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Poor LED Performance - 1 Solution

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The first thing that I remember surprising me about the Model S was that it’s LED headlights were rated very poorly. When I first got my car out at night, the headlights were bad - so I agreed. There was nice white light, but it was not spread out enough and anything over 30mph I would be out-driving them, which is extremely dangerous. I do a lot of back country road driving where it’s true pitch black and there are no street lights. Aux lights are not uncommon.

I did my usual research and all I could find on TMC was people complaining that their nose cone HID headlights were aimed too high and people were flashing at them. As I have the LED and they’re the opposite of too high this didn’t really apply. However, I noted where they adjusted their headlights up and down and went out and tried it.

Well the difference is astonishing. I went from having the worst headlights I’ve ever had, to having headlights equivalent to what I consider to have the best HID headlights ever made (Honda s2k).
I understand in detail the differences between HID, LED, and halogen, so I had the right expectations going into this.

This post is more a PSA that Tesla is not adjusting all cars’ headlights at the factory, so if you’re not satisfied with the light output, check your alignment - it literally took me 4 minutes!
And please please please be careful not to blind oncoming traffic! Too high and you waste light going off into the sky. Too low and you can’t see down the road.
 
Can you go into some detail on how you adjusted them? I know its in the manual, but would be nice to hear your process.
It’s ncredibly easy. Open your frunk. There are three big pieces of plastic panels. Remove the two on both sides left and right. Leave the center one. They just pop straight up - theyre held in place with clips. There is also one rubber washer per side. DO NOT UNSCREW THIS. When you pull the panels up, the rubber washer will contort and deform and squeeze through the hole. You’ll do the reverse when you put the plastic panel back on.

Now that the panel is off, look at the back of the headlight and you will see a round piece of white plastic (the rest of the headlight is black so it stands out). You can put a Phillips head screw driver into this and screw up - this is how you adjust the headlights.

COUNTER CLOCKWISE goes up
CLOCKWISE goes down.

Count the number of revolutions of your screw driver so you can fine tune it.

That’s really it. I put them up 3 full turns and went for a drive and it was astonishing the difference
 
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Couldn’t agree more on your headlight observations Joe. Mine were very bad as well and like you, I felt I over drove them around 40mph. As you note, it is a very easy adjustment and one can easily see the relative headlight movement if you have them pointed at your inside garage door. Now a happy camper with low and high beams.
 
I too am in total agreement. I knew about the poor headlights and confirmed it the very night I drove back home from delivery. That was September 2017.

That being said, I've had both headlights replaced under warranty in January 2018 as they had condensation problems and noticed the replacement headlights were much more powerful. SC confirmed this as they told me they had a better technology headlight introduced end of 2017. On a winter drive to Sudbury, ON at night I validated the much improved quality of lighting, but as you mentioned I too thought they were pointed too low.

So I asked from SC an upwards adjustment of about 2'' from 20' and validated this improvement on a all-nighter road trip to the Carolinas in April 2018, and I can say the lighting was absolutely supreme, even in wet and foggy conditions.

This is a simple adjustment everyone with Model S LED headlights should perform for improved safety.
 
Would you say the headlights are aimed too low in general? Or only the low beam is too low? If you aim them up, would the high beam be too high?

I’ve found the facelift Model S headlights to be too low in both low and high beam modes, although I’ve only spent significant time in one. The Model X, on the other hand, seems to be perfect. It’s nice to know that a simple adjustment can correct the problem.
 
the replacement headlights were much more powerful. SC confirmed this as they told me they had a better technology headlight introduced end of 2017
My S was delivered June 2017 and the headlights was on the week side. I recalled the IIHS had rated them poor. If they are better on new cars now, Tesla should get IIHS to retest them so they would get that black mark off the record.
 
It’s ncredibly easy. Open your frunk. There are three big pieces of plastic panels. Remove the two on both sides left and right. Leave the center one. They just pop straight up - theyre held in place with clips. There is also one rubber washer per side. DO NOT UNSCREW THIS. When you pull the panels up, the rubber washer will contort and deform and squeeze through the hole. You’ll do the reverse when you put the plastic panel back on.

Now that the panel is off, look at the back of the headlight and you will see a round piece of white plastic (the rest of the headlight is black so it stands out). You can put a Phillips head screw driver into this and screw up - this is how you adjust the headlights.

COUNTER CLOCKWISE goes up
CLOCKWISE goes down.

Count the number of revolutions of your screw driver so you can fine tune it.

That’s really it. I put them up 3 full turns and went for a drive and it was astonishing the difference
Thanks for taking the time.
 
my model s was delivered without the adaptive led (the ones that light up when you turn the steering wheel) so I set an appointment with my service center to have them replaced ...

my service center replaced them and then called me in to ask if i wanted the lights to be shifted upwards a little as it will improve the visibility quite a bit.... so i said sure

i took it out for a ride that night and it visibility has definitely approved .... I think Tesla is aware of the adjustment and has most likely started making them in the new vehicles that are coming off the line but the older ones need to be adjusted. Check with your service centers
 
It’s ncredibly easy. Open your frunk. There are three big pieces of plastic panels. Remove the two on both sides left and right. Leave the center one. They just pop straight up - theyre held in place with clips. There is also one rubber washer per side. DO NOT UNSCREW THIS. When you pull the panels up, the rubber washer will contort and deform and squeeze through the hole. You’ll do the reverse when you put the plastic panel back on.

Now that the panel is off, look at the back of the headlight and you will see a round piece of white plastic (the rest of the headlight is black so it stands out). You can put a Phillips head screw driver into this and screw up - this is how you adjust the headlights.

COUNTER CLOCKWISE goes up
CLOCKWISE goes down.

Count the number of revolutions of your screw driver so you can fine tune it.

That’s really it. I put them up 3 full turns and went for a drive and it was astonishing the difference
Do you know if it is the same to adjust the ModelX headlights?
 
It’s ncredibly easy. Open your frunk. There are three big pieces of plastic panels. Remove the two on both sides left and right. Leave the center one. They just pop straight up - theyre held in place with clips. There is also one rubber washer per side. DO NOT UNSCREW THIS. When you pull the panels up, the rubber washer will contort and deform and squeeze through the hole. You’ll do the reverse when you put the plastic panel back on.

Now that the panel is off, look at the back of the headlight and you will see a round piece of white plastic (the rest of the headlight is black so it stands out). You can put a Phillips head screw driver into this and screw up - this is how you adjust the headlights.

COUNTER CLOCKWISE goes up
CLOCKWISE goes down.

Count the number of revolutions of your screw driver so you can fine tune it.

That’s really it. I put them up 3 full turns and went for a drive and it was astonishing the difference


If you are on a flat surface and aim the lights at your closed garage door, what height do you measure the lights are now at? Also distance from the door for comparison.