Tesla infotainment system upgradeable from MCU1 to MCU2 for $2500 [$1500 as of Jan 21, 2020]

[MP3Mike]

If the FM analog radio is replaced with a digital FM radio and the gateway config file is updated, when Tesla pushes a firmware update, is it over written and the FM stops working?

It shouldn't. The config file tells the system what components are installed and needs updated. So an update shouldn't overwrite it.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Has anyone figured out a work around to listen to FM /Am radio
I know u can listen on phone but that uses data
Looked at FM Bluetooth tuners that plug in cig lighter but can’t figure out how to hear the sound.
I know there some techie out there that can figure it out
Thanks

The adapters you are looking at are Bluetooth-to-FM adapters.

What you need is FM-to-Bluetooth, but they don't exist. But you can easily make one yourself for less than $50 with these parts (From my post #2674):

Just get this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P9F61RX/

plus this: https://www.amazon.com/TaoTronics-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Receiver-Simultaneously/dp/B01EHSX28M/

 

[Cheburashka]

First, you won't find one for $25, unless you look at the Chinese POS VHF radios that barely work in the city due to intermod and adjacent channel interference.
Second, a license is required.

$23 Baofeng works completely fine.

You don't need a license in an emergency.

 

[R100D]

@tarunck, could you confirm if your’s is AP2.5? Mine is MS2017 with AP 2.0 and I was told by the Clarkston, MI service center that there is no ETA for my upgrade.

 

[tarunck]

@tarunck, could you confirm if your’s is AP2.5? Mine is MS2017 with AP 2.0 and I was told by the Clarkston, MI service center that there is no ETA for my upgrade.

Mine is Dec2017 built and is AP2.5.
I just got my car back. The upgrade is totally worth it. Every click on the screen is super snappy. Also I dont think I will miss Dolby Surround. The Immersive sound at High is pretty darn good. With the HW3 upgrade the cameras took about 25mile driving to fully calibrate and use Navigate on Autopilot. Finally voice commands work and super fast in recognition as well. So far I am happy with the 2650$ I spent on this upgrade.

 

[R100D]

Mine is Dec2017 built and is AP2.5.
I just got my car back. The upgrade is totally worth it. Every click on the screen is super snappy. Also I dont think I will miss Dolby Surround. The Immersive sound at High is pretty darn good. With the HW3 upgrade the cameras took about 25mile driving to fully calibrate and use Navigate on Autopilot. Finally voice commands work and super fast in recognition as well. So far I am happy with the 2650$ I spent on this upgrade.

Awesome! Enjoy the upgrade!!!

 

[zanary]

@tarunck, could you confirm if your’s is AP2.5? Mine is MS2017 with AP 2.0 and I was told by the Clarkston, MI service center that there is no ETA for my upgrade.

AP 2.0 vehicles will start end of March, so around 3/31, or maybe a little later consider the situation. It's in the link that Tesla provided.

Infotainment Upgrade

 

[Barry]

$23 Baofeng works completely fine.

Baofeng is exactly the garbage I was thinking about.

 

[DCLawyer]

Bringing my October 2017 S100 AP2.5 tomorrow to Rockville MD service center for a windshield replacement. Someone cancelled their upgrade and I was able to take the slot so I'm going to have the upgrade done as well.

 

[R100D]

AP 2.0 vehicles will start end of March, so around 3/31, or maybe a little later consider the situation. It's in the link that Tesla provided.

Infotainment Upgrade

Thank you for the info!

 

[nimrooz]

The digital/analog issue is between the tuner and the MCU not how the station is transmitted. For example the FM HD which is digital here still doesn't work because the tuner converts it to analog before it goes to the MCU. I would think that all MCU1s have an analog input for the tuner, not a digital/Ethernet one.

So while we won't know for sure until they offer up the details for Europe, I would guess that you would suffer the same fate of losing broadcast radio support.

You sure?
Remember I read about it when I bought the car, because dab wasn't available before. Remember reading that Tesla was changing something to make the digital audio broadcast work. So I was thinking they probably went with spdif or coax, But hey, wouldn't be surprised if they took the wrong way and made the output analog.

However, another concern here is that the emergency network is on fm/dab, so wondering about the formality of removing the radio without doing anything with the type approval...

 

[ahkahn]

This may sound apocalyptic, but both the cell phone network and the Internet are fragile items. Should something happen, even as simple as an earthquake, you'll have NO communication.

Honestly, I can't believe someone hasn't thought of this in advance.

Additionally, most sports (whenever they resume) which are on the local radio, are not on most Internet feeds due to restrictions by the mega rich owners.

The cell phone network and Internet are not that fragile. Earthquakes don't break the system, the people shut calling off to keep them from getting overloaded so that they can be used for first responders. If you're that worried about getting caught in your car during the apocalypse, buy a $10 transistor radio at the store and keep it in your glove box.

 

[Cheburashka]

The cell phone network and Internet are not that fragile. Earthquakes don't break the system, the people shut calling off to keep them from getting overloaded so that they can be used for first responders. If you're that worried about getting caught in your car during the apocalypse, buy a $10 transistor radio at the store and keep it in your glove box.

I don't know about that.

When we had the "safety" power shutdowns in Northern California this summer, all the cell phone towers around me shut off the day after the shutdown started.

Anyways... back on topic.

I wonder if the factory shutdown due to the coronavirus will affect new installations going forward.

 

[Utahken]

I don't know about that.

When we had the "safety" power shutdowns in Northern California this summer, all the cell phone towers around me shut off the day after the shutdown started.

Anyways... back on topic.

I wonder if the factory shutdown due to the coronavirus will affect new installations going forward.

Service is still operating according to the press release. The kit of required parts is another story. That department probably is still running too.

 

[MP3Mike]

However, another concern here is that the emergency network is on fm/dab, so wondering about the formality of removing the radio without doing anything with the type approval...

It is possible that they will have to upgrade the tuner in Europe along with the MCU. (If they end up offering the upgrade there.)

 

[BigD0g]

If the FM analog radio is replaced with a digital FM radio and the gateway config file is updated, when Tesla pushes a firmware update, is it over written and the FM stops working?

no

 

[MarcusMaximus]

I don't know about that.

When we had the "safety" power shutdowns in Northern California this summer, all the cell phone towers around me shut off the day after the shutdown started.

Anyways... back on topic.

I wonder if the factory shutdown due to the coronavirus will affect new installations going forward.

Really? My cell connection continued to work just fine the whole way through, though our Comcast node was, of course, down.

Anyway, I do suspect there’ll be a delay in installations, given the current situation.

 

[Robotpedlr]

@tarunck and @zanary did you guys notice that the rear camera view is a little darker at night after the upgrade?

Just got mine back and am very happy with the speed as noted in your reviews. Definitely worth the $$ in my opinion. Only thing I noticed so far (besides the am/fm/xm which I never used) is that my rear camera view at night is darker. Daytime is great but I seem to recall my MCU1 view was better in the dark. But I could be wrong.

 

[zanary]

@tarunck and @zanary did you guys notice that the rear camera view is a little darker at night after the upgrade?

Just got mine back and am very happy with the speed as noted in your reviews. Definitely worth the $$ in my opinion. Only thing I noticed so far (besides the am/fm/xm which I never used) is that my rear camera view at night is darker. Daytime is great but I seem to recall my MCU1 view was better in the dark. But I could be wrong.

You'r'e 100% correct. I didn't notice it when I wrote my detailed posting here as it was daytime as I was playing with it, but tonight I actually drove after dark, and indeed it is much darker. So dark that the reverse lights in addition to the break light doesn't make it brighter than on MCU1. What I don't know for sure is if this is a 2020.12 problem or not as I was running 2020.12 but I had not driven in the dark after I receive 2020.12 but before the Infotainment upgrade.

I'm oping that this is a anomaly with 2020.12 and the Infotainment upgrade.

Note: When I refer to the Infotainment upgrade, I'm referring to the combination of MCU2 and HW3.

 

[zanary]

@tarunck and @zanary did you guys notice that the rear camera view is a little darker at night after the upgrade?

Just got mine back and am very happy with the speed as noted in your reviews. Definitely worth the $$ in my opinion. Only thing I noticed so far (besides the am/fm/xm which I never used) is that my rear camera view at night is darker. Daytime is great but I seem to recall my MCU1 view was better in the dark. But I could be wrong.

Also I totally agree that $2500 is well worth it for this infotainment upgrade. Even though it's been about 4 days, my Model S P100D feels like a new Tesla. Since I never listen to FM, AM or Sat Radio, I don't miss it at all.

Also for those who are interested, the Sentry mode was record the rear camera now, so we get all four cams recording.