[a4anurag]

Congratulations on a MOD that is a must on every car sold currently that performs its job silently and helps the owner/driver prior to any pressure related problems arising (eg: notifying a slow puncture etc). I am happy you went with the 'internal sensor' type rather than the external one.

I've been using the same kit since 2 years and 3 months now, absolutely in love with it and for what it offers at this price point. No hiccups whatsoever and works flawlessly, even the Android Auto integration is good except for the choices of colours used.

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Sensairy Internal TPMS.

The Kit

Looks like you have the new sensor version which I presume is V2.0 than what I am using currently. Have you got any information as to what has changed from V1.0?

Here is what my car has:

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Congratulations on a MOD that is a must on every car sold currently that performs its job silently and helps the owner/driver prior to any pressure related problems arising (eg: notifying a slow puncture etc). I am happy you went with the 'internal sensor' type rather than the external one.
I've been using the same kit since 2 years and 3 months now, absolutely in love with it and for what it offers at this price point. No hiccups whatsoever and works flawlessly, even the Android Auto integration is good except for the choices of colours used.
Looks like you have the new sensor version which I presume is V2.0 than what I am using currently. Have you got any information as to what has changed from V1.0?

Trust me mate - almost every mod I go for - is done in your car some time in past. So also trust me - I have already seen your post about it on your exceptional threads . The first thing I asked the store was how come the sensors & valves look different than your pictures. He said these are new models. But nothing else about any difference functionally. To the naked eye - it just seems the new ones are cheaper to make.
I had even checked your posts about the AndroidAuto compatible apk.

Indeed - a slow puncture in a long drive is the one vital moment where TPMS will be a big differentiator. Precisely.

[envyravi]

[[*]Ansio cabin air purifier.

What is your feed back on the effectiveness of Ansio air purifier? I am on look out for one and Ansio is one of the option.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by envyravi

[[*]Ansio cabin air purifier.
What is your feed back on the effectiveness of Ansio air purifier? I am on look out for one and Ansio is one of the option.

I find it quite effective. I have seen plenty dust gathered inside the filter and in the vents - so it sure is sucking air powerfully enough. The car is quite dust free in driving anywhere - including very dusty unpaved areas. For the price paid - its really good as per my experience. Certainly nothing to complain about.

(P.S. - I drive 90% with AC ON. But still - I can certainly say that with the purifier, the cabin air is noticeably cleaner.)

[Reinhard]

Reluctantly took IronHide for the 3rd scheduled service over the weekend. Took it to my usual place - Bafna Motors, Narhe road & handed over to my trusted SA since years Mr. Shekhar Deshpande.
The car is virtually stationary since March 2020. ODO stagnant at around 8060 kms.

1. Since I had recently added the TPMS & got wheel alignment, balancing & rotation done with it (complementary) - asked for it to be kept out from the list which the SA did without any reluctance.
2. Oil & oil filter was changed as per the standard 1 year service routine. Castrol Magnatec 5W30 Fully synthetic oil is used.
3. AC condenser cleaning.
4. AC duct disinfectant spray (Wuerth) - asked for it since the car is sitting idle too often and humidity is on the rise.
5. Wuerth Service Pro Plus (around 350 Rs. where they clean all joints, hinges and routine wear parts & spray lube-anti-rust solutions on it.
6. Air filter cleaning.
7. Routine 3rd service checks.
8. Cabin cavity sanitization (like all car brands are doing at service visits).
9. I asked for the wash-wax-polish treatment that generally costs around 650 Rs & is impressive. But the SA gave a very logical advise. its starting to rain regularly now & the car isn't going to be used at least for a couple of months more thanks to Covid surge in Pune. Why spend right now? Just get the complementary wash-clean & do the enrichment treatment 6 months later in the next inspection service instead. It was so logical that I got convinced instantly. I was ready to spend & the ASC actually advised against. What more can a customer ask for?
10. The car was ready at the time as promised & very clean, shiny.

Overall service bill setback including taxes was 4061.00. Aligned with my expectations. So all well. Add to it the 300 Rs. of to-and-fro UBER trips (150 Rs each) for drop and pick up of the car to ASC. I had a lot of baths on Saturday.

The car will turn 1 in August 1st week. So gifted a couple of items for him. 7D mats (including grass patch for rear center occupant) & a pair of "LIMITED" emblems for each front door.


Just back from service.









The LIMITED emblem on LHS. Similar one on RHS as well. Fairly cheesy I know. But given the contraptions & mods done in the car, I guess at least not unjustified.





I forgot to click snaps of the 7D mats/carpets. Won't be touching the car for another couple of days as its "quarantined" post return from service. Will post pictures after a couple of days.

Since its getting close to 1 year - the OD insurance policy also was due. Got options from NIA, Chola, Royal Sundaram & Tata AIG. NIA was the cheapest at around 12229 & Royal Sundaram the costliest touching 15k. NIA had no add-ons other than 0 DEP (which I think is good enough). But then decided to continue with the TATA AIG insurance that I already have since the liability policy from the AIG bundle would run for another 2 years. Felt it was convenient to keep single vendor bundle for this duration. Overall premium with add-ons = 13500. Which I think is OK. Add-ons include key replacement, emergency hotel / transport, personal belonging loss & 0 dep. Got the renewal done through Tata Motors Insurance brokers services via Rudra Motors authorized dealership.

[Reinhard]

RATS!

They also visited the car for birthday wishes and gift exchange just after the service. I went downstairs on the 1st birthday to go out for quick celebration spin & saw that the LHS front indicator didn't blink on unlock. Opened the bonnet fearing the worst & I was fearing correct.

What I suspect is - the car got washed thoroughly during the service. It washed away some of the rat repellent spray from the edges of the engine bay & wiring & allowed the rats to feast. Also - the last I had sprayed was now 4 months ago & I am guilty of not immediately re-spraying it after coming back from the servicing.












The Rats chewed away -

1. The complete wiring set on the LHS headlamp harness
2. All the 4 wires on EACH low beam bulb - the OSRAM 35W HID that I had retrofitted myself & was enjoying to the core.
3. The slightly longer & completely shielded wire of the rear fog-light that I had retrofitted myself & hooked up into the front fog lights.
4. The ground wire of my HID projector fog light on RHS.

All I could do was, to call up my ASC, SA, explain the situation & exchange the photos of the mishap over whatsapp. They quickly arranged for an appointment the next morning. I verified that the damage was only on these wires, no other connections / hoses were touched & found the car to be drive-able. Removed the low beam headlamp HID setup & reinstalled the stock 55W halogen bulbs. Tip-toed to the ASC restricting to a slow drive in the left most lane (for the lack of left turn indicators!) & reached there at 9 AM. Curiously, a friend & fellow TNT Member's car also had IDENTICAL wire cuts just a day earlier & he was also at the workshop with same damage!




The logical & standard repair for this is to replace the complete harness, which I wasn't willing to do (even though it was fully covered under insurance). The wires from stock harness were chewed at the END of the connection - where they were exposed without a shield. Other than that, the wiring is fine, so I discussed with my SA & he kindly agreed to find a replacement headlamp coupler with longer wires from a totaled donor Nexon in scrap.

After that I worked together with a friendly mechanic Arif to test all of the 10 wires 1 by one to match the correct pairs (the coupler from the donor car was from RHS and the wiring colour and pins are slightly different than LHS). Properly made the joints, taped with insulation tape, put it inside a proper conduit, into the stock harness cover & sealed over it properly. While at this - I got a wire extended from within the harness to get a free high-beam connection to connect with the HID fog light projector solenoids also. Makes things far cleaner now! Main work was done & I went home. There was plenty of my own work to be done afterwards. Red circle shows the redone connections using donor coupler & pigtail. Blue oval shows the extension I pulled from the joint for high-beam solenoid wiring of the fog light projectors.





Came back home, removed the damaged part of the rear fog light wire. Luckily - the rat had bitten only the excess part of the wire & even after cutting it away - I had good length left to redo the connection for +12V and ground! Lucky strike.

Connected the high-beam solenoid wire with the high beam wire extended from head lamp. Connected the RHS fog light's ground wire to a different nearby body bolt. Evidently - the rats had assaulted the only exposed bit of the stock wiring. Just before the coupler. So I have now completely covered it on both sides & made it as permanent as possible. Sealed the dust caps of the headlamps with silicone sealant & closed them. Back to stock 55W halogens now.

I have also ordered split wiring looms/conduits to cover all my custom exposed wiring. It will get delivered in another couple of days. I'll cover up all the other wires in the engine bay properly to ensure no more bites are invited. The spray will do till then.









Red circle shows the connection done with the high-beam solenoid using a modular spade connector. Cleaner for future maintenance. The red wire on left in blue oval is the fortunately spared +12v input wire of the rear fog-light. All of these wires you see here will get completely covered in conduits in next few days.








Resprayed every square inch of the engine bay thoroughly with the rat repellent spray. Checked next day - & there were rat droppings in the engine bay. So some rat/rats had a heart on the car. Thanks to the spray - not a single item was bit. This thing really works well. Ordered the VARNA SURAKSHA rat repellent together with reflective sheets & it was delivered in 2 days. Installed it myself. Now let's see! Its hooked up directly to the +/- terminals of the battery and is in an "always ON" setup. Rated power is just 60 mW. Should be easily replenished with routine spins. And I can recharge the battery at home if needed, rather than having wires chomped away. Have also placed Mortein Rat Kill cakes near the car for last 2 days. They are being duly eaten. Hopefully the consumption will stop in another few days - indicating effectiveness!

Some More Mods as well!

Meanwhile - Also rooted my phone, worked with AndroidAuto Phenotype Patcher & forcefully entered Sensairy TPMS app, CarStream app into Android auto by updating the system files. Now I can see TPMS read-outs on the head unit screen. And the car can run YouTube/any other videos on the screen! With all done - took the car out for a spin & all works fine.











Here is a sample video taken with YouTube streaming on the ICE screen via Android Auto. The car was on Pune roads with either pot-holes OR speed breakers & it was shot from the passenger side without anticipating car movements while I was driving. So please excuse the moving frame. A YouTube video is playing with story for kids! It was a random selection for quick test so don't judge our entertainment choices on this!

YouTube On Android Auto in Nexon

[Reinhard]

Did a couple of low cost / good utility additions in the car over last couple of weeks. The Nexon's cabin light is a single LED unit at the front. (I suspect this has been placed at the front keeping in mind the future sun-roof installations in the roof). This means - in the dark, the rear of the cabin gets very little light from the cabin light. Not much of use especially if someone is looking for something dropped!

1. Found a simple push-button LED cabin light that resolves this very well.
2. Has Li-Ion battery & very high illumination. Its very light weight too. Can be used as a very good flash-light/torch outside the car too if required.
3. Ideally its supposed to be mounted on the roof using the provided magnet + metal plate + 3M tape solution. However, that would mean the light needs to be removed for charging via USB socket. Given my memory (lack thereof) - it would mean the battery is discharged when its really needed. There is no doubt that I'd forget to charge it once in a while .
4. So - I installed it sideways on the C pillar instead. Pasted the supplied metal plate + 3M tape on the pillar & placed the light on it. The magnet at the back of the light keeps it in place.
5. Got a 12V + 2x USB socket multiplexer & put it in the rear 12V socket of the Nexon.
6. Now the same socket supplies power to my cabin air purifier (placed on the parcel tray) as well as charges the light whenever battery loses charge. The light has controlled charging & stops charging once fully charged. So No risk of over-charging due to permanent connection.
7. The light is not linked to door sensor etc. It has to be switched on manually. But its not a big deal - the placement is simple to reach. The central transparent area itself is the push button. So large enough to easily operate without looking.
8. The remaining USB port can be used by rear passenger for mobile charging. I'm going to use it to actually route a concealed USB wire to the front passenger seat's head-rest. I plan to put a tablet holder there to make a simple entertainment system for my son in the back . Looking for a good tablet holder patiently.

Here are a few pictures -

Size Reference -




Really bright -




Installed in the car -




The 12V socket mux -




Has a red indicator when charging. The LED turns off when battery fully charged. Perfect!




Illumination result. This picture is taken at 12PM on a bright sunny day.







These items are available on Amazon.in & also on AliExpress.com. As usual, the same item retails at 3 or 4x price on Amazon.com compared to AliExpress.com. After some thought, I sourced from AliExpress.
Here are the links of the items should anyone need them -

1. Car Cabin / Portable LED light - Link - AliExpress.com Product Listing
2. 12V + 2x USB multiplexer for Car - Link - AliExpress.com Product Listing

Other mods done on IronHide meanwhile -

• Converted the power window buttons to illuminated ones on all 4 doors. Wonderful result. Have put a thread for that in the DIY sub-forum should anyone want to have a look.
• Also completed hard-wiring IronHide's dashcam last week. Same way as I did for the AltoK10. I have put a thread for that in the DIY sub-forum already, so not documenting the steps specific to Nexon. Same process.

Thinking about implementing another little useful mod shortly. Will post it once done!

[Reinhard]

Did a quick 1 day trip to Mumbai over the weekend to get the steering leather wrapped finally. I wanted to get it "completely done" - including the spokes. Nobody in Pune had the confidence to do it. In fact Carax Baner honestly told that there are no good guys who can do it in Pune & they ship the steering to Bengaluru to get it done!

I already have contacts from Bengaluru who do it quite well without removing the steering but didn't see a point in traveling to BLR for that. Certainly not during the pandemic! Thanks to fellow BHPian @gautamkhadse's pointer, reached out to Orchis Car interior, Vikhroli, Mumbai & got it done there. A summary -

• I had in fact setup an appointment with the owner Mr. Shinde back in February. Sadly the pandemic & lockdown kicked in exactly on that weekend & it all went for a toss. Finally businesses are opening up now & things are starting to roll again. So got an appointment for 3rd October & visited. Reached around 1 PM.
• They did remove the complete steering (carefully disconnecting the battery, airbag wiring etc).
• They suggested going for nappa leather & assured of its quality & life.
• I liked the team overall since months now after our interactions & went ahead with their recommendation. I'm no expert in leather work anyway!
• I wanted thicker grip as per my liking & this did achieve it.
• The finish is good. The material is also good to hold. Fine perforation like pattern is ensuring 0 sweating. My key concern while driving has been resolved!
• The touch feel & grip is almost identical (if not fully!) to the one offered by the Tiago JTP wrap or the recent Altroz/Nexon 2020 top trim wrap. So I'm happy.
• I opted for a very subtle tint of blue for the stitching thread. Nothing flashy and instantly eye-catching. Only I know its there!
• It took 2 hours to complete the wrap + 30 minutes together for removal & reinstallation of the steering. They ensured correct steering alignment also. Setup markers in position after removing it at start.
• Total expense was 2500 + fuel + tolls for Mumbai travel. But the heart wants what the heart wants. I have been searching for 1 year in Pune and didn't get a reliable place recommendation from anywhere who could cover the spokes properly.

The place where I got it done from - Orchis Car Interiors
(Contact number etc is on the home-page on top.)



And with this - all the mods I had in mind while booking the car have been completed . A long 1 year procedure to tick all the boxes.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Did a quick 1 day trip to Mumbai over the weekend to get the steering leather wrapped finally. I wanted to get it "completely done" - including the spokes. Nobody in Pune had the confidence to do it. In fact Carax Baner honestly told that there are no good guys who can do it in Pune & they ship the steering to Bengaluru to get it done!

The leather wrapping has been done nicely and it is nice to se all the mods you've done on your car.

Like you, I wanted to get the same thing done on my Figo's steering wheel 3-4 years ago. I was told none of the local car accessories does it in Mangalore but one of them offered that he could get it done in Bangalore and that the steering wheel would have to be removed and sent to Bangalore and he quoted an insane amount of price for it at that time. I instead for a normal steering wheel cover stitched around the periphery of the steering wheel.

Nowadays local car accessory shops in Mangalore do it within half a day and offer a different types of leather for wrapping the wheel and the quality of the work done is decent. For e.g this is an example of the actual work done by Car Decor, Mangalore on a Baleno.


They even says that in 3-4 years down the line, if I want to get the leather wrap re-done, they can remove the leather and stitch a fresh one (something that may not possible on factory fitted leather wrapped steering wheels).

[Benoit]

Wonderful post, with equally wonderful mods. Your Nexon is definitely a limited edition. I am waiting for my Altroz XZ D delivery. I initially wanted to buy Nexon XZ+ D, but settled on Altroz due to budget constraints.

Your mods make me want to do it too. Anyway, I will maintain a list. When i feel the need, i will do it.

One thing i am undecided about, is the 3D boot mat available with the dealer. I see that you have bought it. How is it functionally better than a regular flat mat? I am confused on buying it from the dealer or at an accessories store. (All my other accessories are from the dealer).

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by Benoit

Wonderful post, with equally wonderful mods. Your Nexon is definitely a limited edition. I am waiting for my Altroz XZ D delivery. I initially wanted to buy Nexon XZ+ D, but settled on Altroz due to budget constraints.

Thanks Benoit. And congratulations in advance for your new acquisition. Wishing you unlimited safe & enjoyable miles with the Altroz.

Trust me - if I was shopping in 2020, I'd pick the Altroz over the Nexon any day. I just love it. The cabin is a lot more practical & premium to be in. I just love the driving position & dynamics of the Altroz. (In fact in the past - I have voted for Altroz Petrol over Nexon petrol elsewhere on the forum).

Originally Posted by Benoit

Your mods make me want to do it too. Anyway, I will maintain a list. When i feel the need, i will do it.

Sure. Do post a thread about those you do. Many Altroz owners will be happy!

Originally Posted by Benoit

One thing i am undecided about, is the 3D boot mat available with the dealer. I see that you have bought it. How is it functionally better than a regular flat mat? I am confused on buying it from the dealer or at an accessories store. (All my other accessories are from the dealer).

If you get the 3d boot mat from the showroom - please get it. These are pretty rare items. Since I got mine, a lot of fellow Nexon owners have tried to acquire one & haven't found it even at dealerships. It is a really good quality one & certainly worth the price. Fully covers the boot area and has upward border all round. Keeps things in place & also protects the carpet in case of any liquid spill from luggage. Very easy to clean as well. I'd certainly recommend picking it from the dealership rather than outside at the accessory store.

[ashvek3141]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

And with this - all the mods I had in mind while booking the car have been completed . A long 1 year procedure to tick all the boxes.

That’s some neat wrap work there.
I too wanted to get this done in my Creta some 3 years back, but sadly being in Goa it is simply impossible to get such kinda work here.

But what surprised me is that such kinda wraps & leather seats work aren’t done in Pune. Infact I was actually planning to get it done in Pune during my next trip to Shirdi (whenever that happens). I mean a single day halt there could easily help me get this job done. But this one’s a bummer now.

So Mumbai / Bangalore are the only nearest places from where I can get this done?

Also, I have seen numerous videos from the car accessory guys from Mumbai & even Delhi doing these fantastic leather jobs, but nothing from Pune. That actually gave me a hint sort of. But guess now it’s pretty much confirmed from your post.

[sriks]

An amazing thread. Your Nexon is the Gold Class of Nexon with all its amazing modifications.

My Nexon is also coming up on its 1st Birthday. Still itching to perform modifications but worried about warranty. Very bad at making friends with SAs and just moved my car servicing to a new authorized center since the dealer i bought the car from seems to disappoint me regularly.

Love the Android Auto changes after rooting. Does rooting effect your google play payments? (offtopic i know). Whats the anti rat spray that you use?

Going to watch this thread like a hawk, when i do bite the bullet this is going to be my wiki for Nexon

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

So Mumbai / Bangalore are the only nearest places from where I can get this done?

Yes, unfortunately that is true.

Originally Posted by sriks

An amazing thread. Your Nexon is the Gold Class of Nexon with all its amazing modifications.

Thanks. Thats flattering! If all these mods continue to work without problems for 3-4 years - I can certainly say that my car is a sample of what the car could/should be instead of what the company actually sells in reality.

And in fact I will be able to claim the warranty on this car anywhere in India. Not a single mod actually troubles the warranty. Not a single wire cut, not a single wire splice/scotch tap in the car. Each mod can be fully reversed to stock condition. I have gone through extra pain to ensure this. (Finding the horn coupler, the bluetooth relay module for fog lights etc for example). Eventually the wire cut was done by rats. And this indeed is where a long standing relationship with the ASC/SA came to rescue (as mentioned above).

Originally Posted by sriks

Love the Android Auto changes after rooting. Does rooting effect your google play payments? (offtopic i know).

No - it hasn't made any difference for me. Ensure you root it properly & use the right "hide" tools to avoid any malfunction on corporate apps like office email, payTM, digiLocker etc. These apps don't work on rooted devices but the work around is rather easy. The simplest way is MagiSK Hide feature.

Originally Posted by sriks

Whats the anti rat spray that you use?

I use Nichem NO ENTRY. Till recently the nozzle spray was so horrible that I used to exercise my palm muscles in a gym for 1 week before spraying it. Now they have come out with a new one with better nozzle.

Link - Amazon.in Product listing
The original one with old nozzle is also available on sale. And I can completely vouch for its value. It really guarantees that rats don't bite any covered surface. Remember - it protects from rat-bites. Rats may still enter the engine bay & leave their "waste" in places. But they won't stay in there for long nor will they bite any wiring that is sprayed on.

Originally Posted by sriks

Going to watch this thread like a hawk, when i do bite the bullet this is going to be my wiki for Nexon

Okay. Just last week I was convincing myself that going forward this thread will be updated only for routine upkeep & running updates rather than mods. Any more mods would probably need me to answer affirmative on those personal-loan telemarketing calls. Nevertheless - happy to know you find this thread useful. Makes the effort worthwhile & enjoyable.

The only mod that I have contemplated for some time was adding an under-seat sub-woofer. (My previous car as well as the Alto I currently have - have a large JBL subwoofer.) However - the hassle of wiring & the cost of the box just isn't justifiable given how good the stock ICE sound quality already is. So mostly this mod won't ever take off.

In order to include all the mods within this thread, providing a cross-reference to the DIY threads here for 2 recent mods -

• (DIY - Illuminated power window switches in the Nexon & other Tata cars)DIY - Illuminated Power Window Switches
  
• (DIY: Auto-Closing Power Windows in my Tata Nexon)DIY - Auto closing Power Windows in Nexon

[Reinhard]

A couple of small updates -

1. Changed the puny high beam halogens in reflectors to LED. Found 4300K LEDs finally on AliExpress that were being shipped to India (from Malaysia, not China).
   • Funnily, the stock halogen was Osram on one side and Philips on the other. Talk of equal opportunity!
   • The LED is excellent. Brilliant throw & output. Instant illumination makes a big difference in the way misbehaved oncoming traffic reacts. The previous bulbs had no respect on the road. 1 flash of the high beam with LED - you see a reaction from the errant oncoming driver.
   • It is a snug fit in the stock headlamp housing. The back of the fan casing infact touches the dust-cap. However - I use high-beams only for pass-flash/warning to oncoming drivers. Never flick the lamps into headlamp position while driving even on highways. So I'm not bothered about the cooling at all.
   • Link - AliExpress Product Listing
   • Technically a 4300K LED would give slightly lower lumens. Its a tint added on top of a white chip afterall. However - whatever light I'm getting - is excellent. Its way higher than those stock H7 halogens beyond any doubt. I'm willing to claim its double.
2. Since the Osram HID kit was destroyed by rats - I have been using halogen H7 in the low beam projector. Its terrible as always & I just couldn't accept this setup. Contacted Blaze India & ordered a 55W H7 HID conversion kit with 4300K. Will do the PnP installation for it when time permits. Coincidently, this kit came with the identical ballasts that I'm happy with in the projector fog lights also. 4 identical ballasts will reside in the engine bay now.