Retrofit rear seat heating - Model S, 3/2017

[Karl-Heinz]

I am super satisfied with our facelift S100D from 3/2017. The only weak point is the missing seat heating in the back which I didn't order at that time, and which only became standard with new cars in the middle of 2017. As we regularly go skiing with the kids, I would like to retrofit it and am looking for information.

Spare parts information can be found at https://epc.tesla.com/mit your tesla.com account, back seat information at https://epc.tesla.com/#/systemGroups/60210, the relevant parts seem to be REAR CENTER HEATER MODULES
1030459-00-A and REAR HEATER PATCH HARNESS 1030460-00-A, the parts themselves can probably be reordered for a few hundred bucks, although it is open if/how well these patches can be installed in the seat afterwards. Alternatively, the whole seat unit could be reordered, which would cost more than 1.5 k$/k€+. And with all this the problem remains whether the mechanical wiring is on the vehicle side and the electronics can be persuaded to activate a hardware-side seat heating.

Detailed questions would be:

1. Does anyone already have experience with retrofitting a heated rear seat in a facelift Model S?
2. Is the vehicle side cabling already prepared?
3. How is the rear seat removed/installed, does anyone have photos/assembly instructions, can the wiring be seen
4. Does anyone know of an accident vehicle with an intact black Model-S Base Seat back seat with seat heating (in Europe )

 

[EV-Fixme]

You just need to plug in, install one, and have service center activate it. My friend has completely retrofitted subzero into his car. And I've retro-ed heated steering wheel and waiting for other parts.

PM me your email and I'll send you the doc.

 

[evsnail]

I am in Germany and also work on getting the rear seat heating running.

I have a 2013 Model S (pre-facellift). My research should to some extend be similar to newer Model S with some differences which I will try to high light. Having the correct Tesla circuit diagramS(!) is essential.

The bottom rear seat cushion is just clipped in but very difficult to lift. Sometimes clips break when un-mounting them. In my Model S there is no pre-wiring for the rear seat heating.
It seems that there are different fuse-boxes for 2013 cars (pre-facelift):
equipped with and without fuses for the rear seat heater (Ref: circuit diagram for both versions: X550 fuse /X552 relay). This fuse-box is a bit hidden in the frunk below plastic covers right of the cabin air filter (looking at the windshield) close to the windshield wiper, you need to lift a ‘2-piece black rivet’ for getting access to it. If you have a fuse-box where F19 is OPEN (not used) the car is likely to have the 12V wiring to the rear seat.

I found another hint that there may be a fuse-box 4 for European cars equipped with cold weather package (fuse F103 control F104). It is located on the driver side trim panel (?).

The later model S (facelift ?) has an additional fuse-box on right of the co-driver (fuses F230-F232).

A) Hardware: I bought a used rear seat which has the heating mat/wiring/3xcontrollers included.

B) Power: In may case since I do not have fuses and wiring to the rear. Running the cables from the fuse-box or 12V-battery and through the firewall across the entire car is too tedious. I will take power from the liftgate in the trunk which is equipped with permanent power (30A fuse). Each of the 3 seats should be fused with 15A as in the original Tesla fuse-box. There is slight risk in case all seats are on full power and the trunk is operated that the 30A fuse may blow, but I will try the risk. I assume that the seats draw much current power, especially when on power level ‘1’ of 3.

C) Control Cable: Then the correct LIN-bus cable needs to located and tapped. I may case it appears to be the the same LIN as the rear view mirror. This cable should be located in the ‘A pillar’ on the driver side. My preferred method for tapping is to remove the insulation and solder it. The wire needs to be routed though the car to rear seat. Any small wire will do.

D) Plug: the seat is equipped with a white CAN-bus style plug, the mating part need to be obtained to connect everything to the car. At this point I do not have details on this plug.

E) Programming To control the seat heating from the MCU the winter package needs to be programmed to the car. I have no experience in this but the root password is required which I have. Getting the password is another effort. I got mine from the expert when the MCU flash memory was replaced.

 

[Karl-Heinz]

Hi Evsnail, thanks for that very detailed and in depth description. I would probably lack the experience and courage to do such large scale changes on my own, but maybe another cold winter (if that still exists) will increase my motivation to make myself a car electronics specialist. So i admire what you do, and still hope that the post facelift Model S makes that task easier with (1) wiring already available, (2) heat cushions (part-no's in first post) to add, and then sure (3) get it activated in the software. 1+2 i have to check specifically for my post facelift model. For #3 i am glad for more detailed input on a PM.

Also some time has past in the meanwhile, did you already realize all successful ?

 

[2101Guy]

My late 2017 90D doesnt have rear heated seats. Not on the monroney, MVPA, etc. Not an option on the MCU. I've removed the rear seat bench, and noticed that there are three plugs connected on the underside of the rear bench. Do I assume that car is fully wired for rear seat heating, and it's only a trip to the SC to have them activate? If yes, I assume there is a fee involved?

 

[JAG]

EVsnail any luck? your rear outlet with a 12v 30A fuse ...12V x 30A = 360W total. Even Assuming 14.4 volts just a bit higher... still Might not a very warm seat heater.

 

[DenmarkP85]

Hey - I am waiting for 4 gen seats, from at crash car en norge.. hoping to install them in my P85 from 2014 (december) thinking thats possible.. but do you now where I can buy the conecters`

 

[EV-Fixme]

My late 2017 90D doesnt have rear heated seats. Not on the monroney, MVPA, etc. Not an option on the MCU. I've removed the rear seat bench, and noticed that there are three plugs connected on the underside of the rear bench. Do I assume that car is fully wired for rear seat heating, and it's only a trip to the SC to have them activate? If yes, I assume there is a fee involved?

There is separate part number for heated vs non heated. There is a occupancy sensor along with heated wiring. If you do have heated seats then it’s likely they just need activation. However if your X does have it available I would suspect you would have an option to purchase subzero via your account. Tesla should be able to update the config over the air.

 

[EV-Fixme]

Hey - I am waiting for 4 gen seats, from at crash car en norge.. hoping to install them in my P85 from 2014 (december) thinking thats possible.. but do you now where I can buy the conecters`

Ask for the connectors from whoever your buying the seats from. They may give or sell them to you.

 

[FIN.EvTuner]

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for original post Karl-Heinz! I have Facelif Model S from early 2017 and I'm about to retrofit a full subzero package.

Just wanted to post that only the physical set of all subzero parts is not enough. You need to get your car configured to them as well. At least in MCU1 cars it is just one .dat file that has lots of lines indicating different features and 0s and 1s behind them to show whether they are activated. Tesla might not be willing to configure your non-winterpackage car to winter package (haven't asked them because got it done elsewhere). It's great to hear that somewhere Tesla service centers have done it but I suggest asking first before purchasing the expensive hardware. AND important: it is possible to confiure your MCU1 car even without Tesla. I know this great guy who can do it and we configured my car to have the winter pack systems and now I have all the normal controls for them in car and in app. Without configuring it won't work. Again important: MCU2 is not as easy to re-configure yourself so before upgrading MCU1 to MCU2 there, I suggest finding out if Tesla will reconfigure the Winterpack options or then get someone to configure the car for you. It's quite fast to do but requires some serious IT-skills that I didn't have but this guy I know has.

Tesla sells pretty much every part needed and most of them are not even too expemsive new, except the whole rear seats and the heated steering wheel + airbag module + ecu. Some cars (like mine) didn't even have wiring for heated steering wheel in the steering column control module (with the turn signal & autopilot & wiper controls around steering wheel) which I had to buy, I went to get it from Tesla, 285 EUR incl taxes.

I'm as well keen to keep my leather seats but would want the heating to the rear. I've seen one guy retrofit only the heating modules to new seats so I suppose it is possible. Tesla doesn't sell leather rear seats anymore.

There is the page where they show all the available parts and whether their purchase is un-restricted or restricted based on VIN. I can post the address here soon.

All the new windshields at Tesla are epuipped with heating fibres and I heard there are no connecting cables in addition to that required. So once you get your windshield replaced then after reconfiguration the wiper rest-spots will heat. Heated nozzles arent very expensive and theres 1-2 commecting cables in addition to that required.

 

[FIN.EvTuner]

And the page where you can see the tesla parts is epc.tesla.com where you need to login with your Tesla account username and password.

 

[Chief200]

You just need to plug in, install one, and have service center activate it. My friend has completely retrofitted subzero into his car. And I've retro-ed heated steering wheel and waiting for other parts.

PM me your email and I'll send you the doc.

Hello EV-Fixme
Would you be so kind and send me the doc as well?
I'd like to retfofit my Model S as well.
And is there a doc for retrofittig a Model X?
Kind regards and thank you

 

[justsamisfine]

You just need to plug in, install one, and have service center activate it. My friend has completely retrofitted subzero into his car. And I've retro-ed heated steering wheel and waiting for other parts.

PM me your email and I'll send you the doc.

I know I’m reviving a dead thread, but I just bought a 2017 Model S that I thought had the cold weather pack, but doesn’t. So now I’m trying to figure out if I can retrofit the rear seats and steering wheel (and wiper blades if possible). I know I can bolt on the parts, but didn’t know how to activate it in the MCU. Hoping you still have some info on it so I can get this going.