Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register
  • We just completed a significant update, but we still have some fixes and adjustments to make, so please bear with us for the time being. Cheers!

AP2 (HW2) to HW3 (no MCU2 upgrade)

AP2 Owners ONLY -- FSD only or MCU2?

  • FSD Only

    Votes: 21 55.3%
  • MCU2

    Votes: 17 44.7%

  • Total voters
    38
  • Poll closed .

ahkahn

Active Member
Jun 22, 2017
1,081
1,468
Chicagoland
What is eMMC upgrade? Just replacing the eMMC without replacing the MCU1? Is it aftermarket or supported by Tesla? Thanks

Correct. It is aftermarket, but not supported by Tesla. Mostly they won't notice if it's done, however there is some word that they do detect and flag it in their system. I'd imagine if the car is still under warranty, the MCU dies, and you've replaced the eMMC, they would not stand behind it. This is for out-of-warranty cars only.
 

dbldwn02

Member
Oct 6, 2017
334
294
Colorado Springs
"HW3-ish"

Well, I scheduled my 2.0 ---> FSD computer upgrade 3-4 weeks ago. (no MCU upgrade) It was supposed to be this coming Tuesday so I was pretty excited. I just received an e-mail saying "As requested, your Model S service appointment at the Littleton service center has been cancelled."

I thought I waited long enough before making my upgrade request, as it looks like there's many success stories on getting the the upgrade done. I called and they don't know why it got cancelled but I'm waiting on a call back from "parts team"

MS75D AP2 MCU1 (May 2017)

Service just called me saying the parts are in. (Guess it only took 3 hours from the time they cancelled the appointment to getting the parts in). And then the kicker happened..."When do you want to come in? We're scheduling 3 weeks out" LMAO...these guys kill me.
 
  • Funny
Reactions: goRt

ahkahn

Active Member
Jun 22, 2017
1,081
1,468
Chicagoland
OK, so I'm going to cross-post this since this topic is flowing between two different discussions. Here is the other discussion:
AP2 MCU1 FSD Dashcam Videos

eMMC upgrade first impressions:
- MCU is definitely faster and more responsive
- MCU1 is still nowhere near MCU2 speed (as compared to my wife's Model 3)
- Dashcam and Sentry seem to be working slightly better, but still not perfect.
- The Dashcam does seem to slow the MCU down slightly when the USB is plugged in.
- IC (for some reason) seems to be running a tad smoother. Maybe smoother data flow between the two?
- Haven't done much longer range driving, but AP seems to be functioning the same as before

Overall impression: The replacement cost is commensurate with the performance boost. It is a preventative measure that undoes and also prevents the future decay of the MCU. It will basically "rewind the clock" on the MCU to when the car was new, and unscientifically speaking perhaps a tad faster than new. It is not an MCU2 by any means, but it is also not the price of an MCU2.

Situations where I would upgrade the eMMC:
- Running buggy and want to just fix it
- High mileage car
- Looking to sell car soon
- Don't want to invest or have the money to spend on a new MCU

Situations where I would upgrade the MCU:
- Plan to keep the car for a while
- Want the newest features (Netflix, etc)
- Can't stand the speed of the MCU (and couldn't in the beginning of ownership)


*I am still having some minor(?) issues with audio that Tony is working through with me. I'm hopeful that issue will also help speed things up even better.

OK, following up on this post. Tony was able to get the audio issue fixed up and I was able to put the car back together. Now that everything is up and running, and seems like everything is running even better. The more I play with it, the more I am happy with it. I think my first impression was slightly tainted to the negative, but now really playing with it, I'm very happy.

The only issues that still exist are that the voice commands are spotty, albeit not as bad as they were, and the browser is still crap. I've attached a couple of videos, as promised. I think you'll find the MCU1 has some new life in it.



A couple more Dashcam vids:


 

Maximus-MX

Member
Apr 28, 2017
107
134
Greeley, CO
"HW3-ish"

Well, I scheduled my 2.0 ---> FSD computer upgrade 3-4 weeks ago. (no MCU upgrade) It was supposed to be this coming Tuesday so I was pretty excited. I just received an e-mail saying "As requested, your Model S service appointment at the Littleton service center has been cancelled."

I thought I waited long enough before making my upgrade request, as it looks like there's many success stories on getting the the upgrade done. I called and they don't know why it got cancelled but I'm waiting on a call back from "parts team"

MS75D AP2 MCU1 (May 2017)

I got my HW3 only upgrade (no MCU upgrade) in mid June at the new service center in Superior CO (just south east of Boulder). MX75D AP2 MCU1 (April 2017). I just scheduled it though the app and got it done. You may wanna check them out, they don’t seem too busy.
 

whitex

Well-Known Member
Sep 30, 2015
6,379
7,546
Seattle area, WA
I know many people here are unhappy at paying $2500 for an upgrade to MCU2. In my mind, that's just like buying a new laptop at work. Yes, it is unfortunate that I will lose AM/FM radio due to the digital tuner issue, but the fact is that MCU1 is now an old, underpowered computer for the current software load/features and I am willing to make that investment to upgrade my MCU. Some people in this forum seem to think that Tesla will eventually provide a free upgrade to MCU2 (either as part of FSD deployment or because their MCU1 fails under warranty and Tesla will not replace it with another MCU1). I think the odds of that happening are somewhere between nil and 0,
I think the people who expect the free upgrade are the ones who paid for FSD 4 years ago, and expect to get all the FSD features sold back then. If Tesla can deliver all FSD features with MCU1, no problem, but if MCU2 is required, that should be on Tesla to provide. Now the questions of course becomes, is MCU2 required to use all FSD features available today?
 
Last edited:

whitex

Well-Known Member
Sep 30, 2015
6,379
7,546
Seattle area, WA
Why -- the car has never had this problem with power savings on in the past. I agree it's probably a work around, but trying to be environmentally friendly.
If your MCU1 is taking much longer than in the past to startup, chances are your emmc chip is dying. You might want to look into preventative replacement, though with 2017 you might be still under warranty so your dilemma will be "live with slow MCU hoping it dies while still under warranty" or "pay out of pocket to replace the emmc".
 
  • Helpful
Reactions: croman

whitex

Well-Known Member
Sep 30, 2015
6,379
7,546
Seattle area, WA
That shouldn't be a surprise. You are putting additional load on an MCU1 processor which is already overloaded. I still don't understand why people are surprised when the do the HW3 upgrade but remain on MCU1 and are then surprised when the MCU1 is slowed further....
Perhaps because Elon told them the car they were buying has sufficient hardware (or will be upgraded by Tesla for free) for all FSD features for which they paid? Do you think people paying $8K for FSD today assume they'l'l need to pay thousands more in order to get all the functionality?
 

BigTonyTones

Member
Nov 28, 2016
626
518
Los Angeles
Going to give up and pay for the mcu2 upgrade. The system is unbearable after this ap3 upgrade and i suspect the emmc chip is failing. Really frustrating. Tesla wants to charge me $190 to diagnose since I just got out of warranty 8k miles ago, even though the issues started after the ap3 upgrade
 

ahkahn

Active Member
Jun 22, 2017
1,081
1,468
Chicagoland
Going to give up and pay for the mcu2 upgrade. The system is unbearable after this ap3 upgrade and i suspect the emmc chip is failing. Really frustrating. Tesla wants to charge me $190 to diagnose since I just got out of warranty 8k miles ago, even though the issues started after the ap3 upgrade


My experience was exactly the same. The AP3/FSD Computer upgrade really did mine in. My eMMC wasn't even that far gone - only about 40% (1132 cycles) done. I suspect there must be much more disk access with the FSD Computer once it's been installed (maps?) The good news is that now that I've upgraded my eMMC, the MCU is running much smoother and faster. It's worth it.
 

CaliMS

Member
Oct 8, 2017
139
97
CA
I had my AP3 installed and kept MCU1 (for now).

No issues. 3 hours at the shop, no loss of wifi, BT, settings of any kind. Calibration was done in just a few miles and stoplights/signs worked after that. I'm on 2020.20.17 and while in the shop it re-loaded 2020.20.17

My question is: I saw people talk about map updates required after the install of HW3. It's been a week and no SW or Map updates have occurred. Should I maybe assume the re-loading of 2020.20.17 took care of it? Nothing to see here?
 

dbldwn02

Member
Oct 6, 2017
334
294
Colorado Springs
I got my HW3 only upgrade (no MCU upgrade) in mid June at the new service center in Superior CO (just south east of Boulder). MX75D AP2 MCU1 (April 2017). I just scheduled it though the app and got it done. You may wanna check them out, they don’t seem too busy.

Thanks for the suggestion but I already think driving to Littleton is too far. I-25 is a nightmare.

They got back with me yesterday and said the parts are in now...One day before my original appointment that they cancelled. So now I'm scheduled to go back up tomorrow since they gave away my original appointment. I'm hoping to hang out in the local area so I don't have to make the drive, twice. We'll see.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Maximus-MX

CaliMS

Member
Oct 8, 2017
139
97
CA
No, it is tied to hw3 and having the fsd option. If you have both, you need the maps for traffic control feature.

Thank you - since I already have traffic control (assuming that means recognition/stop at signs/lights) I assume I got the maps update.
 

dbldwn02

Member
Oct 6, 2017
334
294
Colorado Springs
They finished my upgrade after hours today. Here's my invoice. Interested if it makes a difference that they stated it was a AP2.5 to 3.0 upgrade even though I clearly own an AP2.0 car. I guess I'll find out if it works tomorrow.
image.png
 

c0smicdirt

Member
Apr 5, 2020
50
40
New Jersey
They finished my upgrade after hours today. Here's my invoice. Interested if it makes a difference that they stated it was a AP2.5 to 3.0 upgrade even though I clearly own an AP2.0 car. I guess I'll find out if it works tomorrow.
image.png
No. My invoice said the same. They just used the parts from the 2.5 kit.
 
My 2017 S has slow boot ups and screen freeze ups since I bought it in February this year.

I had an appointment at Dedham for HW3 upgrade. It was at 7:30am on 27 July and I decided to wait for it to be done (they said 4 hours). 30min later - they told me that the part had not arrived yet and that they will check and call me back once they have figured it out. I am still waiting for them to contact me back.

I am not sure what had happened:
MCU INTEL HW3 UPGRADE-For TegraAP2.0 - NORTH AMERICA
Part #: 987****-00-A
Ship Date: July 24, 2020
Scheduled Delivery: July 26, 2020
 

About Us

Formed in 2006, Tesla Motors Club (TMC) was the first independent online Tesla community. Today it remains the largest and most dynamic community of Tesla enthusiasts. Learn more.

Do you value your experience at TMC? Consider becoming a Supporting Member of Tesla Motors Club. As a thank you for your contribution, you'll get nearly no ads in the Community and Groups sections. Additional perks are available depending on the level of contribution. Please visit the Account Upgrades page for more details.


SUPPORT TMC
Top