Tesla infotainment system upgradeable from MCU1 to MCU2

[Akikiki]

You are not being clear with your question. ...why whom can't upgrade to MCU2?

 

[MorrisonHiker]

does anyone know why they can’t upgrade to mcu2 if you have HW3 already?

Are you referring to cars that upgraded to HW3 or ones that came with HW3 originally? If they came with HW3, then they already have MCU2. If they were upgraded to HW3, then they should be able to upgrade to MCU2.

 

[mahagala]

does anyone know why they can’t upgrade to mcu2 if you have HW3 already?

What do you mean? They can't? Source?

 

[djstryker]

Dropping my car off tomorrow. For those upgraded already, do your driver profile and trip settings carry over? What about TuneIn and Slacker favorites?

 

[Cheburashka]

I think the Wifi password is the only thing that doesn't carry over.

 

[VifferFun]

I'm posting my experience with the MCU2 upgrade (2015 P85DL AP1) in case it helps anyone

Background:

• Pre-History:
  • MCU1 was showing signs of failure for a few months (i.e. rebooting every time I entered the car)
  • I think the problem was made worse beccause I had to park outside the last couple of months and it's been really hot
• 2020-07-25:
  • While driving, I lost my Spotify connection while driving -- I parked the car, but when I returned the main touchscreen wouldn't turn on
  • I immediately drove to the Tesla Service Centre (without signal lights!), and I was surprised that they took the car in for diagnostic right away
  • After multiple attempts to revive the MCU1, it was declared dead
  • I chose to upgrade to MCU2 and they gave me a loaner car
• 2020-07-30:
  • In the morning, I received a text saying the parts arrived and that the car might be ready later in the day if all goes well
  • I receive another text at 3PM -- the car is already done!
  • I had to redo pretty much all of the car's setup (likely because my MCU1 had already died, since people simply doing upgrades retain their settings) such as User Profile, Bluetooth connection, Homelink, Spotify Login, Sound Mixer Setting, Navigation Settings, Driving Settings, Time format, etc.

Observations/Experience with MCU2:

• Improvements:
  • Screen is now very quick/responsive
  • Navigation maps render MUCH faster, especially when zooming in/out
  • The voice-command button is now functional -- it translates my commands to text extremely well (where as before it used to be chunky and unusable)
  • Screens no longer reboot every time I enter the car
  • My iPhone apps connects to the car MUCH faster than it did before -- it only takes about 3 seconds compared to 30+ seconds and multiple attempts with MCU1
  • The web browser is now functional
  • Now have access to the new Entertainment features (Netflex, YouTube) which work great!
  • Now have access to Caraoke
  • Now have access to the more graphic-intensive games
  • Can now play the old Atari-style games (since they didn't even work on my MCU1)

• Stayed the Same:
  • The stereo sounds the same to me (but I don't have the premium audio system)
  • The touchscreen and dashscreen resolutions appear the same (even though they were replaced)
  • Rear camera resolution looks the same
  • Did not get any new Sentry Mode options (however, my car doesn't have side cameras)
  • The animation on the dash screen is unchanged (but I don't have full self-drive / FSD)

• Disadvantages:
  • You lose access to AM/FM/XM radio (but I never used them anyways)
  • I had difficulty with my Bluetooth not connecting a couple days ago, but it could have been a fluke (or my phone causing the issue)

Hope this helps!

 

[Akikiki]

Dropping my car off tomorrow. For those upgraded already, do your driver profile and trip settings carry over? What about TuneIn and Slacker favorites?

In a perfect upgrade, yes. The one item that should not expect to come forward is your home WiFi connection. MCU2 has a new WiFi adapter, so it does not know of the existence of your home WiFi. So, when you get home, of course to connect, you will need to feed it your passphrase.

But the success of recovering all original settings is varying between SC's until they figure it all out every time. Remember they went from doing none to trying to do many. So, there's going to be some growing pains and lessons learned.

Its going to make a difference in retaining settings too, if your MCU1 is dead/dying and your take a good one in (and they are more successful in saving your settings) for the MCU2 upgrade.

Until we hear that it works every time, anyone upgrading should be writing down what their current settings are. Like it or not, that's what's happening. I will get better.

Reminder: When you go to pickup your car, be sure you use the app and test locking/unlocking your car and other functions. One of the final things they need to do is enable the remote features to the car for the security certificates. This is not the same as enabling remote access in the MCU. Its different. If they forget, you won't be able to unlock or lock the car, turn on AC stuff like that.

They can fix the remote locking/unlocking problem over the air if they need to. But you could be trying to get into your car after hours, - with your fob locked in your car, and your app will not let you unlock it. Do you want to be stranded waiting on regular hours to get inside your car?

 

[ucmndd]

Jealous of all the movement on the AP1 cars. Still waiting for my AP2.0 parts.

 

[hitparader]

Jealous of all the movement on the AP1 cars. Still waiting for my AP2.0 parts.

You’re not alone. Still waiting on parts from originally a June 15 appointment. Hoping that sometime this week they’ll have the parts since I’ve seen some others get the upgrade recently. Otherwise, might try to reach out next week to see if there are any updates available on a possible eta

 

[Cheburashka]

Jealous of all the movement on the AP1 cars. Still waiting for my AP2.0 parts.

My car is AP2 and they had the parts in stock as of yesterday (in NorCal).

 

[oldpueblo]

This was quite the thread to get caught up on, but very useful so thanks everyone. I recently purchased a used 2015 (71k miles, details in sig), I have a service appointment in AZ in a week, and I gave them a bit of a laundry list. I have no warranty other than the drive train/battery left. My prime fear in purchasing a used S was the MCU1 dying, so when I hit my first issue with it I asked for the option at my appointment and sent pictures (and it was "approved"). Since I have no way of knowing the history of this car, I'm trying to figure out if I need to prioritize the MCU2 upgrade over the other issues I'm looking to get taken care of. I can deal with a small leak and annoying door handles over a bricked car. Here's what I'm trying to figure out:

*Is there any generally easy way to verify what MCU1 version I may have (original, updated EMMC, "MCU1.5", etc)? After the issue in the attached pictures I went forward with doing the factory reset that I was already planning on doing (all the previous owners private info was still there :/), and since then it's been fine. I think I've rebooted it once to fix the browser, which is garbage but at least the reboot got it working again. Voice to text seems to be working fast enough. Moving the map around works relatively smoothly (other than 3G speeds), so I guess what I'm trying to get at is I'd hate to toss out a perfectly good "upgraded" MCU1, freeing up funds to take care of the other things on the list. Has anyone had any luck with getting Tesla to reveal what prior work has been done on the VIN? Is there any kind of tool or test or benchmark I can do that would reveal an old original MCU1 vs an updated one? Can I just ask Tesla to check my log space or something?

*My IC actually looks pretty great, is it possible I've had the IC replaced already? I'm going by the attached pictures previously posted in the thread, and I'm confused because my existing IC seems to be better than the old IC, and in person mine seems as good as the new IC shown. I even loaded up the same album art (great station choice btw). If the new one is OLED I guess that'd be a dead giveaway, otherwise it's down to camera quality and JPG compression. So if it's possible I have a newer IC, and given that I'm AP1, maybe I don't need to pay the full price. Anyway, same question as above is there any way to find out what IC I have. I feel like it's been answered that they must be paired with the right MCU1 or MCU2, but the pictures have made me doubt.

*Is the touchscreen upgrade any kind of tech/fidelity upgrade? Or is it just different hardware that is less likely to go bad? I'm inclined to get it done regardless just to have a warranty on it, but it'd be good to know if there's any tech differences like more touch points, brightness nits, etc.

*If I read correctly it seems like some people are getting LTE as part of the MCU2 upgrade. Is that something where it's a redundant charge for me/mistakenly quoted, or is it because of my specific SKU that I might need the LTE upgrade separately from the MCU2?

Lastly, and this is less related to the MCU2 specifically, is Tesla under any kind of obligation to continue a warranty on a part that was replaced under a different owner? For example say my MCU1 was replaced a month before I bought the car. Tesla would know via the VIN, would I still be considered "out of warranty" or would they be good people and say hey good news it's under warranty from a prior replacement? Has anyone heard of that happening or know of a policy like that?

Thanks for reading, I'm fairly certain I'm going to go forward with the MCU2 upgrade since we have a Model 3 and enjoy the benefits (other than sentry of course). However if my roof leak ends up being expensive, I'm going to have an angry wife and might have to bump it. Your experience is appreciated.

EDIT: I just realized I named some of my pictures poorly. MCU1,2,3 are all MCU1, just three different pictures of my one issue.

 

[Cheburashka]

Looks like a 2015 IC. The old one is out of a pre-AP car.

If you have MCU1 you have IC1 as well but they are not known to fail.

It does look like your screen's yellowing was taken care of by the previous owner.

 

[Shateam]

I think the Wifi password is the only thing that doesn't carry over.

None of my settings carried over for my upgrade including lifetime trip details, wifi, homelink, driver profiles etc. Perhaps the technician forgot to port them over. They also didn’t download the new security certificates so I couldn’t use the mobile app to unlock the doors/trunk (which was kinda a problem since it was touchless pickup).

overall though, quite happy with the new MCU.

 

[Akikiki]

This was quite the thread to get caught up on, but very useful so thanks everyone.

Is there any generally easy way to verify what MCU1 version I may have (original, updated EMMC, "MCU1.5", etc)? No.

I went forward with doing the factory reset that I was already planning on doing. Probably the best thing you could have done for your new-used S.

Has anyone had any luck with getting Tesla to reveal what prior work has been done on the VIN? Sometimes they will – if your car is registered with Tesla. Does your car show up under your Tesla account? If it does, take some cookies or donuts and drive down to your local SC with a big smile painted on your face mask and be nice. Ask. If you are lucky, they will tell you about some of the big repairs. But they don’t always.

Is there any kind of tool or test or benchmark I can do that would reveal an old original MCU1 vs an updated one? Teslatap.com/mcu will show you if you have MCU1 or MCU2, but you can find that out yourself under Software > information Otherwise, No.

Can I just ask Tesla to check my log space or something? Yes you can ask. They might tell you they are going to charge you a diagnostic fee of $170-$350 That could better be applied towards MCU2 upgrade.

My IC actually looks pretty great, is it possible I've had the IC replaced already? Yes

So if it's possible I have a newer IC. Yes, There’s a Gen 1 and Gen 2. What difference does it make if it looks good?

If you upgrade to MCU2, they replace IC1 with IC2. It’s required.

Anyway, same question as above is there any way to find out what IC I have. Yes, take it out and flip it over and check its build date. But I don’t remember where the info is to determine which date is newer than another. So, waste of time

I feel like it's been answered that they must be paired with the right MCU1. Yes, no swapping. The MCU contains security certificates so your car and talk to Tesla servers and Tesla servers can talk to your car. And let you open it for instance and other things. The IC1 has a copy of same security certificates. If they don’t match, the car won’t start/boot. You can’t change them, Takes special tools and skills.

or MCU2 – Yes, IC2 does not contain security certificates. It’s subordinate to MCU2. Reboot MCU2 and IC2 reboots. Upgrade to MCU2 gets new IC2 too.

Is the touchscreen upgrade any kind of tech/fidelity upgrade? Or is it just different hardware that is less likely to go bad? Yes, but if yours is good, you are likely better off.

If you go for MCU2 Upgrade you can request to re-use your existing screen and save $250 off price of MCU2

I'm inclined to get it done regardless just to have a warranty on it, but it'd be good to know if there's any tech differences like more touch points, brightness nits, etc. No, does not get better. MCU2 looks better even with your old screen.

If I read correctly it seems like some people are getting LTE as part of the MCU2 upgrade. Yes, Tesla’s built early Spring 2015 came with LTE. Tesla’s re-manufactured MCU1 includes LTE which separately would cost $500.

Is that something where it's a redundant charge for me/mistakenly quoted, or is it because of my specific SKU that I might need the LTE upgrade separately from the MCU2? No.

Lastly, and this is less related to the MCU2 specifically, is Tesla under any kind of obligation to continue a warranty on a part that was replaced under a different owner? Car and parts are warrantied to the car, not the owner.

Would they be good people and say hey good news it's under warranty from a prior replacement? Yes.

However if my roof leak ends up being expensive, Look here. Tesla Model S Panoramic Roof Seal Gasket — Reel Deal

Wow, after this - I am retiring. Bushed. Exhausted - worn out

 

[Akikiki]

And Exciting news regarding Annual Service! — Reel Deal

 

[vraev]

I got an email from the SC saying this is what they ordered for my car. They also specified that the 2017 cars come with IC2 display and only the AP1 cars or AP2 cars get the new IC display, but not the 2.5 ones. lol. oh well.... lets see what happens. As u guys said, maybe they will realize after the install? lol

1. MCU INTEL HW3 UPGRADE-For TegraAP2.5 - NORTH AMERICA
   Part #: 9874561-00-A
   Order Date: July 29, 2020

 

[Akikiki]

I got an email from the SC saying this is what they ordered for my car. They also specified that the 2017 cars come with IC2 display and only the AP1 cars or AP2 cars get the new IC display, but not the 2.5 ones. lol. oh well.... lets see what happens. As u guys said, maybe they will realize after the install? lol

1. MCU INTEL HW3 UPGRADE-For TegraAP2.5 - NORTH AMERICA
   Part #: 9874561-00-A
   Order Date: July 29, 2020

Very true. IC2 will not work with MCU1. MCU2 did not start appearing in S/X until after March 2018. They will see, you are correct.

 

[vraev]

Very true. IC2 will not work with MCU1. MCU2 did not start appearing in S/X until after March 2018. They will see, you are correct.

Yea! I think if the kit itself comes with the IC, they probably will realize it once they start the installs. Right now it is booked for next week, but I am not holding my breath. These parts have been pushed back for weeks apparently and there were already lot of people ahead of me who were waiting. So clearly this particular location hasn't yet done installs.

 

[Akikiki]

Its worth the wait. I have two all inclusive words to describe MCU2. It's "Merely Wonderful". compared to MCU1.

I think you two will be very happy together

 

[Gt1948]

Are you referring to cars that upgraded to HW3 or ones that came with HW3 originally? If they came with HW3, then they already have MCU2. If they were upgraded to HW3, then they should be able to upgrade to MCU2.

Upgraded to HW3 earlier in year... now I can’t schedule mcu2 upgrade, awaiting parts or something.