Single to Double DIN upgrade?

Double Din Stereo/Nav - Need Your Help Please

Happy New Year all. Brand new here - really dig your forum and have been doing quite a bit of lurking.

Hopefully I'm not crashing a party I'm not welcome at, but figured what I'm looking for might be addressed here.

I'm a current Elise owner (SwingLo on the LT forum if any of you go there). Trying to sort out what we are doing with my wife's vehicle (we need the range/size for long road trips we do with our family of 5 plus dog), but I'm pretty certain that I'll be putting a deposit down on an S as my daily driver (to replace the lease end on my X5). Separate discussions for that....

Back to my Elise - one thing I truly LOVE about the Roadster 2.5 is the double din set up. I think the unit bezel design and the half circle frog eye vents are brilliant. Basically, I want the EXACT same thing in my Elise. Don't want the flip out double din unit and not crazy about the vents on top of the dash ala the Al and Ed's work. My interior is all custom carbon vinyl and black alcantara so the finish look is not that important - it would get covered in black alcantara.

So, what am I asking? I'd love to be able to buy the entire bezel unit. It would consist of the plastic fascia piece AND the AC innards. I've tried the Tesla Chicago dealer and no go. Would anyone be willing to order the part(s) for me? I'd make it worth your time.

Again, I apologize up front if I'm shooting dirty pool, but just looking to go this route without having to go to some shop for custom fab.

Lastly - anyone have exploded diagrams of the Roadster 2.5? For example, this is the link for the exploded Elise/Exige diagrams which are like the Bible to us as we do mods. Does anything similar exist so that I can see what's happening behind the dash/ac vents?

http://www.lotusgarage.com/shop/index.php?l=product_list&c=5

Thanks in advance.

+1 for this.

Would anyone be willing to order it and sell to me?

Double Din Stereo/Nav - Need Your Help Please

Hello all. New here.

Have a request for you. I currently own an Elise as my toy car and am very seriously considering putting a deposit down for an S (need to make sure the timing works when my lease ends on my other car).

Here's what I'm asking. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the new double din setup on the 2.5. So much better than say the 'vents on top of dash' custom mod that Al and Eds did. I'd like to do the same in my Elise. I can certainly go the custom fab shop route, but not sure I want to. In a perfect world, I'd buy the Tesla piece and have it installed/modified.

My interior is all custom carbon vinyl/leather and alcantara. I would only need the piece in plastic as it will be covered in alcantara to match. What I'd need would be the bezel/faceplate thing AS WELL as the half circle vent innards.

I tried the Chicago Tesla store, but no luck. What I'd probably need is to have one of you kind folks order it on my behalf and I'd pay you. Of course, I'd offer a premium for your time and effort.

Apologize up front if I'm shooting dirty pool on this, but it's really the only option I have to get a proper Double Din in my car - I HATE the pullout ones.

PM me if interested.

Also, does an exploded drawing sort of site exist for the 2.5? I'd love to see what's happening behind the dash. For example, here's the Lotus one we use

http://www.lotusgarage.com/shop/index.php?l=product_list&c=5

Thanks in advance!

You are certainly welcome here. Though threads merged since they're all basically about the same thing.

Not sure what to do if Tesla isn't willing to sell it to you, though your question reminds me of a question I've had:

doug said:

So I'm curious how they managed to fit the double DIN head unit.



We first saw it could be done in the ill fated and kludgy Dodge Circuit EV.

Of course in comparison, what Tesla has done looks very clean and well integrated. CNET says the head unit is an Alpine IVA-NAV-10, which they think is an OEM rebranded INA-W900. (Here's a demo video of that unit.)

From the specs, the dimensions are 7'' x 3-15/16'' x 6-3/8''. But if you look under the dash, you see it would interfere with an aluminum structure that I didn't think they could change without redoing crash testing.

So I'm just curious what modifications were made. This seems to be something owners have wanted from the get go. :smile:

Click to expand...

I assume the Elise looks similar behind the dash.

I'm also very interested in purchasing the bezel around the nav unit! I'm trying to get a double din nav unit installed in my Elise and the bezel is the only missing piece.

Yes, looks like many of us are on the same page. Frankly, I think the Tesla design is brilliant. So simple and so obvious. I've been staring at an extra Elise plastic bezel for months and then 'duh, just cut the AC vents in half'.

This could be something easily done by a custom audio shop BUT, the issue is the vent mechanisms. You really can't cut the vent innards (the louvers and flap system inside). So, if you could source the half circle vents and innards, you could easily have it custom fab'd. I'm searched hi and low and no luck on finding the half circle vents. If we could find out who Tesla sources the parts from, we'd be in business.

Regarding the aluminum fascia behind the dash - yes, its the exact same as the Elise. You'd basically to make two vertical cuts on the edges of the din hole and remove that little piece. That's what the Tesla service guy told me Tesla does. I doubt it would have much impact on safety.

So, the options for us Elise guys:

- buy the parts from Tesla - already went down this path and got a polite no. Perhaps a nice Tesla owner would be willing to order it for me?

- custom fab a unit through an audio shop - the key would be sourcing the half circle vents.

- custom fab something similar to the Al and Ed's approach with the vents on top of the dash (least desirable).

- custom fab just the bezel ala the Al and Ed's approach and do a 'ac vent delete' on the two vents there (and just use the far left/right vent). Not sure what it's like in the Roadster, but the AC in my Elise is basically worthless so not sure I'd be missing a lot.

Curious as to anyone else's input.

Happy New Year.

Cutting was supposed require new crash testing. Not sure how they got around that (or did they do crashes?). I aways thought a solution would be to attach two flat steel bar strips maybe 1/2" by 3/16 by 10" on top and bottom of the aluminum dash by bolts or rivets before the making the cut. They surely would supply the same lateral "rollbar" support job the missing piece would do. Using angle iron would be for those really worried.

As for the vents I have tried keeping the center ones closed for months in all kinds of weather. I really did not notice the difference in the speed the cabin heated or cooled. It's such a small compartment it just did not seem to make a significant difference in temp time change. Though some might like (or need) them blasting the skin if the top is off. (The Roadster has heated seats)

Anyway, I could just do with the bezel, the vents would not be a great loss in IMHO.

I found also this photo of a slightly different looking bezel, maybe the carbon fiber is an option?

http://reviews.cnet.com/2300-10863_7-10003963-10.html?s=0&o=10003963

Either way, this is exactly what we would need!

The interior CF is an option separate from the exterior CF package.

Are you ok with the price though?

It comes in two parts:
The upper is $755
The lower is $835

Mechanically, there is a steel bar in the earlier cars that blocks the kit from being installed; it's directly above the head unit; see Doug's picture above. Can you check behind first to see if the bar is present? Maybe remove the radio and get a camera in?

The 2.5's don't have that barrier. Not sure what the 2.5 looks like, i.e. what's in there that replaces the lost rigidity.

Think that's a challenge; I skipped the sub-woofer install; to retrofit that you have to take the side of the car off :-(

mpt said:

Are you ok with the price though?

It comes in two parts:
The upper is $755
The lower is $835

Click to expand...

I wonder if some third party could fab the part if there is enough demand.

Is Tesla offering the double din as an upgrade for 2008MY Roadsters?

mpt said:

Are you ok with the price though?

It comes in two parts:
The upper is $755
The lower is $835

Click to expand...

I suspect those are the carbon fiber prices. If you look at this link, you'll see that there is also a plastic version that I would expect to be cheaper. http://reviews.cnet.com/2300-10863_7-10003963-10.html?s=0&o=10003963

Also, what's the upper and lower part? Looks to me like it's only one part we need.

Naked dash

Coupla' more

Could any Tesla owners (or someone with Tesla store connections) try requesting the prices for the pieces we need in plastic (not carbon fiber)? I've tried calling two Tesla stores (Menlo Park and Los Angeles) multiple times, but none of them are getting back to me. I get the sense I'm annoying them and I think they would be more responsive to a Tesla owner. I'm of course expecting to pay for these parts.

I have the question in to my local dealer in NYC.

I know MPT is checking and I've reached out to Zack. Would any other forum members be willing to inquire and purchase these parts on our behalf? I realize it's an odd request and many might feel a bit hinky about parts from their exotic getting to our little cars, but it would be a great show of humanity!

Seriously, I'd obviously pay for the parts and any shipping and hell, I'll throw in $50 for your time. Easy way to make a quick $50

For clarification, I need the parts in plastic, NOT carbon fiber. My car has a custom alcantara interior so it will get wrapped anyway.

Again, I'm looking for the front bezel piece (WITH the vent flap innards - they may be a separate part) and the back part that runs on top of the dash (after the seam). Apparently, the bezel set up is two pieces.




Feel free to email me at jfranzen_at_adobe_dot_com.

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

MidLife said:

... and I've reached out to Zack.

Click to expand...

FYI - Zak Edson left Telsa Motors late last year.