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MS MCU upgrade or not?

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Moderator comment - thread renamed from "MS Ap1 mcu upgrade or not?"

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

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!
 
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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!

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
 
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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Moderator comment - post moved from "Model S MCU2 upgrade. A couple of questions"

Hi,

Anyone done this at one of the UK SC's including the radio update? If so what was the total cost to pay (including VAT), how long did it take. Also, just curious, does the MCU surround also get swapped out, as I notice newer cars come with a darker surround.

Thanks Spanish
 
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Moderator comment - post moved from "Model S MCU2 upgrade. A couple of questions"

Hi,

Anyone done this at one of the UK SC's including the radio update? If so what was the total cost to pay (including VAT), how long did it take. Also, just curious, does the MCU surround also get swapped out, as I notice newer cars come with a darker surround.

Thanks Spanish
Last month, the infotainment upgrade MCU1 to MCU2 was 1166.67, radio tuner upgrade was 391.67, both ex VAT, total inc VAT £1870. The 2019 Model 3 loaner was free, as was the AP2.0 to 3.0 upgrade (I already had FSD). Both screens were replaced. The MCU surround looks the same. It took a day and a bit.

The only problem was lack of any radio function, which I discovered about 10 miles down the road from the SC, so turned right back and they fixed it in 45 minutes. I was not told what they had omitted the first time (except, obviously, testing it). I recommend test it all before you leave.

MCU2 is a big improvement, esp. for the browser. My impression is that the new instrument cluster screen is sharper but it's hard to be sure.
 
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.

Just had my S85 2014 AP1 done at Bristol as well last month. Bit annoyed at Bristol service centre as I had been their twice spending all day there due to MCU1 issues that they denied was actually anything more than a 'clearing cache' issue... Worst one was waiting all day only to be sent home saying it would finally update after 7 attempts when I got home. Nope didn't do that at all. Day's work lost and sat in an uncomfortable chair for 7 hrs.

So I get them to update the MCU1 after a few calls from them saying that it isn't possible (feels odd when you seem to know more than they do about what upgrades you can get). My MCU1 has been crashing everyday and I lost centre console and rear camera, HVAC and 3G connection for months.

Finally get them to agree to do it and it took literally from 09:30 to 17:00 which whilst a pain being sat chair with nothing to do and no updates is ....ok'ish I really felt like I was a pain in their arse for having this upgrade done. It used to be different when I first bought the car.

I was told finally when I asked for an update late in the afternoon that they might need it for 3 or 4 days! I explained that I live 60 miles away and have no transport or any way of getting home ...and that they said it would be a 4hr job! Lady just shrugged staring at me. Finally offered me an Uber voucher that would get me half way home maybe....... No courtesy car for you Sir!

Anyway upgrade went fine kind of and I would totally advise doing it, no way I was going to wait another 6 months for the recall only to still have the crappy MCU1 that feels like they installed Win 10 on my old Spectrum 48k computer.

But I have to go back there yet again because they put my old 3G sim card (that thinks I'm in Spain or somewhere) back in the car. 3G on an MCU2 is like putting a robin Reliant engine in a Lotus. They said that that was what I was supposed to get when complained...by complained I mean...book an appointment and wait until the day before the appointment for them to say they can't do it. I reminded them that it clearly states that you get LTE and that this was one of my main reasons for upgrading.

So car is booked in to have the whole units pulled out to put in a tiny sim card that should have been done in the first place. You do get to feel like Oliver Twist though by the staff 'Please Sir ...can I have some More"

Netflix won't let me log in as screen is a tiny quarter of what it should be? And Youtube won't let you log in because of certification errors with the browser. Audio seems to be better (Producer/Composer by trade) less boomy and ...well I'm not sure what they did to it but I like it better now with the EQ turned off.

You must insist that LTE was part of the upgrade which it was and states on Tesla's main page.

Wish they would put a TV or something to watch in that tiny room.
 
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Bit concerned about all that ! Feel sorry for you and certainly dont fancy all that hassle, it's totally unacceptable even !
Just checked the Tesla UK webpage about MCU upgrade, and it actually states LTE capable modem in the features table, improvements column... has the wording been changed? Or is it written somewhere else that 4gLTE connectivity is upgraded with MCU2?
 
Don't know why the thread needed to be renamed to drop the AP1 aspect as thats the key differentiator in whether its worth doing or not.

To me the MCU upgrade is not worth doing if you're on MCU1 as for the money it costs you gain very little, and what you do gain you'd probably be better off spending £400 on a ipad and leaving it in the car. You gain some web browser speed - but how often do you really need the web browser in the car, some games.. same... both can be done better on an ipad for 1/3 of the cost and you don't have to sit twisted in your seat to use, you don't get sentry, dashcam, better fsd visualizations etc etc as they're Tesla AP related.
 
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1: 3G won't be a thing soon when they turn off the 3G signal.

2: MCU1 memory issues crashing etc

3: Insanely faster interface

4: Navigation is done very quickly rather than waiting 10 mins for it to figure out the route

5: Future updates will most probably be fourth coming whereas I feel MCU1 is as far as it can go

6: Music loads so much faster and doesn't crash

7: Youtube is actually nice for me at charging station, sure I could take an ipad but where would I put it in Tesla S? Sliding all over the place on seats etc.

8: Voice commands now work as does HVAC

9: Maps load much faster and Satnav has stopped giving me instructions after I have past the turning (MCU1 unable to keep up)

10: Whole car just feels like it has a brain that is not overloaded and sort of future proofed, much less frustration.

11: 'Gain Web Browser Speed'? more like the web browser actually works now and doesn't grind whole car to a halt.

12: Bubbles had formed on both my screens, upgrade gives both main and centre console screens.

LTE upgrade would have been over £400, waiting for Tesla to recall and fix the MCU1 would take half a year at least or not at all in my case as I have over 130k miles.
 
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Bit concerned about all that ! Feel sorry for you and certainly dont fancy all that hassle, it's totally unacceptable even !
Just checked the Tesla UK webpage about MCU upgrade, and it actually states LTE capable modem in the features table, improvements column... has the wording been changed? Or is it written somewhere else that 4gLTE connectivity is upgraded with MCU2?

Modem isn't LTE capable if it is installed with a 3G Sim, it's then only capable of 3G. You could say that my S85 is capable of 1,000bhp but instead of the Plaid motor installed they gave it the S85 motor....but it is '1,000bhp capable' :)
 
Don't know why the thread needed to be renamed to drop the AP1 aspect as thats the key differentiator in whether its worth doing or not.

To me the MCU upgrade is not worth doing if you're on MCU1 as for the money it costs you gain very little, and what you do gain you'd probably be better off spending £400 on a ipad and leaving it in the car. You gain some web browser speed - but how often do you really need the web browser in the car, some games.. same... both can be done better on an ipad for 1/3 of the cost and you don't have to sit twisted in your seat to use, you don't get sentry, dashcam, better fsd visualizations etc etc as they're Tesla AP related.
I think the issue stated above by Spacey reflects my issues and many others who have outdated bearly usable mcu1 / emmc / crashing and bugs etc...
I see that 3g will be turned off sooner rather than later and as I drive ( will be driving,) alot all around europe, it makes sense for me to get this upgrade done to future proof. Not to mention the hasstle ahving to wait for issues, logs to be gathered and time it takes tesla uk to aknkwledge then offer the chip replacement.
I see that at bare minimum i would need to wait for more crashes, breakdowns and stres for that to happen and then fork out around £500 for the LTE upgrade.
Plus the issues that will happen at some poi t in the near future with bubbles / yellowing of the screen.
As you said, factor in the cost of an ipad + monthly sim contract (over 5 years, which would be at least £1k) plus the above cost of LTE for mcu1 upgrade... suddenly makes £1400 seem really cheap
My only concern is the LTE upgrade not being done when mcu2 upgrade is done.
 
Modem isn't LTE capable if it is installed with a 3G Sim, it's then only capable of 3G. You could say that my S85 is capable of 1,000bhp but instead of the Plaid motor installed they gave it the S85 motor....but it is '1,000bhp capable' :)
Sorry if i misread but have Tesla Bristol agreed to have the car back and put in a 4g sim? At no cost? Can you point me to where it is written , so at least i have something to show them, as they do seem pretty incompetant reading some UK owner posts.
 
To me the MCU upgrade is not worth doing if you're on MCU1 as for the money it costs you gain very little

Stop been tight and spend some £££, its not like anyones going to be spending £££ on a family holiday this summer :).

The MCU is the main interface for the car, whilst MCU 1 is fine, MCU 2 is just a better experience. Its like going from a 5 year old smartphone to a brand new one, once you have used the new one you wonder how you managed with the old one!

The MCU screen is actually a lovely viewing platform, I hope Tesla lets us customise back drops....

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