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MS Ap1 mcu upgrade or not?

Discussion in 'The UK and Ireland' started by MoLeViP, Mar 2, 2021 at 2:41 PM.

  1. MoLeViP

    MoLeViP Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2021
    Messages:
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    Location:
    Uk
    Hi guys,
    Second post and wanted to say a huge thanks to all the users who gave so much great advice in my first post.
    I have recently bought my first Tesla, MS 85 2014 (64plate) with AP1.
    I now know a bit more about the car and absolutely love it, even if the range is on the short side and charges comparatively slow to other users cars. But i do appreciate having free supercharging and premium connectivity for life.

    I have been experiencing some crashing of the trip computer and the energy graph on the IC. After a few reboots, i finally decided to do a factory reset, which seemed to take forever ! Since then the issues seem to be resolved for now.
    Before the reset i called Tesla because i have read alot about the emmc chip issue and recall, but seems the previous owner may have had it done thirdparty.

    Anyway, i wanted some thoughts, experiences and advice as i am considering upgrading mcu2 , even though my mcu1 still seems fine albeit very very slow and only 3G.

    Has anyone here had it done on an ap1 car?
    If so, is there any noticeable change to autopilot?
    Tesla told me today that it will remain 3G, can anyone confirm this as my research seems to indicate that the new mcu2 will have LTE.
    Is the Wifi chip changed ? And if so is wifi performance better?
    Does the mcu2 also include a new IC display? If so, is it less 'old school LCD backlight bleed' with blacks instead of greys?

    Looking at how often i am at the superchargers, i rather like the idea of having my Youtube premium on the display instead of small phone screen !

    Thanks guys!!
     
  2. MoLeViP

    MoLeViP Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Oh and i dont care about losing the radio even though it does seem odd paying to lose features
     
  3. buddy4406

    buddy4406 Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2014
    Messages:
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    Location:
    So. Calif.
    You should get a new IC screen and a new Center screen. My car is in the shop now getting the new MCU2. While my car has the LTE chip I've read where people with the old 3G will get the LTE because it's built into the new MCU2.
     
  4. gangzoom

    gangzoom Active Member

    Joined:
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    At the reduced price of £1500 its a no brainer, has zero effect on AP, but greatly improves the interface speed with the car.
     
  5. MoLeViP

    MoLeViP Member

    Joined:
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    Thanks, i have spoken a few times over the past weeks with our local branch (Bristol, UK) and at times i get the impression that some of them have no clue what they are talking about.
    Is your car an Ap1? Will be interested to get some feedback when you get it back. And why are you getting it done?
    £1400 seems a lot, especially as i will lose radio feature (but not that bothered) but on the other hand its way cheaper than selling my car and buying a late 2018 onward model just to have newer version.
     
  6. MoLeViP

    MoLeViP Member

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    Thanks, what benefits does improved interface speed with the car have?
     
  7. Tomilett

    Tomilett Member

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2018
    Messages:
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    Location:
    UK
    it's just a quicker computer, so when you click the voice command button it should actually listen and respond immediately, skipping between songs will be instant, navigating shouldn't take an age to start plotting your route etc. but I don't think it will fundamentally change anything, apart from the addition of Netflix, Youtube etc. which may be worthwhile.

    I have a 2014 pre-AP Model S and am weighing up the same options. my situation is:
    old EMMC which will fail (free fix);
    Bubbles on the touchscreen (minor and don't affect use, but at some point will get worse) (c.£1000 fix);
    3G which will become redundant in the next year or so (c.£500 upgrade to LTE)

    versus an MCU 2 upgrade at £1500

    So I think the MCU 2 upgrade makes sense.

    MCU 2 does have LTE built in, it doesn't have a radio tuner built in though, but FM/DAB can be added for another £500 I believe, although not sure if that part is actually available in the UK yet. Losing radio will be annoying, but can find all the same channels on TuneIn anyway.

    I am also in Bristol and trust me - as a user of this forum you know more than most of the service advisers there. A few years ago the staff used to last a while there, but nowadays it's different on a week-by-week basis. Although the SC manager has been there for 3 years or more and if you get him at a quiet moment he's a very decent an knowledgeable guy.

    Welcome to the '85 Club! We spend the longest at the superchargers, but at least we don't pay for them!
     
  8. MoLeViP

    MoLeViP Member

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    Location:
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    Thanks for the advice!
    I do seem to be spending a lot of time at Michael Woods SuperC and YT and Netflix would be welcome addition. I am not worried about losing radio and gladly replace radio with LTE. Especially with the unlimited premium connectivity.

    Also getting frustrated a bit with the horrendous lagging, unusable webbrowser (turning off live traffic on the mapping does actually seem to help with the broswer, now it takes a few minutes to load tesla UK homepage instead of a few hours !) and freezing of the trip computers and energy gauge.

    Should I start yet another new post to ask advice about using camp mode and what mattress people use?

    Thanks
     
  9. MoLeViP

    MoLeViP Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Uk
    One more question. Do tesla replace the main display when they do the mcu2 ? I have read lots of comments about the mcu1 main display bubbling and yellow tint after a certain time, so worried i might do the upgrade and in the near future will have issues with the display.
     

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