Fairly new to Tesla but have been part of the BMW “coding” scene for a while. What are the chances we could install the new physical headlight units and have them work? Would the car simply throw errors or would it adjust? In the BMWs you can retrofit parts and then with a laptop and “coding” software you can flash the car to work with the new parts.
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New headlights retrofit
- Thread starter bomax
- Start date
coconutboy84
Member
TX_M3P+
Member
If you have twitter, send a message to @greentheonly. He might have some insights.
vogz
Member
Considering some markets already have the headlights and others don't on the 2021 models, and the fact that they are physically the same, just an improved beam pattern. They should be a direct swap.
vogz
Member
New ones don't seem to be adaptive, but the are brighter with a much more defined beam pattern. I agree though. I'm perfectly happy with my headlights.
Are you sure that they are 100% physically the same? Like the new Model Y taillights that look the same, but have an extra wire going to them. And even if your car has the extra wire even Tesla can't currently change the configuration to make them work correctly if you retrofit the new lights into a car that came with the old ones.
Are the new ones brighter than the old US or the old EU headlights? Because from what I had seen the old US headlights were really bright and fairly good, and the old EU ones sucked. So they may mainly be bringing the EU lights up to par with the old US ones.
vogz
Member
By physically the same, I meant the physical size and shape of the housing hasn't changed. I obviously can't speak of the wiring that's why I said they "should" be a direct swap. I didn't give a 100% guarantee. That said, car manufacturers like to make money, and when facelifts are executed, they almost always change the look and sometimes function of parts, but hardly ever the underlying wiring/harnesses unless they have to.
The Model Y taillight analogy isn't a good one since the old "red only" tail had a simple 3-wire harness (parking light positive, brake light/turn signal positive and a negative) and when adding a second set of yellow LEDs for the turn signal function, you need to somehow get the signal to turn those on separately from the brake LEDs. They added a completely separate function to a previously very simple light that doesn't have a control board of any kind built in.
The new headlights don't add any new "features" like the tails. The light beams were always adjustable, they just changed the beam definition and brightness. Headlight harnesses aren't simple 3-wire like the tails. The chance that they changed the harness for the headlights when they didn't need to is extremely small and would have been an unnecessary expense.
I don't know where you've seen that the US headlights were better than the EU lights. The US has far more restrictive headlight regulations from the 1960s vs the EU which allows all the latest headlight tech. The video I posted above (from the UK) even states that the old headlights are fantastic, the new ones are just that much better. I can definitely say that the old US headlights (on my 2020 model) when projected on a dark wall (like the video) look just like the old ones from the UK.
Why Is America Stuck with Bad Headlights?
The problem is that in the EU, while they allow all the greatest tech, they require headlight washers if your headlights are brighter than a certain output. And it was reported that Tesla had to reduce the light output some because they don't have headlight washers. (The US doesn't have that restriction...)
vogz
Member
Ah, the headlight washer rule over 2000 lumens.
That still doesn't explain the new headlights. They are clearly much brighter than the old ones, so one would assume they would require headlight washers, which the new Model 3 doesn't appear to have in the European market. If (like you stated as a possibility) Tesla was bringing the EU headlights up to the US brightness, would that not require washers?
I never said they were bringing them up to the US brightness. But they could keep the lumen output the same but have it better focused in a smaller area to make them appear brighter. They could even have the same headlights adjust brightness/focus automatically based on region. (So the same headlight could be brighter in the US than it is in the EU.)
Seems like new headlights are made b/c they are programmable for all patterns and requirements for all regions, so one set only for all their cars to share = cheaper manufacturing costs in the long run.
Tesla Norway technicians has stated that they have not yet been subject to information whether the new lights are compatible with the old wiring, housing or anything as of yet.
Tesla Norway technicians has stated that they have not yet been subject to information whether the new lights are compatible with the old wiring, housing or anything as of yet.
vogz
Member
That is not the case. Watch the video I linked. The beam pattern is much larger and much brighter.
akballow
Member
Anyone with new lights seen the wire plug is same or not?? Anyone found anyone play with retrofitting?
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Not sure on the Model 3, but I just had both of my headlights replaced on my Model S as part of an insurance claim and they were $1400.
Each.
akballow
Member
Yeah but used market like ebay can get for as low as 200. Looking for a total’d parts
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