Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Tesla infotainment system upgradeable from MCU1 to MCU2

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
I know they geofence the video feeds on MLB.tv, do they do the same for radio? I can't remember and it's been a long time since I've been in my home market during a radio broadcast.

Also, bummed that I paid the $20 this season, so far it's got me zilch. 8-(
I know how you feel. We purchased “smoothie a week for the entire school year” at a PTA auction last summer. Good case and all, but certainly hasn’t worked out in our favor.
 
Looks like I'm being successfully scheduled. Early 2017 MX, AP2. Never received an email, third proactive schedule attempt. Scheduled for Friday the 29th.

However, they're trying to add an additional $243 in labor to the agreement. Been following the thread so I know that shouldn't be the case, but has anyone found the correct contact method to ask for the charge to be removed? Calling the SC itself is only putting me on the automated system treadmill.
 
Looks like I'm being successfully scheduled. Early 2017 MX, AP2. Never received an email, third proactive schedule attempt. Scheduled for Friday the 29th.

However, they're trying to add an additional $243 in labor to the agreement. Been following the thread so I know that shouldn't be the case, but has anyone found the correct contact method to ask for the charge to be removed? Calling the SC itself is only putting me on the automated system treadmill.

Mine was the same, but a different amount. It was followed by a corrected remove of the labor charge in a new invoice. Without requesting.
 
Looks like I'm being successfully scheduled. Early 2017 MX, AP2. Never received an email, third proactive schedule attempt. Scheduled for Friday the 29th.

However, they're trying to add an additional $243 in labor to the agreement. Been following the thread so I know that shouldn't be the case, but has anyone found the correct contact method to ask for the charge to be removed? Calling the SC itself is only putting me on the automated system treadmill.
Did you book it via the phone app and then get a follow up text on it? As on the text to get it clarified because several orders posted here don't have labor.
 
  • Helpful
Reactions: am_dmd
Did you book it via the phone app and then get a follow up text on it? As on the text to get it clarified because several orders posted here don't have labor.
Booked through the app last Friday, text confirmation and email service agreement received today.

Just got through to someone at the SC by calling in, pressing 2 for service, then 2 for car currently in service. Told the service rep the situation, she agreed there shouldn't be an additional labor charge and put me on hold to verify. Came back and said the additional charge was indeed an error and will be sending me a corrected service agreement.
 
Looks like I'm being successfully scheduled. Early 2017 MX, AP2. Never received an email, third proactive schedule attempt. Scheduled for Friday the 29th.

However, they're trying to add an additional $243 in labor to the agreement. Been following the thread so I know that shouldn't be the case, but has anyone found the correct contact method to ask for the charge to be removed? Calling the SC itself is only putting me on the automated system treadmill.

I just replied to the text message saying the official site says labor is included. Shortly thereafter they sent another agreement with labor(And the 4 nuts) removed
 
I was scheduled for MC1>MCU2 tomorrow, but, since I am replacing the MCU and IC surround with Graphite, it will be next week, due to parts.
A couple points.
1. My 11/16 Build, HW2, Model S MCU2 upgrade is no problem, but my AP3 might be an issue. It was mentioned, that they would install the AP3 Hardware, but the software might not be ready for release yet. Not a problem in my book, since there is little extra FSD features. There is a chance the service advisor was confusing it with MCU1 and AP3 hardware.
2. HUGE RED FLAG!!! My, normally very competent Service Advisor mentioned that I would have to change to the Premium connectivity subscription. I will miss my AM/FM radio, but this would be a huge deal breaker for me. I let him know it seems that has not been the case for others.
Please--has anyone had to go to Premium Subscription after the MCU2 Infotainment upgrade? OK--while typing this I checked with the Infotainment upgrade page, and on my account--Free Unlimited Connectivity is listed-Whew! Now I will be OK- :)
 
Confirmed: Got my car back and it went from AP2.0/MCU1 to AP2.0/HW3/MCU2, dropped off on a Friday afternoon, got back end of day today.

Service advisor actually sounded confused at drop off time why I'd replace a functioning MCU. Seems like they don't do a lot of these infotainment upgrades.

In terms of confirmations:
  • I had premium connectivity on MCU1, still have it on MCU2
  • 5GHz wifi just simply works with no other wiring changes. This is going to be amazing, living in an apartment complex 2.4GHz never goes faster than 5-10mbit because of all the nearby interference.
  • HW3 retrofit works just fine on AP2.0 cameras -- running plain old 2020.12.11.1.
  • Dashcam works! Color tone is creepy red instead of creepy orange but otherwise camera fidelity seems pretty much the same.
  • Most of my settings remained intact
In terms of improvements:

  • Holy CRAP this thing is fast! No UI stuttering or lag. Panning and zooming the map is instant. Routing a coast to coast trip takes about 1 second on MCU2 and took about a minute (not even joking) on MCU1
  • Cellular reception seems better -- am able to get reception deep within a garage where I couldn't get LTE before.
  • IC2 animations are a lot higher framerate and more realtime. IC1 was getting really choppy and most of the times when I'm passing a car I get 3 or 4 frames out of it, not a complete smooth transition.

Overall this has been exactly what I've wanted and breathed fresh new life into my Model S, and I no longer feel the desire to trade my 100D in for now. I know it's been greatly debated whether or not this upgrade is worth it, but honestly, if you are the kind of person who cares about your MCU1 being slow and stuttery, this upgrade is an expensive solution but brings you up to parity with the Model 3's infotainment speed. No matter how you try to pump new life into a MCU1, there is no getting around that the Tegra 3 is much much slower than the Apollo Lake Atom chip.
 
Last edited:
Does MCU2 actually have a dedicated TuneIn app? or do you go via the browser?

Yes - same as MCU1. You can log in with your TuneIn account and get access to your favorites. Not all stations play though as I believe there is a certain stream type that is not supported in the Tesla. Attempting to play those will result in a loading error message.

One thing I really like about the MCU 2 is the ability to stream my OTT TV service in the browser so I can watch live TV while supercharging. Of course Netflix/Hulu/YouTube are great as well but good to know that other services also work just fine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Catbiscuits
Glad to hear fellow AP2 owners are finally being scheduled!
I've reached out to my SC twice to inquire for the status of this infotainment upgrade, last time I was told "parts are on order" So I think I'm getting closer?
P100D, paid for FSD years ago, manufactured 10/16.

Received a text on Sunday from Tesla asking if I wanted them to run the #'s on a trade in....
No...I'd like to be scheduled for this upgrade.
 
I know they geofence the video feeds on MLB.tv, do they do the same for radio? I can't remember and it's been a long time since I've been in my home market during a radio broadcast.

Also, bummed that I paid the $20 this season, so far it's got me zilch. 8-(

They do not. The radio broadcasts via MLB.tv are not subject to any blackout rules. Only weirdness is if it is a nationally broadcast game, you may not get any local announcers (similar to TV).

And I imagine that MLB will be reissuing prorated refunds once it is determined how much, if any, of the season they end up playing.
 
Without the MCU2 radio, it is not possible to listen to almost all live sports broadcasts, because the stations are prohibited from streaming those programs.

And the built-in Tesla apps do not provide a replacement.

Unless Tesla adds more streaming app support or smartphone screen mirroring, the fallback is to stream from your smartphone, and using the smartphone's display for controlling the apps (something that is illegal in many locations).
 
They do not. The radio broadcasts via MLB.tv are not subject to any blackout rules. Only weirdness is if it is a nationally broadcast game, you may not get any local announcers (similar to TV).

And I imagine that MLB will be reissuing prorated refunds once it is determined how much, if any, of the season they end up playing.
Honestly I'm not really THAT upset since I only bought the radio version and it was just $20. Those full price MLB.tv video subscriptions aren't cheap though. People that bought those should certainly get something. Kinda feels like the FSD argument a bit.. What did I pay for and where is it again? :cool:

/edit. I did get to listen to a handful of spring training games though so at least I got something, even though my team is terrible this year apparently.
 
Is Tesla doing cars with FSD first because they log more to the eMMC and will likely fail sooner than those without FSD? If an MCU1 fails on someone like me who isn't yet eligible for the upgrade (and out of warranty), would the need for repair convince them to go ahead and perform the upgrade?
 
I think they're doing it because they don't want to be flooded with requests to update MCUs. THey know the number of individuals that have and have not paid for FSD and have an idea of how many of those want MCU2 upgraded.

it's also a way to motivate people to pay an additional several thousand dollars to get FSD to get bumped up to get MCU2. As someone who's not willing to shell out an additional 4-7k for vaporware, i'm not a fan of that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FlatSix911
I know they geofence the video feeds on MLB.tv, do they do the same for radio? I can't remember and it's been a long time since I've been in my home market during a radio broadcast.

Also, bummed that I paid the $20 this season, so far it's got me zilch. 8-(
In my experience, the audio feed is not geo-fenced and works world-wide. That said, I'm sure they are always trying to find ways to make these things work in a way that maximizes revenue, so who knows!
 
I was told that all 2020 come with the MCU2, however my 2020 has AM/FM radio in it, does this mean it is not a MCU2? How can i check?
No it's specifically retrofitted MCU2s that don't have radio. The radio tuner module is buried even deeper behind the steering wheel and would require even more disassembling / labor to get to it, which is likely the reason Tesla doesn't want to do it for $2500.