Non Tech Package HID upgrade...

[tony2fingers]

Just got my car yesterday. Gonna do some mods so i fugure id post it up here if anyone is intrested.

First off is change the headlights to 6k hid's.

second is lowering the car. Im thinking of using adjustable links but Had to take the tires off to get to the headlight bulbs and i saw the height sensor and i think i can go about it using factory links. Ill follow up on another thread on lowering the car and after i see how it turns out.

Third is installing a set of 22's. Got 22x9 with and offset of 38 all around. concave looks. had to buy 74.1 to 64.1 hubcentrics cause their originally intended for an acura rdx or bmw or something but it should work. Again, thatll be another post at another time.

lastly imma just do some general cosmetic stuff. body color all lower plasic panels and tint the windows.

Here is the pix of the factory headlight bulb. (non hid)

just ordered a hid set with slim digital ballast from amazon. it was like $79. you can get them even less like around $40 but quality is marginal.

i serched almost everywhere and couldnt find which type of bulbs go in there so i just tore the car apart last night to find out you have to take off the wheels and fender liner to get acess to the bulb assembly.

Ill post of some before and after pix of the install.

 

[steve841]

To each his own....

Tech package and active air would have been much less effort....

 

[tony2fingers]

Steve, i already have the air package. you cant trick a non-air package model s into lowering itself.
If i can recall, the tech package was like 3-4 grand. i really didnt think i needed all that but i do like having hid's on my car so $80 versus $4k is alot of money to me. Yes, spending 4 thousand dollar is "much less effort" but like you said, to each his own, i guess.

 

[Schmo]

Please keep us posted!

 

[tdelta1000]

Please keep us posted!

Yeah...keep us posted.

 

[tiblot]

Cool so the beams are 9005. DDMTuning sells HID kits too.

How are you planning on mounting the ballasts?

 

[scriptacus]

With regard to lowering the car; the height sensor is going to be closer to the ground and I would imagine the onboard software is going to try to adjust the air suspension to compensate. How do you plan on fixing that if its an issue?

 

[tony2fingers]

Cool so the beams are 9005. DDMTuning sells HID kits too.

How are you planning on mounting the ballasts?

I got a digital slim balast. i used a similar one on my volt. just threw it in there and didnt mount it much. guess i could use double sided tape but it was snug. i got 12k miles on my volt and no problems. the tesla they have a bunch of 10mm studs and nuts in that headlight area so i think i can mount the ballast to one of those. there is a rubber cap that covers the light access that im probably going to make a hole and run the grommet through.

My car is in the shop for paint and my hid comes in tomorrow so hopefully ill get some pix of the install on friday.

 

[tony2fingers]

With regard to lowering the car; the height sensor is going to be closer to the ground and I would imagine the onboard software is going to try to adjust the air suspension to compensate. How do you plan on fixing that if its an issue?

I only took apart the only the front so i can only comment on how I'm doing the front. assuming the use the same sensors in the rear, then it should be similar.

Tesla uses Continental rotary sensors connected with a plastic arm via a horizontal knuckle to the upper control arm. on a similiar system that was on my mercedes, all i had to do was replace the knuckle with adjustable turnbuckles, essentially tricking the sensor thinking the length of the arm to the suspension is longer or shorter. the computer will then adjust the height of the airbags to match desired "corrected" setting. longer links= lower car.
I mentioned earlier i was going to use the stock links and modify the existing system to make it work.
The tesla front suspension sensor is mounted vertically. when the upper arm moves up and down the motion is translated into for and aft movement via the link and to the sensor.
suspension goes up = sensor arm moves forward.
so, i can
A: somehow figure out to slot and mount the sensor side ball mount so i can slide it up and down and lock in place making the height adjustable.
B: rotate entire sensor assembly, essentially changing the sensor position so it thinks the car is high and adjust to low. The front sensors are mounted vertically, with a notch or keyway in the body of the car on the bottom, a 10mm bolt on top. if i were able to take the sensor out completely and flatten the notch, it would allow me to rotate the sensor position outside of the factory position thus allowing to reposition the angle and tricking the car to lower. the upper mount is a 10mm bolt so that could be tightened and it should hold in place.

I should be working on this and the hid setup friday or latest saturday so ill have pix and description up soon.

 

[TurboZo]

any updates on the headlights? I'm curious to see the results. are the stock halogens just normal yellowish lights? are there any LED replacements yet?

 

[tony2fingers]

just got my rims and hid's in today. yes the original headlights are around 4k color temp. my hid's should be about 6k. I have not seen led's for main headlights available for aftermarket yet. My car is stuck in paint until saturday so hopefully everything should be installed and pix taken monday.

 

[tony2fingers]

Yup, stock bulbs i would say are about 4200k color temp. aftermarket led's for primary headlights aren't available yet to my knowledge. just got my wheels and hid kit in today. my car still in the shop for paint and wont get it out till saturday. hopefully i can get some parts installed and worked on over the weekend.

 

[SouthJerseyJon]

I saw amazon had some led bulbs that might work at 11.99 a pair, might be worth trying to get the look

 

[tony2fingers]

I saw amazon had some led bulbs that might work at 11.99 a pair, might be worth trying to get the look

Southjerseyjon,
I see what you looking at. its these right:

Classy Autos 9005 LED Bulbs 68-SMD WHITE Super Bright DRL Fog Lights (A Pair) : Amazon.com : Automotive

i would stay away from those, since your trying to use them for primary headlights. the tesla uses the same bulb for low beams as well as high beams. when you hit the high beams on our car, it has an electric actuator to open a flap and allows the projector to raise the pattern. the amazon led your looking at for $11 doesnt have anywhere near the light output required. I have a 3 watt led flashlight that puts out about 1200 lumens. that flashlight is comparable to the aftermarket hid i have on my volt. the one on amazon i simply dont think would work for this purpose.

amazon does have an intresting item that you might want to check out though. its a 5 watt cree 9005 bulb. one issue i do see is that the actual size is a bit larger that the stock halogen bulb so fitting the bulb into the tesla reflector might be a problem. the other issue is that the bulb has a projector on the end and the tesla also has a projector lens on it. something to think about. check it out, i included the link below. if you get it and it works, post up with before and after pix so the rest of us can decide to go that route.

Amazon.com: iJDMTOY CREE High Power SMD 9005 LED Daytime Running Light Bulbs, Xenon White: Automotive

 

[Laumb]

For reference.
OEM Halogen is about 3000k.
OEM HID is 4300k.

When you go for 6000k the light will be blue and look fake. Also 4300k is "white" so it reflects much more detail at dusk/night while 6000k blue actually degrades reflection creating less visibility.

 

[Quacker]

For reference.
OEM Halogen is about 3000k.
OEM HID is 4300k.

When you go for 6000k the light will be blue and look fake. Also 4300k is "white" so it reflects much more detail at dusk/night while 6000k blue actually degrades reflection creating less visibility.

Actually 6000k is mostly white with only a hint of blue, like this:

 

[tony2fingers]

hey instead of posting at the bottom of this original thread i just started a new one. Just finished up with painting the lower trim and installing new 22's. got it home and lowered the car using original links and installed the 6k digital hid's. Do a search for "DIY lowering" and "DYI HID install" imma do two seperate post for each job but i actually did most of it at the same time. The headlights are easier to do with the front tires off. the lowering can be done with the front tires still on the car, but the rears tires need to be removed to access the rear sensors.