Wiki FAQ: MCU2 Upgrades

[John G]

Upgrade from mcu1 to mcu2 and ap3.

So before I get my invite to upgrade, I have been trying to get answers for 2 questions from the SC.

1. Can I upgrade to a Continental Radar to get the extra 10 mtrs of vision for safety reasons? Better for fog, rain etc.

2. Can I upgrade the side cameras to color? I understand that they currently have some ability for limited color, but why not take this extra step. If we are upgrading to AP3 I see no reason to half step.

How much extra money for items 1&2?

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Upgrade from mcu1 to mcu2 and ap3.

So before I get my invite to upgrade, I have been trying to get answers for 2 questions from the SC.

1. Can I upgrade to a Continental Radar to get the extra 10 mtrs of vision for safety reasons? Better for fog, rain etc.

2. Can I upgrade the side cameras to color? I understand that they currently have some ability for limited color, but why not take this extra step. If we are upgrading to AP3 I see no reason to half step.

How much extra money for items 1&2?

Nobody has those answers yet. There have been very few AP2 to AP3 upgrades so far and most of those weren't done by Tesla. We'll know more in the next week or two.

 

[John G]

Maybe the redundant steering should be done too.
I mean, the Fm radio is being deleated after all.
I am happy that they will be giving my prisrene mcu1 to a AP 1 car under warranty. Now I'm joking.

The old man smiled as he rolled gently across the hood of my car as it doesn't see as well as it should. (Potential insurance statement)
Ok sorry, it's out of my system now.

 

[Fastdad75]

Is there an age limit for Mcu2 I was told today it wasn't available for my 2013 85 model 's the price is better but would prefer the Mcu2

 

[brkaus]

Is there an age limit for Mcu2 I was told today it wasn't available for my 2013 85 model 's the price is better but would prefer the Mcu2

Infotainment Upgrade

"Coming soon" for older cars.

 

[Warbird]

I just upgraded to MCU2 / HW3.0, from MCU1 / AP2.5.
It is very worth it in my opinion, here are my notes.

MCU2 ($2,500)

Entertainment (Car came with unlimited streaming)
- Netflix - Game changer, car is a drive in movie theater with a kick ass sound system (the perfect COVID19 getaway car).
- YouTube - First thing any kid wants to do is show you a video, now they can.
- Browser - Very usable now

Utility
- Menu Speed - A bit faster, much smoother.
- 4 camera Sentry recording - Critical rear view included now.
- Cam viewer - Greatly simplifies reviewing videos in car, used to be a science project.
- USB Music loading - This is huge. I have 10,000 songs (most of my FLAC music collection). It used to take 20 minutes to "load" 2 USB sticks after insertion, now it takes 30 seconds. 10K songs was an MCU1 limit of sorts, can't wait to see if it can handle more.

Maps - Big speed improvement here, map used to literally freeze right when you needed to pan and zoom your destination.
- Pan and zoom not only works but flies!
- Layer changes (Geo, Traffic, Superchargers) paint fast.
- Route calculation speed is 10 times faster.

HW3.0 (board was free, had previously paid for FSD)

- Was part of Early Access, to be able to continue to be part of this AutoPilot evolution is a dream
- To contribute to AP development (each driver intervention helps train the neural net) is priceless.
- FSD visualizations - Seeing what the car sees, is mesmerizing to this engineer.
- Stop signs / Stop lights - From AP to Summon to navigating intersections, what will be next?!
- FSD is only for Beta testers, those who like to tinker (new features make the car drive like a drunken teenager).
- Regular AP is all one needs/uses for commuting.

 

[Restrected]

I read the entire thread and let me put a few things to rest:

1. the reason you lose radio when upgrading to mcu2 is the harness. NOT just the module. The digital tuner has a different plug that its shorter (plugs in the top of the module instead of the bottom of the module for mcu1 tuners) the part numbers on first post are correct, but depends on wether you have premium sound or not to chose the correct tuner. Replacing harness requires removing the dashboard carrier. Very very pain in the .... i should know. I have done 8 upgrades in full, including from base to premium sound.
2. Mcu1 emmc issue. If you repair at tesla you get refurbished tegra board ONLY! No new screen. The refurbished tegra board has the same issue as your old board. The other option is emmc chip upgrade by third party. Pm me for this. You make mcu1 run as smooth as mcu2! Also, will not fail on you anytime soon like teslas would.
3. Upgrade to mcu2 is possible for all cars. Any tesla. I have been doing them for a while. Please keep in mind they DO NOT replace the 17” lcd when upgrading the mcu. If you have yellow bands you will still have them after the upgrade.
4. Ap3 is NOT self contained. Well, technically it is, but as someone pointed out, without visualations its kind of a mute point for now. How can you confirm right turn on local street? I upgraded my mcu1 to ap3 a while ago. 4 months i think. I posted my finding in another thread. Very glitchy. Not worth it by any standard. It was slightly smoother than ap2.5 but thats it.
5. Please keep in mind the following. Fsd will not be available for another 20 years. Not only because tesla and other car manufacturers are using wrong tech to try and achieve it, but because legislation will take over a decade to approve it. If you intend to keep this car until then, well. Good luck. Otherwise just stick to advanced autopilot since it is pretty much most of what this gen tesla will ever be good at. Yes red lights and stop signs is fine, but i have gotten 2 tickets from not holding my wheel on a turn. Just because the cops want to be pricks. Regardless, i have fsd on all 4 teslas and its nice. If you can afford it its a nice feature. But plz dont ever think its fsd. Its a feature. I have a loaded 2020 3 series bmw and it does same if not better on highway then tesla. (Had to make config changes to enable this feature but its much easier than working with teslas).
6. Please do not forget there is a ton of unsupported teslas on the road. That means cars that dont get updates, sometimes they dont have app access, they get refused repair at tesla, no supercharger even if you want to pay for it, etc. tesla has been turning off support for any car that was ever in an accident. They will NOT honor ap3 upgrade because you prepurchased fsd just because you got in an accident. I know of 3 casses. One of my cars being one.

bottom line. If tesla was build by Mercedes, it would be the perfect car. Build quality, fit and finish, is lower than honda accord lx (a 27k car). Owner support is worse than hyndai. Service centers are very badly trained (thats an excec decision. They want to keep as much advanced repairs and modifications to the engineers only. I have been training techs every time i go to a sc, they dont know even basics). How many of you took the car to service for something and came back with parts installed wrong? Plastics inside not lining up anymore? Etc ect. As a company tesla is NOT good. Rips off their clients and offers very low quality everything. But the design is good and the tech they use is ahead by 2 years so we buy it.

Please do not pay tesla any more money than absolutely necessary.

 

[MP3Mike]

2. Mcu1 emmc issue. If you repair at tesla you get refurbished tegra board ONLY! No new screen. The refurbished tegra board has the same issue as your old board. The other option is emmc chip upgrade by third party. Pm me for this. You make mcu1 run as smooth as mcu2! Also, will not fail on you anytime soon like teslas would.

No, they actually replace the entire MCU, normally with a refurbished one. (Unless something has changed recently.)

3. Upgrade to mcu2 is possible for all cars. Any tesla. I have been doing them for a while. Please keep in mind they DO NOT replace the 17” lcd when upgrading the mcu. If you have yellow bands you will still have them after the upgrade.

Actually they normally do replace the screen with the $2,500 infotainment upgrade. They have just recently started transferring the screen, but when they do that they give a 10%, $250, discount on the upgrade. (Rumor is that this is because there is currently a shortage of screens.)

 

[Mwy23]

Was just quoted by the SC for MCU2 upgrade for $2250 however the original screen on the MCU1 is kept. Not sure if others have had this same proposal before; I rejected due to yellow ring on my current screen. Was told they will order the full replacement but unknown when that will come in as supply is constrained.

 

[Warbird]

5. Please keep in mind the following. Fsd will not be available for another 20 years.

Totally agree, As an engineer, AI enthusiast, and student (and huge fan) of Lex Fridman's AV lectures at MIT.
Its one thing to guess drive-able paths from vision. Works most of the time on well designed freeways. It is another thing to decide how to navigate a city street. We subconsciously slow down 7mph when we hear kids running on the sidewalk. We are decades away from that kind of AI capability.

 

[tkizzy]

The rate with which it’s beginning to iteratively improve, much close than that.

 

[Hank42]

Is there an age limit for Mcu2 I was told today it wasn't available for my 2013 85 model 's the price is better but would prefer the Mcu2

FWIW - I have a 2012 and just got MCU2 due to failed MCU1. If you have an older car and don't have AP, upgrade doesn't get you much more than a few games and Netflix. Worth the full price? You be the judge.

 

[scottf200]

FWIW - I have a 2012 and just got MCU2 due to failed MCU1. If you have an older car and don't have AP, upgrade doesn't get you much more than a few games and Netflix. Worth the full price? You be the judge.

doesn't get you much --- many put a lot of value in a 10+ times faster interface including the map and route planning. Plus a working browser. I went from a MCU1 to MCU2 a couple months back and it is huge.

 

[Ostrichsak]

doesn't get you much --- many put a lot of value in a 10+ times faster interface including the map and route planning. Plus a working browser. I went from a MCU1 to MCU2 a couple months back and it is huge.

Let me see if I can put the ROI of $2500 to upgrade the MCU into perspective a different way; I would put more value in it if it were a stand alone PC or laptop that I used every day for work and would see increased productivity that would yield more money than my initial investment in the hardware over the long run. Even then I wouldn't pay $2,500 which also assumes I can get something for my old PC as a used item.

You're talking about throwing more money into a depreciating asset just to upgrade one of the components (albeit one of the more important) that you use the screen to interact maybe 15% of the time you use the device which makes up about 10% of your waking day for most.

I can see where many (myself included) never have seen the MCU2 as all that much of an upgrade over the MCU1. The previous conversation among those looking for a used Model S was you HAD to buy a new enough car to get MCU2 which was an even bigger waste of money IMO. Now it's a little bit more reasonable but still feels about 2x higher than it should be.

 

[scottf200]

Let me see if I can put the ROI of $2500 to upgrade the MCU into perspective a different way; I would put more value in it if it were a stand alone PC or laptop that I used every day for work and would see increased productivity that would yield more money than my initial investment in the hardware over the long run. Even then I wouldn't pay $2,500 which also assumes I can get something for my old PC as a used item.

You're talking about throwing more money into a depreciating asset just to upgrade one of the components (albeit one of the more important) that you use the screen to interact maybe 15% of the time you use the device which makes up about 10% of your waking day for most.

I see some of your points, however, I paid 'service loaner' 100K+ for my 2017 X 100D and I love driving it including many roadtrips. So upgrading to the MCU2 vs eventually dealing with the eMMC problem on the MCU1 seemed like an outstanding option for several reasons ($/time/feel of the 'newness'). I use the interface a fair amount and love the speed difference and the functionality. I really dislike ('hate') slow interfaces and especially if I'm driving down the road (in AP or not) the less time I spend watching/waiting on the interface the better (ie. tad/tiny bit safer).

 

[dailo]

Anyone know how I can force sleep the MCU? After upgrading my MCU the vampire drain is way worse and I noticed the MCU is always connected to my Wifi now. Unlike my Model 3, which isn’t connected when the car is sleeping. I’ve tried powering off the car through the menu and disabling overheat protection but that doesn’t seem to help either. Not sure what would be causing the car to stay awake, don’t use any third party apps. I thought maybe the MCU is always connected to Wifi but when I open the app the car loads up immediately, never has to wake it up.

 

[KalJoMoS]

There is a safety&security menu where you can toggle of “Always connected” option, perhaps this will help?

 

[Dutchie]

Totally agree, As an engineer, AI enthusiast, and student (and huge fan) of Lex Fridman's AV lectures at MIT.
Its one thing to guess drive-able paths from vision. Works most of the time on well designed freeways. It is another thing to decide how to navigate a city street. We subconsciously slow down 7mph when we hear kids running on the sidewalk. We are decades away from that kind of AI capability.

that didn’t age well..

 

[cjm1]

Hi Guys,
First time posting. I have a 2014 Model S P85+ and I just got the MCU2. Its night and day compared to MCU1. The upgrade only took 1 day to install. You get both displays upgraded. Your computer will get replaced/reset so the TRIP miles will be gone. Not the odometer obviously. I had to pick it up the next day because they did not enable remote access once they installed it and the mobile app will lose connectivity to the car. My model does not have cams around it so I dont get sentry mode, but everything else just makes the experience seem brand new.

Was it worth it? Hell yeah! Every time I get a car and something new comes around I am stuck in an old version. First time I can keep my car up to date like this. I'll post some images later. Ask any questions. The only thing I was not expecting was the games, I connected an Xbox controller and it worked! You connect a USB dongle and it synced up just fine.

 

[studioloft]

Fun fact... NHTSA just officially requested Tesla issues a recall of MCU1