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

Evee

Member
Nov 24, 2015
288
152
Las Vegas
I have AP1 and MCU1 and the screen is peeling. Also not sure how much longer thr flash chip will last. I was wondering if anyone got their MC1 upgraded to MC2 with AP1? I would love to finally be able to use the browser and play some games while waiting to supercharge. Also the map loading would make it much more usable. Also it would hopefully fix my screen yellowing and peeling issue. I think that is worth the $2500 upgrade cost.

no one yet but apparently it might be next month for us classics
 
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Akikiki

A'-Lo-HA ! y'all
Nov 26, 2012
6,324
4,452
Kaneohe, HI
@No2DinosaurFuel, We've not seen any reports here or on TM for a S older than a '16. But hold out a little longer, I believe you will see it start before end of summer. If I was in your pickle, I would submit a work request at the end of July and every two there after until they accept it. Why not, it doesn't cost anything.
 

Jan Fiala

Member
Jun 24, 2017
276
204
Prague
I dropped this afternoon my Model S at the Service Center Basel/Möhlin for HDW3 (FSD) upgrade. I got feedback from SC telling that the HDW3 upgrade successfully completed but I will have to wait until tomorrow to get my Tesla back (Firmware upgrade for HDW3 is not yet completed , furthermore the Database update should be also completed tomorrow).

Which AP/MCU originally?
 

PatrickCH4313

Member
Mar 6, 2016
568
347
Argovie, Switzerland
Hello Patrick what did you see on your dash after upgrade to HW3 ?
The Autopilot-Computer name changed:

from "2.5 Computer"

IMG_3899-2.jpeg

to " Computer für vollautonomes Fahren" (computer for FSD)

IMG_4201-2.jpeg
 
Last edited:

croman

Active Member
Nov 21, 2016
4,626
6,551
Chicago, IL
Having FSD computer is not enough to get stop light and stop sign reaction feature. Must be a region with updated maps AND functionality turned on by Tesla. EU is restricted (and based on upcoming regs, likely nerfed until Germans can catch up and then magically regs will change).

Elon recently tweeted Europe has more variety in signage and lights and therefore will take even longer.
 

summit123

Member
Dec 15, 2012
64
12
NY
Anyone know if the MCU2 upgrade comes with/includes a new LTE antenna? Just wondering if the MCU1->MCU2 upgrade that is expected to happen later will also come with an antenna upgrade. I am currently still on 3G in my MCU1.
 

MP3Mike

Well-Known Member
Feb 1, 2016
14,978
31,853
Oregon
Anyone know if the MCU2 upgrade comes with/includes a new LTE antenna? Just wondering if the MCU1->MCU2 upgrade that is expected to happen later will also come with an antenna upgrade. I am currently still on 3G in my MCU1.

The antenna, in the side view mirror, won't change but the modem included in the MCU2 would be LTE, so you would be upgraded to LTE.
 

quickstrike12

Member
Jun 13, 2018
592
439
Fort Worth Texas
Someone was discussing the rear camera backup view being darker than they remembered after the upgrade. It certainly is.
But only it appears at night. My previous view before the upgrade was excellent night clarity. But now it’s pretty dark. Not unusable by any stretch but much darker.
daytime view seems pretty much the same to me near as I can tell. I wonder how the upgrade could have affected that?
 

boaterva

Supporting Member
Apr 2, 2016
7,562
3,736
Northern Virginia, USA
Someone was discussing the rear camera backup view being darker than they remembered after the upgrade. It certainly is.
But only it appears at night. My previous view before the upgrade was excellent night clarity. But now it’s pretty dark. Not unusable by any stretch but much darker.
daytime view seems pretty much the same to me near as I can tell. I wonder how the upgrade could have affected that?
Yeah, I was checking it for someone (sorry on late report) and it does look about the same in the day. Didn't know it is different at night, will have to check that now that you mention it. You'd think a faster computer would make it better at night (but of course who knows what the software has done....)
 

croman

Active Member
Nov 21, 2016
4,626
6,551
Chicago, IL
Someone was discussing the rear camera backup view being darker than they remembered after the upgrade. It certainly is.
But only it appears at night. My previous view before the upgrade was excellent night clarity. But now it’s pretty dark. Not unusable by any stretch but much darker.
daytime view seems pretty much the same to me near as I can tell. I wonder how the upgrade could have affected that?

It is present but not as noticeable during day. There is different video processing going on. The codec is different and the black range and overall contrast is greater but it is darker in brightness. A simple software adjustment is needed.

I need to go to my car at night and I can post comparison photos. It definitely is way useless now at night even with brake lights and reverse lights.
 

VValleyEV

Supporting Member
Sep 23, 2018
667
3,877
Cottonwood, AZ
I am at a shaded picnic table in a park in Scottsdale, nice breeze and unseasonably cool (90F), no one else around, waiting for my AP3/MCU2 upgrade to complete at the service center nearby. My Model S was built in Feb 2018, a matter of days before they cut over to MCU2, so this is a conversion from AP2.5/MCU1 to AP3/MCU2.

I am pretty jazzed about it, should be done in another 90min or so. My wife has a 2019 M3 with AP3, so will be very interesting to compare and contrast. I am expecting to get the same stop light/stop features, and improved visualizations for pedestrians, traffic cones, etc. I used my AP2.5 for the long trip here this morning, I let it do the Nav on Autopilot with automatic lane changes etc, and it did superbly even with AP2.5. Curious to see if I will be able to tell the difference on the way home.
 

croman

Active Member
Nov 21, 2016
4,626
6,551
Chicago, IL
I am at a shaded picnic table in a park in Scottsdale, nice breeze and unseasonably cool (90F), no one else around, waiting for my AP3/MCU2 upgrade to complete at the service center nearby. My Model S was built in Feb 2018, a matter of days before they cut over to MCU2, so this is a conversion from AP2.5/MCU1 to AP3/MCU2.

I am pretty jazzed about it, should be done in another 90min or so. My wife has a 2019 M3 with AP3, so will be very interesting to compare and contrast. I am expecting to get the same stop light/stop features, and improved visualizations for pedestrians, traffic cones, etc. I used my AP2.5 for the long trip here this morning, I let it do the Nav on Autopilot with automatic lane changes etc, and it did superbly even with AP2.5. Curious to see if I will be able to tell the difference on the way home.

It will calibrate then you'll need to pull over and park to enable features. You'll also need wifi to download new maps for the traffic light feature.
 
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goRt

Member
Nov 22, 2016
287
151
Original Hampshire ;-)
Having FSD computer is not enough to get stop light and stop sign reaction feature. Must be a region with updated maps AND functionality turned on by Tesla. EU is restricted (and based on upcoming regs, likely nerfed until Germans can catch up and then magically regs will change).

Elon recently tweeted Europe has more variety in signage and lights and therefore will take even longer.

It's a UN resolution the EU has chosen to adopt and, in shock news, Switzerland isn't in the EU.
 
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BrokerDon

Active Member
Aug 23, 2014
1,394
1,283
Newport Coast, CA
Someone was discussing the rear camera backup view being darker than they remembered after the upgrade. It certainly is.
But only it appears at night. My previous view before the upgrade was excellent night clarity. But now it’s pretty dark. Not unusable by any stretch but much darker.
Daytime view seems pretty much the same to me near as I can tell. I wonder how the upgrade could have affected that?

Has anyone installed brighter backup lights? Could be an easy & cheap fix for the rear camera backup view being darker. I just installed brighter (significantly more lumens) backup LEDs on another vehicle and the difference was amazing.
 
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Vector2

Member
Apr 8, 2020
31
35
Nola
Had HW3 and MCU 2 done a few days ago. I was skeptical of getting the MCU upgrade but it is worth it if you can afford it. For me, I like having an actually responsive interface and map, full sentry mode/dashcam, live rear and side view, and voice command which works consistently.

As far as AP, I don't notice a tremendous difference in most situations and I don't care that much about the visualizations. Also traffic light control is useless at the moment since you can only go the speed limit.
 
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VValleyEV

Supporting Member
Sep 23, 2018
667
3,877
Cottonwood, AZ
OK I couldn’t tell much difference on the way home, after upgrade from AP2.5/MCU1 to AP3/MCU2. However, the car was telling me that a software upgrade was available, which I added after arriving home, and it includes the traffic light and stop sign stuff.

So I will do some further testing, starting with stop lights. But it is so great to be caught up with the latest AP/MCU hardware, and should allow me to benefit much more from the upgrades for the next year or two. The MCU2 upgrade makes a huge difference, absolutely well worth it to me just for the speed of the display when in satellite map mode. Especially since I had kinda given up on the possibility of such an upgrade.
 
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Amacharola

Member
Jan 27, 2020
63
35
York, PA
I could not connect to my MCU1 2015 via the Tesla app today. I went out to the garage and my WiFi and Bluetooth were not connected. I started the car and nothing improved. I went through an MCU reboot and it would not immediately come back up, it seemed to be trying to boot (ac and radio would kick on for a minute while the screen stayed black). I plugged in the charger, walked into the house for a few minutes, came back out and the MCU was running ok. Is this the start of it failing?
 

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