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

croman

Active Member
Nov 21, 2016
4,626
6,551
Chicago, IL
dying for this on my ap1 car

Soon. The 2020.12 update fixes the GPS hardware issue that prevented MCU2 retrofit for AP1 and older Teslas. My service center staff was literally talking about moving onto older Teslas next month, so I would expect July will be big for them since the a major chunk of the Teslas in my area are AP1 and older (big time early adopters as well as lots of CPO/used sales).

I think what is limited the upgrading is parts, knowledge, and service center availability in the pandemic. They clearly got pretty good at this in the 6 weeks since I last tried and I expect they'll be a learning curve with them on the first few AP1 and non-AP cars but it should actually be easier since there is no APE to connect for non-AP.
 

Hawkhandler

Member
Apr 24, 2020
45
13
Oakland. CA
Soon. The 2020.12 update fixes the GPS hardware issue that prevented MCU2 retrofit for AP1 and older Teslas. My service center staff was literally talking about moving onto older Teslas next month, so I would expect July will be big for them since the a major chunk of the Teslas in my area are AP1 and older (big time early adopters as well as lots of CPO/used sales).

I think what is limited the upgrading is parts, knowledge, and service center availability in the pandemic. They clearly got pretty good at this in the 6 weeks since I last tried and I expect they'll be a learning curve with them on the first few AP1 and non-AP cars but it should actually be easier since there is no APE to connect for non-AP.

And when will that update be rolled out more widely to AP1 cars? Been a while now and per Teslafi they don’t seem to be pushing it quickly.
 

croman

Active Member
Nov 21, 2016
4,626
6,551
Chicago, IL
And when will that update be rolled out more widely to AP1 cars? Been a while now and per Teslafi they don’t seem to be pushing it quickly.

I think Tesla is waiting until they have parts and ability to actually retrofit. They've been pushing each of their "groups" that qualify for MCU2 upgrades back for months now. I had a failed MCU1 and Tesla couldn't put an MCU2 in despite the fact my car was eligible at the time for MCU2 but had been greyed out for HW3 (even though it is the same install as a 2.5 car).

The other issue is that the kit currently comprises a MCU2, IC2, and HW3. Tesla will have to build a specific kit for AP1 and a different kit for non-AP. It won't be hard but Tesla takes it time with existing owners while it focuses on getting new owners. It is a frustrating thing and there are no answers from Tesla. We can only surmise and guess and hope it comes to pass.

The only good news is that Tesla solved the one major issue with the GPS module incompatibility. That was a major impediment. So that progress should give everyone hope because if Tesla really didn't want to do MCU2 upgrades, they wouldn't have done that fix.
 
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Hawkhandler

Member
Apr 24, 2020
45
13
Oakland. CA
I think Tesla is waiting until they have parts and ability to actually retrofit. They've been pushing each of their "groups" that qualify for MCU2 upgrades back for months now. I had a failed MCU1 and Tesla couldn't put an MCU2 in despite the fact my car was eligible at the time for MCU2 but had been greyed out for HW3 (even though it is the same install as a 2.5 car).

The other issue is that the kit currently comprises a MCU2, IC2, and HW3. Tesla will have to build a specific kit for AP1 and a different kit for non-AP. It won't be hard but Tesla takes it time with existing owners while it focuses on getting new owners. It is a frustrating thing and there are no answers from Tesla. We can only surmise and guess and hope it comes to pass.

The only good news is that Tesla solved the one major issue with the GPS module incompatibility. That was a major impediment. So that progress should give everyone hope because if Tesla really didn't want to do MCU2 upgrades, they wouldn't have done that fix.

yeah. Sorry. I meant the software update not the MCU update.
 

Yinn

Active Member
Nov 15, 2016
2,079
1,857
Behind you
The other issue is that the kit currently comprises a MCU2, IC2, and HW3.

I have to wonder when this will change. Either that or the price increases. It’s not an insignificant amount of work to put that in.

Then three pieces of hardware adds up as well. The cost to Tesla here may outweigh the the value we put on it. Speaking purely on the infotainment upgrade sans FSD.
 
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2BEnhanced

Member
Oct 31, 2016
44
43
Orange County, CA
Update on my AP2/MCU1 upgrade to FSD/MCU2.
I originally had an appointment for earlier this month at Costa Mesa, which was moved to today. I have received a couple emails on parts ordered and the MCU was not in yet. I messaged them yesterday and they said all parts were in. I dropped off car this morning and they said all parts were in. I got a call a couple hours after dropping off car and they said they didn't have the MCU but could install the FSD. I declined as I don't want them to tear apart car 2x. I picked up my car and now have an appointment for 7/23...
 

Akikiki

A'-Lo-HA ! y'all
Nov 26, 2012
6,324
4,452
Kaneohe, HI
And when will that update be rolled out more widely to AP1 cars? Been a while now and per Teslafi they don’t seem to be pushing it quickly.
It makes sense that it will not roll out to AP1 cars ahead of installing the MCU2 upgrade. More likely, it will be installed the day of MCU2 installation. That way they can insure its installed, and working with MCU2.
 
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viper2ko

Active Member
Aug 30, 2017
1,403
1,340
USA

I really hope they realize what a poor design and stupid idea this was. A recall is needed. Having it designed to fail after 4-5 years is unacceptable. I'm not asking for them to replace everything with mcu2, but they should be able to repair the emmc issue. This is what happens when you ignore your "flagship" vehicles. This issue has been known now for over a year.
 

SO16

Active Member
Feb 25, 2016
2,655
8,503
USA
I really hope they realize what a poor design and stupid idea this was. A recall is needed. Having it designed to fail after 4-5 years is unacceptable. I'm not asking for them to replace everything with mcu2, but they should be able to repair the emmc issue. This is what happens when you ignore your "flagship" vehicles. This issue has been known now for over a year.


Do you honestly think they “designed” to have it fail in 4-5 years?

They offer replacements.
They offer upgrades.
3rd party offers repairs.

Now should Tesla offer the replacements/repairs for free? Ideally yes.
 

TK16688

Member
Oct 22, 2017
70
37
Naperville, IL
I really hope they realize what a poor design and stupid idea this was. A recall is needed. Having it designed to fail after 4-5 years is unacceptable. I'm not asking for them to replace everything with mcu2, but they should be able to repair the emmc issue. This is what happens when you ignore your "flagship" vehicles. This issue has been known now for over a year.
it happens when on the leading edge, i'm glad there is an upgrade option, s/b recall for others not opting to upgrade
 
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viper2ko

Active Member
Aug 30, 2017
1,403
1,340
USA
Do you honestly think they “designed” to have it fail in 4-5 years?

They offer replacements.
They offer upgrades.
3rd party offers repairs.

Now should Tesla offer the replacements for free? That’s debatable.

The options now are pay $1400 for another mcu1 with the same design. Or $2500 for mcu2. Option 1 should be a free replacement with a mcu1 that has an emmc like mcu2
 

viper2ko

Active Member
Aug 30, 2017
1,403
1,340
USA


For anyone wondering if their MCU1 is near death and whether to upgrade. This happened to mine yesterday and i need to reboot once each day to get streaming and 4g to work. For reference I have a 2017 with 49k miles. I reported all this to Tesla to look at when my car is in for AC repair next month. Ill then need to decide to pay the $2500 if they don't replace the MCU
 

MiddKid

Member
Jan 3, 2014
305
257
Seattle
All settings seemed restored (at least the ones I checked), see Tesla Theater, all the games, etc. The autopilot finished calibrating on the drive back, however, the summon screen showed camera(s) still calibrating (99%)

FYI, same thing for me on my MX. While the main calibration was done on the way home from the service center, it took over 200 miles of driving to get that last 1% so summon would work. I actually had a question out to my SC on it, but then yesterday it finally finished.

When mine was done, the only thing I needed to 'redo' was BT and Wifi (as those are new hardware with new MAC addresses, as expected). I have no idea why some people had to do redo Homelink, as my settings were migrated. I wonder if it's an option on the settings app that didn't work/didn't get checked, who knows. But it's definitely possible to migrate that. And I didn't have any gap/protector on the IC, either. (Looks like I definitely lucked out, being either the first or second one that Tysons did!)

There are many different types of HomeLink. Would likely depend on the type/generation you have. My Chamberlain MyQ openers are less than a year old and had to be re-programmed after the MCU upgrade.
 
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