Tesla infotainment system upgradeable from MCU1 to MCU2

[BrokerDon]

And an update. I know you've all been waiting to see if this time they finally do it.

But no. On Tuesday they texted me that they were still waiting for parts and so they'd postponed my appointment until a week from Friday (12/18). So, I continue to wait. At least this time it's only projected to be an extra week rather than for an unknown time.

Still hoping somebody has a pointer to a good checklist for this upgrade. I know quite a few people have gone home only to find that something on their car didn't work.

I just had my 2015 P85D's MCU2 upgrade completed 2 days ago.

Here's the checklist I texted my awesome Tesla Costa Mesa Service Center technician after they'd received my car:

Please port over ALL my Settings from MCU1 to MCU2: lifetime trip details, wifi, Homelink, driver profiles etc.

Also please have your QC confirm the following issues / functions reported by previous MCU2 upgrade customers work correctly BEFORE my pick up (I will verify at pickup too):

1) fob locks / unlocks doors, frunk, trunk, charge port, etc.

2) LTE works using the satellite image map or a website and seeing the top status shows LTE

3) WiFi is working

4) Tesla app connects to the car

5) Bluetooth is working – have your phone inside the car and see that your contacts have loaded and/or you can make a call inside the car

6) streaming audio works

7) both front USB ports work and can play music

8) the film on the new center display is removed

9) High Fidelity sound going to ALL speakers (front door & sub not mixed up)

The only thing I had to redo when I got home was my WiFi... which was perfectly fine since MCU2 now can connect via 5.0 GHz (MCU1 was 2.4 GHz only)

 

[lonnielevi]

Just as a follow up on the decision to keep my current screen or get the new one in regards to warranty. My service advisor just told me that the MCU2 upgrade comes with a 4 year warranty. This seems to go against what I’ve seen posted online saying 2 years. I’ve attached the text exchange as an image.

Also, it seems that they handle the MCU2 replacement as separate part numbers depending on if you want a new screen or not. They apparently can’t just take the CPU from an order that included the screen? If I want to keep my current screen it is going to take another two weeks to get those parts even though they already have the MCU2 + screen in stock.

 

[Hovscorpion1]

2 days I get my car back after MCU upgrade and the 12V battery notification pops up. LOL.

 

[viper2ko]

Just as a follow up on the decision to keep my current screen or get the new one in regards to warranty. My service advisor just told me that the MCU2 upgrade comes with a 4 year warranty. This seems to go against what I’ve seen posted online saying 2 years. I’ve attached the text exchange as an image.

Also, it seems that they handle the MCU2 replacement as separate part numbers depending on if you want a new screen or not. They apparently can’t just take the CPU from an order that included the screen? If I want to keep my current screen it is going to take another two weeks to get those parts even though they already have the MCU2 + screen in stock.

LOL, save that text and lawyer up when they tell you its only 1 year

 

[David.85D]

Hi - hope this hasn’t been answered many times before. I have a AP1/MCU1 2014 with free premium connectivity (XM, data, etc). The car was previously updated to 4G. If I do the MCU2 upgrade, will I loose free connectivity? If I pay the extra $500 to retain XM, will I have to start paying for that?

 

[brkaus]

Hi - hope this hasn’t been answered many times before. I have a AP1/MCU1 2014 with free premium connectivity (XM, data, etc). The car was previously updated to 4G. If I do the MCU2 upgrade, will I loose free connectivity? If I pay the extra $500 to retain XM, will I have to start paying for that?

You will maintain free connectivity (satellite maps, streaming, etc)

If you pay $500 you will get FM + XM if you had XM before. You will loose AM.

XM is an additional paid service. Should have always been an additional paid service. It was never included with the free connectivity package as far as I know.

Per the infotainment page - Infotainment Upgrade

Note: Sirius XM radio is only available on vehicles with existing XM radio antennas and requires an additional subscription.

 

[David.85D]

You will maintain free connectivity (satellite maps, streaming, etc)

If you pay $500 you will get FM + XM if you had XM before. You will loose AM.

XM is an additional paid service. Should have always been an additional paid service. It was never included with the free connectivity package as far as I know.

Per the infotainment page - Infotainment Upgrade

Note: Sirius XM radio is only available on vehicles with existing XM radio antennas and requires an additional subscription.

it was/is free on the older cars with the right packages (UHFS and sunroof). I have it and use it. Never paid monthly.

Under my Tesla account it shows this:“Subscriptions
Premium Connectivity
Free Unlimited”

 

[brkaus]

it was/is free on the older cars with the right packages (UHFS and sunroof). I have it and use it. Never paid monthly.

Under my Tesla account it shows this:“Subscriptions
Premium Connectivity
Free Unlimited”

both my Tesla cars show that too. But XM was never part of that package. It is a separate subscription directly from Sirius XM.

 

[Akikiki]

it was/is free on the older cars with the right packages (UHFS and sunroof). I have it and use it. Never paid monthly.

Under my Tesla account it shows this:“Subscriptions
Premium Connectivity
Free Unlimited”

@brkaus, is spot on with his statement that XM was never free. You might have a situation that got it for you. Did you buy yours used? Previous owner may have signed up. Maybe its a mistake. But when you move from MCU1 with analog radio to MCU2 with digital radio, its going treat/be like you are not an XM user. The car's XM is not going to know it had XM before. Whatever the reason is that your current XM is working, its got nothing to do with Tesla Inc. We didn't even have a trail with XM radios If you have XM it was not Tesla that pays for it Sorry.

The older cars with UHFS came XM capable, but not activated. Premium Connectivity has nothing to do with XM.

 

[Krash]

My understanding is that you can prepay for a lifetime subscription with XM but it is off menu or unpublished since XM dies not like to sell it that way, probably for accounting reasons. It would be sad to have done that before upgrading to the new MCU2 tuner since such a subscription is tied to the hardware serial number which would be discarded. So it would be possible to unknowingly buy one used that way, although very rare.

 

[lonnielevi]

LOL, save that text and lawyer up when they tell you its only 1 year

Haha. Already have it backed up to Google Photos.

 

[mspohr]

Haha. Already have it backed up to Google Photos.

You do realize that lawyers are a zero sum game?

 

[David.85D]

@brkaus, is spot on with his statement that XM was never free. You might have a situation that got it for you. Did you buy yours used? Previous owner may have signed up. Maybe its a mistake. But when you move from MCU1 with analog radio to MCU2 with digital radio, its going treat/be like you are not an XM user. The car's XM is not going to know it had XM before. Whatever the reason is that your current XM is working, its got nothing to do with Tesla Inc. We didn't even have a trail with XM radios If you have XM it was not Tesla that pays for it Sorry.

The older cars with UHFS came XM capable, but not activated. Premium Connectivity has nothing to do with XM.

I had no idea. I did buy it used from a private party. Did they sell “lifetime” subscriptions in 2014/2015? Unlikely he is still paying a monthly bill after several years... puzzled now.

 

[brkaus]

I had no idea. I did buy it used from a private party. Did they sell “lifetime” subscriptions in 2014/2015? Unlikely he is still paying a monthly bill after several years... puzzled now.

Yes, they did. There are also some class action lawsuits regarding lifetime subscription. I didn't read details.

 

[thimel]

I have a lifetime subscription to XM. When I get a new car, I can transfer the subscription for $75 to the new radio. I think they weren’t always allowing this transfer and the class action lawsuit requires them to do so.

 

[Akikiki]

I had no idea. I did buy it used from a private party. Did they sell “lifetime” subscriptions in 2014/2015? Unlikely he is still paying a monthly bill after several years... puzzled now.

Yes, they were selling lifetime in 2014 and earlier. So, since you mentioned you bought used, you are using "his". You might be able to salvage your membership. BEFORE you get the radio upgrade, get the Subscription code that authorizes that radio to receive signal. Then after the upgrade, call XM and explain you got a XM radio upgrade hardware and need to transfer to the new radio. And give them the old one and the new one. Be hopeful, -VERY hopeful that they can look up the subscription by code versus your name, unless you know the former owners name. You might have to bluff your way through the process to get it transferred and you also might fail.

 

[David.85D]

Thanks! Very helpful

 

[Krash]

Anyone know how long the line was shut down for the refresh nose? Or for AP 1.0 to AP 2.0? Did it shut down at all?

 

[Akikiki]

I think I remember for the new front end, line was down 10 days in that spring.

I don't think it was shutdown for AP 1.0 to AP 2.0. You know how they those kinds of surprises. Suddenly there's cars with different stuff.

I was at my SC in late Sep '14 hanging around (making my usual nuisance) when I saw my first AP 1.0 car. No one knew what we were seeing. It was that black box cover on the lower grille. They had one sales person as this was our only location. I found her and started asking. She didn't know what I was talking about. Brought her outside to the line of new cars waiting delivery and pointed it out. No one had any idea. I remember we looked at the Monroney sticker, and it did not even mention different hardware. No info. It was a couple of weeks later it was on Tesla.com configurator and Electrek started talking about it.

As I recall the transition to AP 2.0 was about the same, the black box cover was gone, and we saw all these cameras everywhere. Of course there was no software right then to support it, so we had no idea what it was for. I think then the rumors were that the cameras were for cross traffic when backing up and blind spot monitoring. But naw, didn't happen then.

Useful? Leave a $1 tip,

 

[BrokerDon]

Just noticed that my home 1st generation Tesla High Power Wall Connector ("HPWC") on a 100A breaker (80A maximum charge rate) defaulted to 40A after my MCU2 upgrade. It had been at 60A for years. Easy fix on my MCU2 screen... but something to watch when plugging into other Tesla Wall Connectors and HPWC at other Destination Chargers and friends with Tesla WC and HPWC who have > 40A charging available.