Tesla infotainment system upgradeable from MCU1 to MCU2

[Silicon Desert]

Well Tesla did say to wait until you received an invitation to submit your upgrade request...

Yup, reminds me of another situation that most of us with kids have experienced...…
I go on a long trip and tell the kid that we won't be there for 5 hours. BUT 10 minutes into the trip, I hear ...….. "Are we there yet?"

 

[nimrooz]

So, my car is at the SC now, I asked about the infotainment and hw3 upgrade, he said that he would check with Tesla parts center.
Is it possible that any of you guys have the part numbers for the kit and the camera split cable harness needed for the ap2.0 upgrade?

 

[MarcusMaximus]

And if Tesla were to simply adjust expectations and tell us this wouldn't be available until September (or some time far away in the future), then people wouldn't be wasting the technician's time with these requests.

Um, they did, people just decided they don’t believe them. The website currently says “Late May” for AP 2.0 and states you will only be able to get an upgrade if you get the email invitation.

 

[obie_fl]

Still waiting on my invite for my 2.5 Model S, and yes I have asked and been told I need to wait for the invite. If I start seeing 2.0 invites I guess that means I need to bug them again. I'm guessing COVID may have slowed things down considerably.

 

[Bumper]

And if Tesla were to simply adjust expectations and tell us this wouldn't be available until September (or some time far away in the future), then people wouldn't be wasting the technician's time with these requests.

they have been updating the web site as the date slips. But the directions remain the same. Wait for an email that your vehicle is eligible. The fact that this is happening at all reassured me that I bought the right brand. Try asking any other auto manufacturer to put a 2020 touchscreen and faster computer in a 3-7 year old vehicle and see what happens.

 

[nimrooz]

Try asking any other auto manufacturer to put a 2020 touchscreen and faster computer

Well, even if mcu2 is faster then the mcu1, it's still far away from any "2020" tech...
And I have had other brands where the dealer upgraded 5 years old satnav headunits with integrated hvac/seat controls to the newest, so this is actually not that special... And also, it was easier to ask for upgrades on that dealer.

-Still, I'm happy Tesla will offer this

 

[Akikiki]

No, it is not "still far away". Respectfully, I think you will change your mind once you use it.

 

[nimrooz]

No, it is not "still far away". Respectfully, I think you will change your mind once you use it.

Regarding tech specs it is far away from brand new 2020 tech, however, with that in mind I'm not saying that it's feeling old compared to other things.
And yes, I've used both mcu's, it's a decent upgrade from MCU1 to MCU2, and want to do the infotainment upgrade on the ap2.0 S that's in the service center now

But anyway, you have done the upgrade, and I understand that you had a ap2.0 also.
Do you have the part numbers for both the kit and the harness needed for the ap2.0 upgrade?
The guy at SC said that he would check with Tesla parts center if it exists parts for the upgrade, so if you have the part numbers I could give it to him on a silver plate

 

[Bumper]

Well, even if mcu2 is faster then the mcu1, it's still far away from any "2020" tech...
And I have had other brands where the dealer upgraded 5 years old satnav headunits with integrated hvac/seat controls to the newest, so this is actually not that special... And also, it was easier to ask for upgrades on that dealer.

-Still, I'm happy Tesla will offer this

true enough on the hardware. My point was more that it’s what’s in the current shipping vehicle. I’m glad you had a good experience with others in the past. My Experience with Ford upgrades was pretty poor.

 

[Akikiki]

it's a decent upgrade from MCU1 to MCU2, and want to do the infotainment upgrade on the ap2.0 S that's in the service center now

But anyway, you have done the upgrade, and I understand that you had a ap2.0 also.
Do you have the part numbers for both the kit and the harness needed for the ap2.0 upgrade?

it's a GREAT upgrade from MCU1 to MCU2, I'm so pleased with mine now, I have postponed any idea of a new S for a couple of years. Mapping changes on the screen are amazingly fast.

But anyway, you have done the upgrade, and I understand that you had a ap2.0 also. Yes. 2.0

Do you have the part numbers for both the kit and the harness needed for the ap2.0 upgrade? No, and No. My SC's SA told me, the Tesla supply people sent the wrong kit - sent 2.5. So, local SC had to order the included harness again - next day. So, my invoice reports the wrong part number for 2.0 on the invoice. And it does not show the harness part number. The harness is what distinguishes the upgrade kit from each other, so I've been told.

 

[IchDochNicht]

No, new cars come with AM/FM. However with the retrofit, the new MCU uses a digital tuner whereas MCU1 cars had the analog tuner. Tesla doesn't want to do the extra labor to switch out tuners with the retrofit because they're really in a tight space hard to reach. That's the reason why only retrofit cars won't have AM/FM.

Theoretically (and some have done it practically) you could switch out the tuner yourself finding the part in a salvage or something. Then you'd need to change the config of the car and that requires some software skills. If I can find a way to get an MCU2 into factory mode, I'll do it to mine for sure. AM/FM just feels essential to a car.

It feels like an incomplete solution for a lot of money. I do use FM radio, and it would bother me not to have it. I guess I'm going to skip this for the time being.

Tuner2 also only supports FM radio, so even if they did allow us to retrofit the tuner we'd still lose AM radio.

Still better than no radio at all.

 

[whitex]

To all those thinking of upgrading, I recently swapped out my MCU1 emmc chip with a new one. MCU1 is performing better than new. No, I don't get any MCU2 specific features, like netflix or some games, but for me personally I couldn't care less (have MCU2 in my wife's car, never used any of the MCU2 features). The emmc chip I put is massively over-speced, but because of this, I can pretty much guarantee that it will provide this same level of fast performance for the next decade or two (it's expected life is 140+ years). As a reference, the original chip I pulled was reading at an average 17MB/s, the new chip reads at >100MB/s (sustain read speeds, burst is faster). I have zero desire to pay to get MCU2. Heck, I much preferred to have the separate IC still functional when the MCU1 was dead - you can at least charge/drive the car. At this point, I would not even pay $500 for MCU2 (I have AP1, if I had AP2.5 I might be tempted to pay $500).

 

[bob_p]

We have MCU1 in our 2017 S and MCU2 in our 2018 X. We've found that the few AM stations we listened to (primarily for live sports) are also broadcast on FM in HD radio, so losing AM probably isn't a huge problem, as long as FM/HD radio are available.

If we only lost AM radio with the Infotainment Upgrade, that would be fine. But losing FM/HD/XM, without a suitable replacement, will probably keep us on the sidelines for the MCU2 upgrade.

 

[Trebek1762]

To all those thinking of upgrading, I recently swapped out my MCU1 emmc chip with a new one. MCU1 is performing better than new. No, I don't get any MCU2 specific features, like netflix or some games, but for me personally I couldn't care less (have MCU2 in my wife's car, never used any of the MCU2 features). The emmc chip I put is massively over-speced, but because of this, I can pretty much guarantee that it will provide this same level of fast performance for the next decade or two (it's expected life is 140+ years). As a reference, the original chip I pulled was reading at an average 17MB/s, the new chip reads at >100MB/s (sustain read speeds, burst is faster). I have zero desire to pay to get MCU2. Heck, I much preferred to have the separate IC still functional when the MCU1 was dead - you can at least charge/drive the car. At this point, I would not even pay $500 for MCU2 (I have AP1, if I had AP2.5 I might be tempted to pay $500).

Can you do a video to show the increased speed?

If I can keep the MCU1 with increased speed, that would significantly reduce cost and allow me to keep my LH amp.

Makes sense that the bottleneck is the memory speed since people have previously stated the Tegra should be handing it without the hiccups that we all experience.

 

[viper2ko]

Can you do a video to show the increased speed?

If I can keep the MCU1 with increased speed, that would significantly reduce cost and allow me to keep my LH amp.

Second this, would like to see a video of the maps, opening apps etc

Makes sense that the bottleneck is the memory speed since people have previously stated the Tegra should be handing it without the hiccups that we all experience.

 

[f205v]

To all those thinking of upgrading, I recently swapped out my MCU1 emmc chip with a new one. MCU1 is performing better than new. No, I don't get any MCU2 specific features, like netflix or some games, but for me personally I couldn't care less (have MCU2 in my wife's car, never used any of the MCU2 features). The emmc chip I put is massively over-speced, but because of this, I can pretty much guarantee that it will provide this same level of fast performance for the next decade or two (it's expected life is 140+ years). As a reference, the original chip I pulled was reading at an average 17MB/s, the new chip reads at >100MB/s (sustain read speeds, burst is faster). I have zero desire to pay to get MCU2. Heck, I much preferred to have the separate IC still functional when the MCU1 was dead - you can at least charge/drive the car. At this point, I would not even pay $500 for MCU2 (I have AP1, if I had AP2.5 I might be tempted to pay $500).

Can you please share make and model of your new EMMC? Thanks.

 

[croman]

Can you please share make and model of your new EMMC? Thanks.

It's too late, my MCU1 Died....

 

[f205v]

Thank you @croman

 

[Dutchie]

I’m in the same situation you are. If it takes another 6 months to get my MCU2/HW3 upgrade then so be it. I fully expected I’d have to buy a new Tesla to get the good stuff. So $2500 and a few months of waiting is a deal. And maybe by then they’ll figure out a way I can buy a digital FM tuner upgrade to go with it.

Or they might have even a new MCU3

 

[boaterva]

So, we have this issue with the upgrades.... Tesla Data Leak: Old Components With Personal Info Find Their Way On eBay

Can someone remind me what logins/passwords we used on MCU1? I can't think of anything except Spotify and I just changed that, and am about to update the cars.

Anything else I think was only on MCU2 (I know Netflix, etc., is new, of course). Is that correct? I hope most SC's did indeed reset the old MCUs...