.
