New Model 3 [matrix] Headlights - adjust for LHD countries?

[Durzel]

I got to see the codes on my car recently at a SC. It is safe to say that there is a lot more on there than you would think, i.e. stuff that is standard on every Model 3 but is configured anyway.

I vaguely recall someone on here saying that they had a new rear windscreen fitted and for some reason had to get the heater element coded back on?

I have a heated steering wheel in my MY20 car - everything works, except the heating. The SC tech showed me on the tablet where it said that it was present but disabled on my car. No way for him to change it either

 

[Papikis]

Any update on this? Did anyone try out? I am receiving my LR M3 in December and want to go to Denmark and was wondering if the new headlights need any deflectors or adjustment

 

[MrT3]

Any update on this? Did anyone try out? I am receiving my LR M3 in December and want to go to Denmark and was wondering if the new headlights need any deflectors or adjustment

there is an Rsymons video where he tested a Model Y that was brought over from Germany - the headlight pattern didn't automatically change over from a right hand side pickup to a left hand side pickup so I'd say you will want to install deflectors (unless you speak to Tesla and they are able to make a change for you over the air).

 

[drewpost]

They definitely have way more bias for the side of the road we drive in. See this shot. You can see the drop off on the right and the left raised higher. This was immediately after a calibration by Tesla. Interestingly enough the correction on the invoice implies that it’s a standard “European” headlight setting

 

[DrJFoster]

Any update on this? Did anyone try out? I am receiving my LR M3 in December and want to go to Denmark and was wondering if the new headlights need any deflectors or adjustment

The latest manual (2021.24) still says you don't need to do anything, and the headlight change was a long time before this

 

[john999s]

I have a late March built M3LR (Fremont) and I drove from Germany through to the UK for a family visit last week. The headlights are generally excellent but for UK my LHD new type lights blind oncoming traffic and I was flashed many times by drivers. I will talk to Tesla but there is no obvious fix for this in the menus. They need a fix for this. I had (wrongly) assumed that the software would take care of it (like the speed translation) or that there would be a menu option like German cars to flip the dip to the other side. Probably not so much of an issue in summer but in winter I need a fix. Any more news from members here? Oh and wiper lift over 160km/h in the rain is an issue in Germany. ....I know why would you etc but here it's kind of normal...

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

I have a late March built M3LR (Fremont) and I drove from Germany through to the UK for a family visit last week. The headlights are generally excellent but for UK my LHD new type lights blind oncoming traffic and I was flashed many times by drivers. I will talk to Tesla but there is no obvious fix for this in the menus. They need a fix for this. I had (wrongly) assumed that the software would take care of it (like the speed translation) or that there would be a menu option like German cars to flip the dip to the other side. Probably not so much of an issue in summer but in winter I need a fix. Any more news from members here? Oh and wiper lift over 160km/h in the rain is an issue in Germany. ....I know why would you etc but here it's kind of normal...

Have you not got the headlight adjustment option in the service menu? You can (or could) adjust the beam of individual headlights.

 

[drewpost]

Have you not got the headlight adjustment option in the service menu? You can (or could) adjust the beam of individual headlights.

It’s not that easy on the new matrix bulbs. The older ones you could go in and select that adjustment option and it would show you the full spread of the light so it was very easy to make corrections yourself. The beams were also MUCH flatter. The new ones have a pretty significant bias up on the left and in adjustment mode, show like a few lines of light only. They don’t show the full beam and those lines don’t correlate with where the beam actually ends up. It’s virtually impossible to self calibrate now at all. I had the same issue as @john999s did in France a few weeks ago. Total nightmare.

 

[Irata]

The passenger side does have a significant upward bias, I also notice this here when turning left because for a moment it does blind oncoming traffic as I turn the corner. I do see this on many cars now with similar lights, they flash bright lots as the cars bounce or turn.

I can definitely see how driving on the opposite side would cause major problems for ongoing traffic. It works well on nice smooth flat roads, which are not the majority.

I did wonder if mine is set wrong, but sounds like everyone is the same.

I asked this exact question last year when I first collected my car, at the time I hoped it would come in a software update to swap the beam pattern. Someone suggested the GPS may do it, but it clearly doesn't.

I think this has got to be reported as a software service issue, they've forgotten us again.

 

[AutomaticMan]

Any update on this thread? I'm guessing probably not as I doubt many of us were driving into Europe over recent omicron-y weeks! I'd be interested to know though as I do plan to do some trips to Europe in my M3 once I get it and this all sounds like a pain.

Also, I'm a bit confused about the matrix headlights in general. The VW ID.3 I just sold has matrix headlights where, in auto high beam mode, instead of dipping the whole beams when it detects an oncoming car with the camera it would just dim the part of the beam pointed at that car. It's weird to describe if you've never driven a car that does it, but it is like it is still on high beam but just with a bit of the beam blanked out. Most ID.3 owners seem to love it, personally I have mixed feelings about it (that I can go into in more detail if anyone is interested), but it seems like the matrix headlights on the Model 3 don't actually do that?

Is the speculation that the hardware is capable of that and they might introduce the feature at some point with a software update? Or did they go to matrix for some other reason?

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

The new matrix headlights are certainly capable of being controlled individually to the point they write Tesla on a wall in the light show. On the road though they're dumb with just the same all dipped or all main beam option. Whether Tesla ever get to the point of them doing anything more than that is anyones guess, I believe the matrix performance that you've seen on the ID3 and I know BMW have something similar, is not legal in the US and I sense that most of Teslas development is driven by US needs. Basic auto highbeam can be a bit patchy so I think they're a way off at the moment, but once they've really got the self driving road mapping/surroundings sorted to the point where they can accurately and reliably read the road around the car and for some distance, you'd imagine the maths to know which individual lights can be on full or not should be relatively easy to apply.

 

[MrT3]

Is the speculation that the hardware is capable of that and they might introduce the feature at some point with a software update? Or did they go to matrix for some other reason?

The hardware is capable as demonstrated by the ability for the headlights to produce the word Tesla during the light show that came with V11, and I assume the sensors in the Tesla would be able to detect where vehicles are and therefore instruct the system to turn off just those pixels.

As @GeorgeSymonds above, the main reason for the system not being implemented to date is the fact that US regulations don't allow high and low beams to be enabled at the same time, so any type of adaptive high beam system isn't allowed and Tesla put development priority on features for their home country. Musk did recently state there would be non-US features added to Autopilot soon - hopefully that will extend to things outside of Autopilot at some point.

 

[Yev000]

I was told by the SC when getting some issues fixed on my 2021 M3 that they new headlights 'Auto Adjust' depending on locality. In-fact he empathised it as one of the new features to the new set of headlights on the 2021 models.

However, I doubt we'll know until late summer to see ourselves.

Smells funny to me....

I didn't see any changes when I drove in France last summer.

It's easy enough to do yourself, just 3 clicks down on the left one and 3 clicks up on the right, then back again in UK.

Wonder if these new matrix headlights can be retrofit onto older model 3

Can? Yes. Will they, no..... They already stated that they have no plans to offer any retrofits for any new bits.

 

[Alan Mullett]

I've been told that the matrix headlights are now adaptive. I need to drive my UK car in LHD countries and have been holding off ordering a Tesla because of this issue. I'm used to my BMW blanking out the high beam for oncoming cars, and would like this going forward.

Can anybody confirm that this is now the case after the law changed in the US earlier this year.

Thanks

 

[Durzel]

There's nothing in any recent release notes to suggest that behaviour has changed in the headlights, and I would expect something as significant as that (whether geofenced or manual) to be explicitly mentioned. As far as I know there is no modification in behaviour in headlights going from one country to another.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

The law change in the US was, as the words suggest, is a change in the law, it’s got nothing as such to do with Tesla.

All it means is cars with the capability can start being enabled, so BMW, Audi, Merc etc can use their systems that work in the Europe in the US.

Tesla hasn’t demonstrated adaptive headlights anywhere in the world if you ignore writing Tesla on a wall. Their auto high beam is also a little dodgy at times so I imagine they’ll only do the trick adaptive headlights when the autopilot vision beta that’s on limited release is on all cars as this will give an accurate spacial assessment to know where cars are to blank them out.

But as for driving on the continent, Tesla say no adjustment is needed, so you are good to go regardless

 

[Mr H]

We did a fair bit of driving in France in the dark last year and didn't get flashed by anyone. We have to do similar in Germany this year and i expect the same but do carry some beam deflectors 'just in case'.

 

[DrJFoster]

We did a fair bit of driving in France in the dark last year and didn't get flashed by anyone. We have to do similar in Germany this year and i expect the same but do carry some beam deflectors 'just in case'.

I've driven abroad as well without issue. I don't know whether they adapt to the side or they're simply a fairly flat beam.

I don't put more credence on the videos where they try and show the beam is more one sided because we know Tesla aren't exactly the best at setting up their cars, it could just as easily be a feature from the build rather than some well thought through strategy!

 

[Kansalis]

But as for driving on the continent, Tesla say no adjustment is needed, so you are good to go regardless

I don't put more credence on the videos where they try and show the beam is more one sided because we know Tesla aren't exactly the best at setting up their cars, it could just as easily be a feature from the build rather than some well thought through strategy!

My car has a very pronounced step & lift on the left side (2022 M3). It's quite apparent while driving in the dark, not just while pointing at a wall to test. I'm quite sure it would dazzle when driving on the right if it doesn't auto-adjust with a geofence of some kind.

 

[DrJFoster]

My car has a very pronounced step & lift on the left side (2022 M3). It's quite apparent while driving in the dark, not just while pointing at a wall to test. I'm quite sure it would dazzle when driving on the right if it doesn't auto-adjust with a geofence of some kind.

Sorry, I probably didn't make myself clear. There's a well known dealer who floods youtube with videos and pronounce findings based on very little and when the light units changed he did one y pointing the lights at a wall and decided the lights were meant to shine up and light the footpath. My point was I'm not sure if that's by design or a quirk of a single car. You can adjust the headlights individually on some cars from the dash. Either way, the manual does specifically say no (user) adjustment necessary when driving on the continent.