Tesla infotainment system upgradeable from MCU1 to MCU2

[viper2ko]

I have AP2.5/Dec 2017 delivery...

But he didn’t say “not ready yet”, he said “requires intel MCU”. That doesn’t imply I can get the HW3 upgrade in the future without replacing the MCU1 or that they are working on it...

Well as far as the service guys are concerned so far to this point HW3 does require MCU2. That's not to say in 6 months it won't

 

[What Gas]

Th

Is Tesla serious?!?
I made an appointment to get the HW3 upgraded on our Model X/MCU1.
I don’t care about games, streaming or the visualization!
I just want the FSD computer upgraded I already paid for...

This Morning I got the following text from the Tesla Service Center:

“I'm reviewing your upcoming appointment. As far as the HW3 retrotfit, this would require an upgrade to the Intel MCU which you are eligible for. This would be a cost of $2500, which includes replacement of the MCU, instrument cluster and the HW3 ecu. Would this be of interest to you?”

That means we early adopters CAN’T get our promised, free HW upgrade for the FSD future of our MCU1 car?
Didn’t they tell us that we get “all necessary hardware replaced for free” to get our car to FSD capability?

What are your thoughts on that?[/QUOTE

Tesla misleads customers

 

[zanary]

DONE!

My Infotainment upgrade has been completed. Dropped off my Model S on Friday, and picked up a few hours ago. Here's my details writeup.

-----

Summary: This is possibly the best $2500 you will even spend on your Model S/X.


My Vehicle: 2017 Model S P100D, built and delivered in September 2017. It is equipped with MCU1, AP 2.5 and I have the Full Self Driving pre-purchased. It’s fully wrapped with a graphic wrap and had no issues with Tesla performing the upgrade. I was already running 2020.12 prior to the upgrade. Still running 2020.12 after the upgrade. I only noticed that they pushed out 2020.12 just once after it was all completed. I assume that the option codes were updated, so when 2020.12 was re-installed it added all of the new “stuff” that is supported on MCU2.

Here are the details that might interest some of you.

• You do get a new MCU screen. Mine still had the plastic protective wrap on it which I remove when I got into the vehicle.
• You do get a new IC screen.
• All settings are retained except for. (1) WIFI settings/connections, (2) Bluetooth settings/pairings, (3) Web browser favorites.
• Trip values, and custom labels are retained.
• Seat positions, mirror positions, and driver profile settings for each driver remain.
• Navigation history and favorites are retained.
• Favorite audio stations are retained (Slacker, and Tune-In)
• Historical audio stations are also retained.
• The warning “beeps” that Joe Mode reduces are much louder than with MCU1. This may freak you out at first, but it's loud. It will sure get your attention.
• Two type of vehicle calibrations are needed. (1) One for Autopilot basic features, (2) One for lane changes with/without notification. If you go into the Autopilot Settings you’ll that the second one only starts to calibrate once the first one has been completed.
• Wifi appears much quicker
• LTE appears much quicker. It still connects to 3G when out of 4G and LTE range. The bar visuals have no change, but connection is much quicker.
• The games had to be downloaded for the 1st time. You need Wifi for this.
• There was a required Navigation update that had to be done over WIFI.
• Overall, the MCU is 100x quicker. HUGE improvement in responsiveness. HUGE improvement in refresh of data on the screen.
• Visuals on IC2 are 100x smoother and more detailed than before. Animation is 100x better as well, and so smooth.
• All visuals (garbage cans, cones, lights, road markings, bike land markings, etc…) all appear on IC2
• I did have to re-enable Ambient Lights. Maybe they turned it off during the install.
• The scroll wheels are hugely responsive. Each scroll now is recorded whereas before I would have to scroll a few times for it to reduce the volume or the temperature (both scroll wheels behave the same, so it was not a defective scroll wheels). Now, they operate so smoothly and with immediate response.
• I have the Premium Audio (which was standard on my MS). Before the upgrade I had a EQ that went to 12. Now it only goes to 8. It also has Immersive Sound with three options, however I tested it out with a variety of music (classical, dance, gansta rap, disco, pop, and Spanish), and they all sound the same. I think before I had Off and Dolby Surround. Now I don’t see Dolby listed anywhere.
• The release notes, manual all appears immediately. No issues with a blank screen anymore.
• YouTube works perfectly (like your iPhone in portrait mode where the vide is on the top, followed by meta-data below it). Sound quality is impressive for YouTube.
• I got my USB Drive working again. Just plugged it in. Before I dropped it off, I got the “USB Full” false positive error that everyone is reporting (even on 2020.12), but when I just plugged it in after the upgrade, it works perfectly. Not too sure why as I had 2020.12 before and after the upgrade. Very happy that it’s recording both Sentry and Dashcam again. It’s the S500 - TeslaCam SSD Extreme from PureTesla if anyone is curious.
• There is no FM/AM/XM radio. We knew that, but I just wanted to confirm this finding in the event you were hopeful.
• I did not get to keep the old MCU1/IC1. There was a $1000 core charge if I wanted to keep it.
• I did not notice any sort of USB charging speed increase (in case you were thinking that the amperage might be increased).
• Before you drop off your vehicle, turn off any Vehicle PIN you might have setup. You will need to re-enable it once you get your Tesla back.
• When you re-pair your Tesla with your iPhone, the name will now change to Tesla Model S followed by the name of your vehicle. Before the default was just Tesla Model S.
• When I re-connected my Tesla to my home WIFI, it shows up with a new MAC address, and the manufacture of the chipset appears to be LG Innotek now (previously it was Parrot SA). I’ve only noticed a 2.4ghz connection, but I’m sure it will switch to 5.0ghz when it needs to download something heavy (software, game updates, another navigation update).

Note: I mention x100 throughout the above bullets not as a exact measurement, but as a emotion statement to indicate that it's so damn quick. It's night and day!

 

[steinermeister]

Awesome review, thanks for that! Put a request in for next Monday, hopefully it sticks.

 

[Gt1948]

Great review, glad to hear that usb full error is fixed.

 

[vraev]

DONE!

My Infotainment upgrade has been completed. Dropped off my Model S on Friday, and picked up a few hours ago. Here's my details writeup.

-----

Summary: This is possibly the best $2500 you will even spend on your Model S/X.


Note: I mention x100 throughout the above bullets not as a exact measurement, but as a emotion statement to indicate that it's so damn quick. It's night and day!

Thanks for the detailed writeup. Would love to see a video of before and after if you do have some footage.

 

[geoffmanley]

If you haven't gotten the 4G LTE upgrade, does that come with the new MCU?

 

[MP3Mike]

If you haven't gotten the 4G LTE upgrade, does that come with the new MCU?

Yes.

 

[geoffmanley]

Yes.

Well, since the LTE upgrade is like $500, this upgrade is getting very tempting at $2,500. Now just to get clearance from the tower (wife).

 

[Nosken]

Did you ask about having the FM radio installed for a fee?

 

[zanary]

Did you ask about having the FM radio installed for a fee?

They said No for the FM Radio retrofits.

 

[galvatron]

Thanks for the info Zanary! That was very informative.

So now the biggest question still remaining is whether Tesla will support installing the Digital Radio Tuner and if not, whether it can be installed on our own after the upgrade.

 

[zanary]

Here are the details that might interest some of you.

• You do get a new MCU screen. Mine still had the plastic protective wrap on it which I remove when I got into the vehicle.
• You do get a new IC screen.
• All settings are retained except for. (1) WIFI settings/connections, (2) Bluetooth settings/pairings, (3) Web browser favorites.
• Trip values, and custom labels are retained.
• Seat positions, mirror positions, and driver profile settings for each driver remain.
• Navigation history and favorites are retained.
• Favorite audio stations are retained (Slacker, and Tune-In)
• Historical audio stations are also retained.
• The warning “beeps” that Joe Mode reduces are much louder than with MCU1. This may freak you out at first, but it's loud. It will sure get your attention.
• Two type of vehicle calibrations are needed. (1) One for Autopilot basic features, (2) One for lane changes with/without notification. If you go into the Autopilot Settings you’ll that the second one only starts to calibrate once the first one has been completed.
• Wifi appears much quicker
• LTE appears much quicker. It still connects to 3G when out of 4G and LTE range. The bar visuals have no change, but connection is much quicker.
• The games had to be downloaded for the 1st time. You need Wifi for this.
• There was a required Navigation update that had to be done over WIFI.
• Overall, the MCU is 100x quicker. HUGE improvement in responsiveness. HUGE improvement in refresh of data on the screen.
• Visuals on IC2 are 100x smoother and more detailed than before. Animation is 100x better as well, and so smooth.
• All visuals (garbage cans, cones, lights, road markings, bike land markings, etc…) all appear on IC2
• I did have to re-enable Ambient Lights. Maybe they turned it off during the install.
• The scroll wheels are hugely responsive. Each scroll now is recorded whereas before I would have to scroll a few times for it to reduce the volume or the temperature (both scroll wheels behave the same, so it was not a defective scroll wheels). Now, they operate so smoothly and with immediate response.
• I have the Premium Audio (which was standard on my MS). Before the upgrade I had a EQ that went to 12. Now it only goes to 8. It also has Immersive Sound with three options, however I tested it out with a variety of music (classical, dance, gansta rap, disco, pop, and Spanish), and they all sound the same. I think before I had Off and Dolby Surround. Now I don’t see Dolby listed anywhere.
• The release notes, manual all appears immediately. No issues with a blank screen anymore.
• YouTube works perfectly (like your iPhone in portrait mode where the vide is on the top, followed by meta-data below it). Sound quality is impressive for YouTube.
• I got my USB Drive working again. Just plugged it in. Before I dropped it off, I got the “USB Full” false positive error that everyone is reporting (even on 2020.12), but when I just plugged it in after the upgrade, it works perfectly. Not too sure why as I had 2020.12 before and after the upgrade. Very happy that it’s recording both Sentry and Dashcam again. It’s the S500 - TeslaCam SSD Extreme from PureTesla if anyone is curious.
• There is no FM/AM/XM radio. We knew that, but I just wanted to confirm this finding in the event you were hopeful.
• I did not get to keep the old MCU1/IC1. There was a $1000 core charge if I wanted to keep it.
• I did not notice any sort of USB charging speed increase (in case you were thinking that the amperage might be increased).
• Before you drop off your vehicle, turn off any Vehicle PIN you might have setup. You will need to re-enable it once you get your Tesla back.
• When you re-pair your Tesla with your iPhone, the name will now change to Tesla Model S followed by the name of your vehicle. Before the default was just Tesla Model S.
• When I re-connected my Tesla to my home WIFI, it shows up with a new MAC address, and the manufacture of the chipset appears to be LG Innotek now (previously it was Parrot SA). I’ve only noticed a 2.4ghz connection, but I’m sure it will switch to 5.0ghz when it needs to download something heavy (software, game updates, another navigation update).

Note: I mention x100 throughout the above bullets not as a exact measurement, but as a emotion statement to indicate that it's so damn quick. It's night and day!

A few more updates.

(1) LTE signal is much stronger. In areas where I got one bar, I now see 4 to 5 bars. Impressive.
(2) A Navigiation Update was downloaded and install. It was 2019.20-10487. I'm guessing I already had this but since the MCU was replaced, but needed to be downloaded.
(3) Calendar settings did not reset. Everything was there from before.
(4) Backup camera now appears immediately when you put the vehicle in R.

 

[zanary]

Thanks for the info Zanary! That was very informative.

So now the biggest question still remaining is whether Tesla will support installing the Digital Radio Tuner and if not, whether it can be installed on our own after the upgrade.

Someone posted this URL which shows what you need to purchase and removal and re-installation instructions here: MCU2 Upgrade and AM/FM/XM Radio Issues | TeslaTap

 

[Dan Baldwin]

I am really looking forward to getting this upgrade, but having enhanced AP 2.5, I will not be paying the additional $4K for FSD. Hopefully they won't make us non FSD owners wait too long.

 

[Robotpedlr]

@zanary - Thanks for the detailed report.. very helpful and all good news.

I have my appointment on Thursday for my upgrade, just got the “reminder” text, so it looks like they dint cancel my appointment like some thought they would (may still happen) as I initiated it from my end (no invite). Like you, I am on a 2017 100 with 2.5 and MCU1 including FSD that was purchased when I got the car.

How far in advance did you get the cost info emailed to you for your appointment? I checked my scheduled appointment in my app and it shows it is on the second step “preparing your cost estimate”. I know how much it will be obviously, just looking for that as a final confirmation that it is a go.

 

[zanary]

@zanary - Thanks for the detailed report.. very helpful and all good news.

I have my appointment on Thursday for my upgrade, just got the “reminder” text, so it looks like they dint cancel my appointment like some thought they would (may still happen) as I initiated it from my end (no invite). Like you, I am on a 2017 100 with 2.5 and MCU1 including FSD that was purchased when I got the car.

How far in advance did you get the cost info emailed to you for your appointment? I checked my scheduled appointment in my app and it shows it is on the second step “preparing your cost estimate”. I know how much it will be obviously, just looking for that as a final confirmation that it is a go.

I never did. I saw the PDF when I dropped it off on Friday afternoon. It's going to be $2500 + Tax. You are really going to enjoy it.

I went on a 50 mile drive today, and visuals on the IC are just amazing, and when switching to different saved Slacker stations is so quick it's absorb. I found myself staring at the 5 bars of LTE often just waiting to see if it goes back down to 1 to 2 bars...

You begin to realize that your Tesla feels like a new Tesla all over again.

 

[rob4448585]

A few more updates.

(1) LTE signal is much stronger. In areas where I got one bar, I now see 4 to 5 bars. Impressive.
(2) A Navigiation Update was downloaded and install. It was 2019.20-10487. I'm guessing I already had this but since the MCU was replaced, but needed to be downloaded.
(3) Calendar settings did not reset. Everything was there from before.
(4) Backup camera now appears immediately when you put the vehicle in R.

Awesome updates, Quick question.
If you go into the radio section in the new MCU do you have/see the option for AM/FM/XM? Or are they gone/hidden?

 

[zanary]

Awesome updates, Quick question.
If you go into the radio section in the new MCU do you have/see the option for AM/FM/XM? Or are they gone/hidden?

Radio doesn't appear, and the 10 radio stations I added as favorites just before I dropped off my Tesla for the upgrade are all gone. Looks like they covered all edge cases as part of this Infotainment upgrade.

But, Slacker/Tune-In works so much better. I know it won't give you your FM or AM stations, but the experience of everything working on MCU2 is just unbelievable... It's hard to explain, but it feels like Christmas in March!

 

[GlmnAlyAirCar]

I’m sure updates for mcu 1 will be stopping once mcu 2 update is made available to everyone. So that’s one more reason to consider an upgrade.