Has anyone tried the aftermarket "Tesla" screen radio upgrade?

It technically wouldn't be hard to move wherever you wanted to place the switch. It's I believe 8 wires. All you'd really need to do is just extend the 8 wires to whatever length you want and then put the switch panel somewhere. it's modular on the console trim. Meaning you can unscrew the back and it comes right off the panel.



And if you didn't want to cut and extend the OEM harness simply go on Aliexpress and find the two connectors for the harness/seat heat connector and then simply make your own harness that plugs into it so nothing is permanent. The connectors ends you'll end up getting 5-10 for maybe $3, you'll wait about 2 weeks from china but if you have any type of soldering/wiring skills this would be a 30 minute thing to do.

Back of panel/switch.


You could actually easily just mount that inside the center console compartment.
Since it's a box pretty much in shape you could mount it anywhere, right under the dash... have someone 3d print a small housing..etc. Looking at this, that would be the way to go and still keep/retain the heated seats but also have the cool tesla like screen in the center.

Doing the above method will retain everything and nothing would be permanent if you decide to ever go back to stock.


-Nigel

Yea there is going to be no interface to manage the seat heating...

So it comes down to tesla screen and remote seat heating or double din and keep the dash intact...

If the tesla screen is cracked up to be worth it, then I'd 10% just move the seat heaters somewhere..

I'm taking my entire dash apart btw so this is what the seat heater looks like apart from the console. (I'm changing all green LEDS to white. So I have multple things of everything taken apart)

Pictures will be put here from my phone:












Sorry my phone did not put them in order, but you get the idea.

-Nigel

I guess it's what you think is worth it. Does having the larger screen give you more options/benefits than using the seat feature? To me I don't see an issue at all relocating the seat heaters. Most of my cars have a button that is in the dash.. For example, on our Mercedes it would be impossible to relocate the switches with how they are spread out and how it's wired. At least with the CT it's a small rectangle box. You could literally put it anywhere out of site and still have full functionality of it. Whether it's in the center console (This would be the easiest and you could still easily access it, plus all wiring would be under the center console and hidden), under the driver side dash...or even on the left side of the dash where we have all the blank buttons... lots of possibilities.

You wouldn't be losing the feature at all which to me is the key. I hate gloss black, so I actually have more of a problem with that than anything else. You could always wrap the bezel of the unit. That would be better and much cheaper than trying to have someone match the sparkled paint that our dash has. I wrapped my RCF's center console in brushed aluminum and it looks wonderful. For the CT I'm using 3m's ebony wood grain which looks really nice and classy.

I have to find the thread but apparently someone has already installed this in the FB groups and is already complaining about sound quality or lack thereof.... i'd have to find it and screen shot it. Take it for a grain of salt but who knows.

-Nigel

It can be bought, but be forewarned it's not cheap...



OUCH!




Or do what I did and go on eBay and pick one up. Cost can range anywhere from $50-120+ depending on condition/seat heaters..etc.

These are what I am going to be testing my different white LEDS on. It's much easier to do it to test units rather than continuing to solder/desolder leds on my good unit.

-Nigel

MonkeyWrench said:

Ok, good to know. Do you know how to repair the LEDS that light up the heated seat indicator? Not the orange light, but the green backlight that illuminates the text. The passenger side light died. I could send you mine if you offered repair work. I'm working with two problems here...

1. The bezel around the shifter was cut to accommodate my Kenwood radio. I'll need to replace that.

2. The backlight for the heated seat text has died on the pass. indicator side.

As you already said, I'll have to either buy a new one or get one on eBay.

Just so my mind is clear...Is it really not possible to control the heated seats from ECU? IE: Plugging a radio into the car's main harness? The manufacture seems to think a software update would enable the heated seats to work. I don't exactly believe that because our knobs are analog, but it got me thinking. If we're able to change drive modes and turn on/off EV mod, traction control, why wouldn't we be able to do the same for the heated seats? Again, is it because those buttons are digital and the heated seat relay is analog?

Click to expand...

I'm doing my heated seat module LED swap this Wednesday when I get the second batch of LEDS I'm testing for color/hue/brightness. From looking at the leds on my module that I took apart, I don't see an issue at all with swapping/changing/repairing leds. I see no reason at all why I couldn't fix/repair yours unless the actual board is bad. I'd be able to test that once I make a wiring harness Wednesday for mine.. I saw your other post about a phone mount. It would save on shipping if we did both at the same time rather than you ship the seat heater module, then I ship a mount then ship the seat module back..etc. Be able to put them in the same box and then you pay shipping once rather than on two separate items..etc.

This is what the heated seat module looks like:


Yea, they aren't going to have the screen work with our heated seats. One, we have an incremental dial that has something like 11 or 13 positions. I'd have to count tonight but MOST cars have on/off, or 1-2-3 settings. I don't understand honestly why we have so many. If it was controlled through the BCM then in theory they'd be able to have it interface with the software of the screen. But that's not the case in our cars. They aren't going to invest time into doing that because it's going to take a crap done of software tweaking along with other hardware/relays to interface between the two... If this was a thing made by a known company we'd probably have better luck... it's coming from China.... you'll be holding your breath for a loooooong time.

arc said:

Are you going to hook it up and see if the heated seats work? I still have hope that they will have options in the settings somewhere.

Click to expand...

It won't work. They'd have to interface from a digital system to an analog seat controller. Couple that with how many settngs we have they aren't going to put R&D into such a thing. If it came from a major brand maybe... but not from China..lol. If we had heated seats through the navi/software then it would make sense to be able to to tap into that via the can-bus network interface but that's not how our's works.

-Nigel

MonkeyWrench said:

Thanks Nigel!

I wouldn't mind doing a swap for your heated controls just for the OEM lights. I'm not very particular about wanting them to be white, so I'm happy with the green. Just to be clear, I only need the shifter bezel and the heated seat knob. The shifter bezel was slightly cut on the side to allow for my Kenwood radio to fit. Is it possible to just swap those out? If it's too complicated, I'll just take the phone mount now and call it a day.

I spoke to the manufacture for a pretty long time last night. They claim that in April 15th there will be some sort of Chinese convention with cars. At that time they would be able to test a CT200H to get a digital version of the heated seats to work. They specifically noted that we have analog nobs and they would have "1-2-3 Gear presets" on the radio to control it. This would be done via the can bus I was told. Who knows?

I'm still struggling with the return of the radio. The website offered a $150 refund, or a full refund, but I have to pay return shipping. I declined because I was lied to about the features before I made my purchase. So, I don't feel like I should have to pay return shipping. Still in the dispute department....

Click to expand...

The extra bezels I have aren't in 100% perfect condition. Not sure if that matters to you, some have spots on them and where areas have worn through, but I believe one of them might be in the nicest condition out of all of them. Take a picture of your bezel and I can see if it matches up. There are several different revisions that I wasn't aware of until I started taking them apart (w/without traction, preface lift..etc. Certain things are moved to different locations on the bezel). I didn't much care the condition they were in because all I cared about is that I was testing LEDS so I wanted to get them as cheap as possible and not have to spend hundreds of dollars per bezel and most importantly not damage mine in the process of desoldering/soldering leds. These would have been the sacrificial units had I messed up (I didn't..lol). I've gotten the method down now to where I can remove the LEDS in about a minute or two...lol

As far as your heated seat module, I figure I will have extra green leds once I start taking them off of the ones I have so if you want to keep it stock but have it working that's fine by me. No need to change it to white if you don't want to..etc.

That sucks with the problematic return... Depending on how much you bought it for, you might be better off taking the partial refund then just selling the unit here or on FB. That way you aren't shipping it back to china which isn't going to be cheap...

EDIT: Somehow my post was after all you posted. Good to see and hear that they are taking care of it! Now you won't have to deal with the nonsense!


-Nigel