To MCU2 or not to MCU2?

[henderrj]

Just picked mine up today. It is amazingly better, not so much as I'd imagined I suppose. Maybe because YouTube etc doesn't excite me too much. Still, I could even see the difference on the instrument cluster screen. Well worth the 1400 bucks. In fact, I think anybody's crazy not to take it while the price is still low like that. Schedule today!

 

[jkoskela]

Some have reported better responsiveness of dumb-Summon with mobile app (works randomly on MCU1 at least), does anyone have experience with this?

 

[henderrj]

Some have reported better responsiveness of dumb-Summon with mobile app (works randomly on MCU1 at least), does anyone have experience with this?

I'll try to check that out later today.

I have a question of my own. I did not get the radio add-on, figuring I didn't use it that much. And besides you can listen to all these radio stations via the internet. Only, they don't always work. They sit there and flash at you but nothing comes on. Or it locks up after a while. I know the station's okay because I can pull it up on my phone and then play it through the system that way. But I'm burning up minutes on my phone. And I'm supposed to have free internet with the tesla. Is anyone else experiencing this or was I just in a bad reception area? I tried three different stations so I know it wasn't just the one station.

 

[LMichel]

Wow, I've been living under a rock for a couple years. I basically walked away from the forums, just figured my 2017 MS 75D was hardware locked and would never get beyond features that new software upgrades could support. I have AP2 and EAP. I've never had an issue with the 'memory chip' symptoms.

Since I made my last payment and now fully own my MS, I naturally looked at selling it privately and buying something completely different. To help scratch my head on exactly how you sell a Tesla that is bound to me through an app, I came back to these forums to research it and saw all this upgrade stuff!
Grrr..
Do I sell the car and go buy a totally different car/truck?
Do I get it all upgraded and then sell it?
Do I get it all upgraded and keep it?

Finally, what components do I get upgraded? I see several options in the app under "Service" and have dug through the posts here, but I'm still not certain what my decisions are, how much and what my car even qualifies for
Thanks!

 

[henderrj]

Okay, I think this is an odd one.

I've noticed two issues since getting my MCU2 upgrade. My horn is very weak, sounds like only one of the two horns is working. And, the drive without key, phone start app, doesn't really work. When you do the phone, and get in the car, it says press brake pedal to start. Keyless entry, that's what it's called. In any event, when you press on the brake it says the key is not in the car cannot start!

So, are these related to the MCU to upgrade? Anybody else have these issues?

 

[Akikiki]

Some of your posts is vague. Example, "phone start app, doesn't really work". What does that mean? Does it work or not work at all. Only two choices. Its not uncommon for the SC folks to forget to enable the security tokens that allow the app to unlock/lock the car. If they unlock the car, its going to allow you to start the car and drive. Just for s&g, have you tried a different smartphone? (I have an old burner phone that I keep just for these kinds of tests/situations. It does not even have service, just WiFi.)

"...it says the key is not in the car cannot start!". How did you get home of the fob is not working and you already stated the app is not really working. 1) have you changed the batteries in the fobs? Make sure that's new batteries, you don't know how long batteries have been sitting on the shelf even though in a new package. 2) having the problem with both fobs? 3) have you rebooted your car to see if the problem persists?

 

[speedy]

Do I get it all upgraded and keep it?

Finally, what components do I get upgraded? I see several options in the app under "Service" and have dug through the posts here, but I'm still not certain what my decisions are, how much and what my car even qualifies for
Thanks!

Well, getting the MCU1 to MCU2 upgrade together with the HW3 autopilot computer pretty much updates your 2017 car to current functionality (battery stuff not withstanding). I believe this will cost you $2000 without the radio upgrade, but will make your car like new in terms of screen responsiveness, current UI, working web browser, LTE radio, ability to stream videos, all games, and also ability to support FSD (when it is released ).

 

[Flyguy]

If you don’t have any issues with MCU1, Which I find hard to believe if you have current software update, then no reason to upgrade to MCU2. You may or may not get an extra 2.2K back out when you sell it anyway.

 

[LMichel]

Thanks for the help. I think I will get the upgrade(s).
Honestly, the only symptom I have with the car is that every now and then (1 per month?) all audio completely goes silent, including turn signal, entertainment, beeps and alerts..everything. I have to do a reboot and it all comes back.

Last question; FSD is still not really a thing, right? No reason to get it (yet?)
Again, thank you so much for saving me probably way more than an hour of pawing though posts

 

[D.E.]

I’ve got a 2016 P90D with 62k miles. I really like the car. I like the free supercharging, and the car is incredibly clean. I don’t drive much normally, and during COVID I drive even less (but do take some road trips).

The MCU is just slow enough and buggy enough, that it has me considering either the MCU2 upgrade or a new car. I’m wondering if I just sell this now and buy the new S (will probably cost me ~$35k-$40k to upgrade to the new non-performance car) or I spend the $1,500 to get MCU2 and keep the car another couple of years while Tesla works out the bugs.

Is the MCU2 really that much better? Will I get ANY of the $1,500 back when I do decide to sell the car? I’d love anyone’s thought or input on it. I really love the car, but the having to reboot the MCU and the non-usable voice controls is annoying (tonight my volume was stuck at about volume 7 no matter what I set the volume to...required a reboot).

I’m hesitant to give up FM radio, but also hesitant to pay $500 to keep it (very rarely use it - just feels weird not to have it). Someone - talk some sense in to me, one way or the other.

I have a freebie MCU2 as part of a FSD package I purchased during the sale on FSD. I’ve not made the upgrade yet but they did notify me I should schedule an appointment.

So will you get your money back on the new computer in the used car? Nope. Still if it‘s between the new computer and the new car, I’d go with the computer. The “nope” comes from many years of selling and trading in my used cars. I could be wrong but I’m not. Besides if you get the new computer now, you’ll have it to use for a long time. And you’ll keep the free supercharging, the data/FM, and any upgrades that you’ve done to the car. And you know that car is in great shape.

Mine’s 4 years old now. I’ve only got about 15K on it. I’d love to have the fastest car made but I’m old and way too cheap. I don’t drive cross country much but I do get satisfaction knowing I could drive to California and back and not spend a penny for fuel. And I can listen to any music I can remember all the way there and back. And mine’s got leather, they don’t put leather in them any more. Mine does go “silent” if I go for a couple of weeks without driving it, no radio, no turn signal click, etc. I can bring back all the sound with a double scroll wheel reboot. I do that as I drive, it’s dirt road anyway so it’s a slow drive to pavement. I think the new computer will fix that. Not sure but I think it will.

$35K-$40K is a gob of money. Don’t know about you but that’s after tax money and it would absolutely take me weeks to earn that much. I think of the good you could do with it. You could take your whole family to Disney World, and still have enough left over for a shiny new Honda Civic for that deserving college student. You could be the family hero. Well, for a while, until they forget. But by then that new Tesla would be used and probably about the same as the one you have now except no free supercharging and you’d get endless bills for that not so free radio. Take pictures when you go to Disney. Then you can remind them.

 

[gearchruncher]

I have a freebie MCU2 as part of a FSD package I purchased during the sale on FSD. I’ve not made the upgrade yet but they did notify me I should schedule an appointment.

Can you explain more? I've never heard of this.

 

[croman]

I have a freebie MCU2 as part of a FSD package I purchased during the sale on FSD. I’ve not made the upgrade yet but they did notify me I should schedule an appointment.

So will you get your money back on the new computer in the used car? Nope. Still if it‘s between the new computer and the new car, I’d go with the computer. The “nope” comes from many years of selling and trading in my used cars. I could be wrong but I’m not. Besides if you get the new computer now, you’ll have it to use for a long time. And you’ll keep the free supercharging, the data/FM, and any upgrades that you’ve done to the car. And you know that car is in great shape.

Mine’s 4 years old now. I’ve only got about 15K on it. I’d love to have the fastest car made but I’m old and way too cheap. I don’t drive cross country much but I do get satisfaction knowing I could drive to California and back and not spend a penny for fuel. And I can listen to any music I can remember all the way there and back. And mine’s got leather, they don’t put leather in them any more. Mine does go “silent” if I go for a couple of weeks without driving it, no radio, no turn signal click, etc. I can bring back all the sound with a double scroll wheel reboot. I do that as I drive, it’s dirt road anyway so it’s a slow drive to pavement. I think the new computer will fix that. Not sure but I think it will.

$35K-$40K is a gob of money. Don’t know about you but that’s after tax money and it would absolutely take me weeks to earn that much. I think of the good you could do with it. You could take your whole family to Disney World, and still have enough left over for a shiny new Honda Civic for that deserving college student. You could be the family hero. Well, for a while, until they forget. But by then that new Tesla would be used and probably about the same as the one you have now except no free supercharging and you’d get endless bills for that not so free radio. Take pictures when you go to Disney. Then you can remind them.

You're getting the HW3 but not MCU2. You'll need to pony up for MCU2 if you want FSD visualization and more.

 

[D.E.]

I thought I’d be getting a “new computer”. I don’t think I know what HW3 is and how it differs from “new computer”.

I figured I needed all the processing power to make my car compatible with the FSD. So exactly what is it I’ll get? I did “pony up” for FSD. Not enough pony? I could pony more. I do like to be on the cutting edge.

I’m looking at my app. It says full self drive computer upgrade. Maybe I’ve already got MCU2, but not MCU2.5. I think that’s it, but I’ll know more after I’ve done it.

I thought I had a handle on this. Now I’m confused. No make that more confused, I live somewhat confused.

 

[henderrj]

Some of your posts is vague. Example, "phone start app, doesn't really work". What does that mean? Does it work or not work at all. Only two choices. Its not uncommon for the SC folks to forget to enable the security tokens that allow the app to unlock/lock the car. If they unlock the car, its going to allow you to start the car and drive. Just for s&g, have you tried a different smartphone? (I have an old burner phone that I keep just for these kinds of tests/situations. It does not even have service, just WiFi.)

"...it says the key is not in the car cannot start!". How did you get home of the fob is not working and you already stated the app is not really working. 1) have you changed the batteries in the fobs? Make sure that's new batteries, you don't know how long batteries have been sitting on the shelf even though in a new package. 2) having the problem with both fobs? 3) have you rebooted your car to see if the problem persists?

Hmm, did you actually read my post? What I said was the phone appears to be working, the car appears to be ready to drive without the key fob in it, but when I push on the brake to put it in gear it says there's no key fob in the car. As I also said in my post, I was simply outside and didn't want to run in to get my key fob just to move the car 10 ft. Thanks, but none of what you said really helped at all.

Nobody else here has had this issue I take it?

 

[gearchruncher]

I thought I’d be getting a “new computer”. I don’t think I know what HW3 is and how it differs from “new computer”.

I figured I needed all the processing power to make my car compatible with the FSD. So exactly what is it I’ll get? I did “pony up” for FSD. Not enough pony? I could pony more. I do like to be on the cutting edge.

I’m looking at my app. It says full self drive computer upgrade. Maybe I’ve already got MCU2, but not MCU2.5. I think that’s it, but I’ll know more after I’ve done it.

MCU is the center touchscreen and the dash display. There is only MCU1 and MCU2.
You joined here in 2016 and have a 75D. You have MCU1 unless you acquired your car right at the end of 75 production. MCU2 came out in March 2018. It has nothing to do with FSD.

The "self driving computer" (which will never self drive, sorry) is a totally different computer buried in the dash. It has nothing to do with anything you can see. There is a HW1, HW2, HW2.5, and HW3. Only HW3 can detect stop signs/stop lights while HW2/2.5 cannot, so that's what the FSD upgrade gets you right now. Supposedly it will eventually do more, only time will tell. Elon has been promising a lot for a long time that has never come to fruition. But no reason not to do the HW3/FSD upgrade, it will be needed if Tesla does ever release more autopilot functionality.

Unfortunately, some of the cool stuff FSD does is visualize things on your center screen. To do that, even with HW3, you'll need the MCU2 upgrade, which is an additional $2K.

 

[speedy]

Last question; FSD is still not really a thing, right? No reason to get it (yet?)

The FSD beta is out to a couple of thousand special users but not released to the general public yet. But it's getting close to release. You should go ahead and get the HW3 autopilot computer upgrade, which they will do as part of your MCU2 upgrade anyway. Then it's $5k to turn it on whenever they release it, IF you want to play with it.... That's what I'm planning to do. As someone who also has a 2017 S, I can tell you that the MCU2 upgrade was well worth it...like getting a whole new car...

 

[gearchruncher]

The FSD beta is out to a couple of thousand special users but not released to the general public yet. But it's getting close to release.

71 users. It's out to 71 customers, and 2,000 Tesla employees.

The idea that it is "close"? Well, it was "coming this year" in 2019, 2020, and 2021. The beta released to those 71 users last October, with the idea it would go to more people in about a month. Here we are 9 months later, and Elon said the latest version is such a big change it was pointless to release it wider. So that went out last week, and even Elon is kind of hinting it will be months (in Elon time!) before it goes wider.

And to be clear, this "FSD" is city streets autosteer. You still have to pay 100% attention. Current beta is attempting to crash the car about once every 10 miles. It's only on surface streets, the highway doesn't change. It's nothing like what many people would think when they hear FSD.

Finally, they promise they will have a subscription to FSD, instead of $5-10K, so that may be a better way to experience it in the beginning.

 

[Akikiki]

Hmm, did you actually read my post? What I said was the phone appears to be working, the car appears to be ready to drive without the key fob in it, but when I push on the brake to put it in gear it says there's no key fob in the car. As I also said in my post, I was simply outside and didn't want to run in to get my key fob just to move the car 10 ft. Thanks, but none of what you said really helped at all.

Nobody else here has had this issue I take it?

Yes sir, I actually read your post. I can't guess what you meant to type, but here's what I see when I read it "And, the drive without key, phone start app, doesn't really work."

But further comments are up to someone else.

 

[domodan]

71 users. It's out to 71 customers, and 2,000 Tesla employees.

The idea that it is "close"? Well, it was "coming this year" in 2019, 2020, and 2021. The beta released to those 71 users last October, with the idea it would go to more people in about a month. Here we are 9 months later, and Elon said the latest version is such a big change it was pointless to release it wider. So that went out last week, and even Elon is kind of hinting it will be months (in Elon time!) before it goes wider.

And to be clear, this "FSD" is city streets autosteer. You still have to pay 100% attention. Current beta is attempting to crash the car about once every 10 miles. It's only on surface streets, the highway doesn't change. It's nothing like what many people would think when they hear FSD.

Finally, they promise they will have a subscription to FSD, instead of $5-10K, so that may be a better way to experience it in the beginning.

The subscription is live now the app. It’s $199/mo.

 

[D.E.]

MCU is the center touchscreen and the dash display. There is only MCU1 and MCU2.
You joined here in 2016 and have a 75D. You have MCU1 unless you acquired your car right at the end of 75 production. MCU2 came out in March 2018. It has nothing to do with FSD.

The "self driving computer" (which will never self drive, sorry) is a totally different computer buried in the dash. It has nothing to do with anything you can see. There is a HW1, HW2, HW2.5, and HW3. Only HW3 can detect stop signs/stop lights while HW2/2.5 cannot, so that's what the FSD upgrade gets you right now. Supposedly it will eventually do more, only time will tell. Elon has been promising a lot for a long time that has never come to fruition. But no reason not to do the HW3/FSD upgrade, it will be needed if Tesla does ever release more autopilot functionality.

Unfortunately, some of the cool stuff FSD does is visualize things on your center screen. To do that, even with HW3, you'll need the MCU2 upgrade, which is an additional $2K.

I guess I’ll do the MCU2 upgrade then when I do the HW3. We keep cars a long time so it’ll make the car nicer to use. Our cars are usually old enough to vote when we finally get rid of them. Thank you for all the time and energy you put into the reply, explaining everything. If you lived a little closer I’d buy you a beer.