Upgrade to MCU2 and AP HW3.0 [Europe]

[caligula666]

Could anyone in Switzerland manage to get the AP2 to AP3 upgrade without upgrading the MCU? They keep postponing my appointments (SC Bern) saying that it’s unavailable as of now; but apparently they somehow managed to find parts for @caligula666 .

So they openly told me about a month ago that they were first doing the AP3 upgrades solely ALONG MCU2. One way to understand this is that they’d rather have people pay for MCU2, but that wasn’t my perception: the way I understood it at that time is that this is the only thing they are ABLE to do at the moment (maybe because of a missing harness kit to MCU1 or something like that). You should openly ask them. They didn’t have a clear ETA for when MCU1+AP3 would be possible, but had mentioned « end of year or early next year » (meaning, not super soon).

I totally understand you might not want to pay for MCU2 BTW, tough choice, note that the user experience is really much better with it though. Mine had become a pain to interact with recently, and increasingly so, which is a shame given how cool the concept is.

 

[f205v]

@caligula666 Thank, I'm in Switzerland as well, so CHF is perfect!
@fetzu Service Center in Cham told me they can only do MUC2+HW3 at the same time. Also, you can not keep your old screen and get a discount, they will install a new screen (which was good for me, as I had the dreaded yellow bands on my old one).

 

[caligula666]

So, I checked: the radio can receive *both* FM and DAB. The user interface is a bit awkward. Its goal is to "hide" any difference between FM and DAB, but in doing so, it makes it more confusing IMO.

There is no AM though, which doesn't mean that there would not be an AM available in other countries - I can't comment on that, but in Switzerland the last channel that was still being broadcast in AM transitioned to FM+ADB in 2010, so there is no real need for it (and FM should be killed at the end of 2024 in Switzerland FYI, so only DAB+ will remain at that point)

 

[fetzu]

So they openly told me about a month ago that they were first doing the AP3 upgrades solely ALONG MCU2. One way to understand this is that they’d rather have people pay for MCU2, but that wasn’t my perception: the way I understood it at that time is that this is the only thing they are ABLE to do at the moment (maybe because of a missing harness kit to MCU1 or something like that). You should openly ask them. They didn’t have a clear ETA for when MCU1+AP3 would be possible, but had mentioned « end of year or early next year » (meaning, not super soon).

I totally understand you might not want to pay for MCU2 BTW, tough choice, note that the user experience is really much better with it though. Mine had become a pain to interact with recently, and increasingly so, which is a shame given how cool the concept is.

Thanks for the answer. It might sound petty, but I don’t feel like upgrading to the MCU2 on principle: I don’t need any of the bells & whistles of the new MCU; I just need an MCU that works like it did on v8, and I don’t think that it’s too much to ask of Tesla. And it would feel “fair” if us S/X users who pre-paid for FSD and suffered through the infancy of AP2 would not get updated years after recent owner because of a missing piece of copper and plastic.

The fact that the last couple of SCs in Switzerland are only equipped with CSS cables (another 500 CHF upgrade) doesn’t help either. I love my MS, but I am seriously considering “downgrading” to a M3 which already comes with the latest MCU, AP and CSS port.

 

[Zuikkis]

The price for CCS upgrade is 299eur which translates to roughly 320chf if I'm not mistaken. That is a bargain price IMHO. It includes labor and new hardware. They actually pop out the rear seat and install CCS control module there, it's not just a connector adapter.

At least in Finland it's really impossible to live without CCS. We only have nine superchargers here, so "3rd party" chargers are a must. And there's lots of free CCS chargers, like almost every Lidl has one. So it's great to fill up while shopping for groceries.. All superchargers here have both type connectors, but it's still sometimes useful to use CCS if all "old style" connectors are in use.

I went for MCU2 as well, and I think it's worth every penny even on pre-AP car.

For me MCU1 didn't feel slow or unresponsive, it was quite ok until the day it died. I guess big part of "slowness" depends on how your eMMC chip is failing? Perhaps also some temp file buildup, I have heard Tesla has cleared the cache on some MCU1's and it becomes faster.

I feel it's great that Tesla offers these upgrade paths to old cars, it's not something that many other car manufacturers do.

 

[Huskyf]

Thanks for the answer. It might sound petty, but I don’t feel like upgrading to the MCU2 on principle: I don’t need any of the bells & whistles of the new MCU; I just need an MCU that works like it did on v8, and I don’t think that it’s too much to ask of Tesla. And it would feel “fair” if us S/X users who pre-paid for FSD and suffered through the infancy of AP2 would not get updated years after recent owner because of a missing piece of copper and plastic.

The fact that the last couple of SCs in Switzerland are only equipped with CSS cables (another 500 CHF upgrade) doesn’t help either. I love my MS, but I am seriously considering “downgrading” to a M3 which already comes with the latest MCU, AP and CSS port.

I receive and make the change to my model S next week in Geneva it's 268.-HT about 310.- TTC
Next week for 2300HT CHF I changed also upgrade my MCU to MCU2 and upgrade to HW3
I think when I pickup at the end of the day It's like I receive a new car

 

[fetzu]

Oh thanks for the posts, I guess I was really misinformed about the price. 310 CHF sounds like a reasonable ask for that upgrade.

About the slowness I think some are more affected than others; I did clear all my nav history as suggested by support (and keeping it almost empty) and it has helped a little.

The MCU2 update still doesn’t convince me that much.. it might be off topic but what would be the main points that make you say it’s worth it?

 

[f205v]

@fetzu I did the CCS 2 combo retrofit a few weeks ago.
They charged me CHF 300,00 VAT included.
more info here: CCS Combo 2 retrofit

 

[Zuikkis]

The MCU2 update still doesn’t convince me that much.. it might be off topic but what would be the main points that make you say it’s worth it?

Well, our family is loving the Caraoke, it is so much fun on longer trips. Previously everyone would be just playing with their phones, Caraoke makes longer trips "Family time" where everyone takes part.

Netflix is nice, and also the web browser is very good. Most streaming services work in the browser, so you are not limited to Netflix. I'm able to watch all Finnish TV channels. This makes all kinds of "waiting time" very pleasant. And again I find it better that every person in car is watching the same screen, possibly chatting about what's going on.

Arcade is good too. Beach Buggy Racing 2 is really fun to drive with car steering wheels and pedals. Not only that it's very entertaining game (like Mario Kart) but it's funny to see other people's looks in parking lot when you are sitting in your car and steering. They must think I'm gone mad.

I know I said there wasn't much difference in user interface speed vs MCU1, but there certainly is a difference in things like navigation route calculating, and software launch times.. Also voice command now works fast and reliably every time. My MCU1 had only 3G network though, that might contribute as well.

"worth every penny" might have been a bit exaggerated, but I have invested in many dumber things before. I feel it makes the car several years younger, and might actually increase the resale value so you eventually will get some of your money back.

 

[Maxim]

Upgraded my wife's car MCU1 to MCU2 in the UK.

MCU1 is "ok" until you are not using MCU2 car for a while. We've got X and S, X was delivered with MCU2 from the beginning. Each and every time when I or my wife were switching between the cars - I've heard a lot of complaints. MCU1 is basically freezing (no, not the MMC issue), sometimes for a few minutes, missing functionality, etc. Finally, it's a 7 years old computer.

Honestly, MCU2 really worth every penny A lot of small but nice perks, including camera side view, rear camera "dashcam" and a lot of other things discussed here. Finally, I'm confident that the resell value will be higher. Looks like the MCU1 will be nearly completely abandoned soon.

For example (ok, rumours...) - FSD owners should get a top-view mode. MCU1 is not even capable to run the browser, not talking about generating a "top-view" picture.

People are ready to pay 1400gbp for an iPhone, but complaining about 2300 GBP for the car computer

 

[Maxim]

Re: radio - IMHO absolutely useless in the UK. Do not forget that the new MCU unit is much better in terms of connectivity - while the car was always struggling to keep connected with MCU1 (5 times been to the SC because of that, until Tesla explained to me that it is not reasonable to compare my Model X with MCU2 to the Model S with MCU1), MCU2 is keeping a rock-solid connection to the network (LTE / 3G) in the UK. With the 3G/4G (LTE) 99% coverage of the country - IMHO It makes no sense to use an old fashion AM/FM radio

 

[caligula666]

Another change that I observed is that my MCU1-equiped car would not be able to maintain a stable connection to the wifi AP, hence impact its ability to download upgrades, etc. The stats were showing constant disconnects, etc. As soon as I parked with my now MCU2 car, it connected solidly to the AP.

From an FSD-standpoint though, I wouldn’t say that MCU2+AP3 changed much anything vs. MCU1+AP2. Not that I would be expecting that as it is the same software (for now - I’m not a beta-beta-beta-user part of the elected few), but I read some comments to that effect on this forum: it simply didn’t materialize enough for me to not consider a placebo effect.

 

[goRt]

Re: radio - IMHO absolutely useless in the UK. Do not forget that the new MCU unit is much better in terms of connectivity - while the car was always struggling to keep connected with MCU1 (5 times been to the SC because of that, until Tesla explained to me that it is not reasonable to compare my Model X with MCU2 to the Model S with MCU1), MCU2 is keeping a rock-solid connection to the network (LTE / 3G) in the UK. With the 3G/4G (LTE) 99% coverage of the country - IMHO It makes no sense to use an old fashion AM/FM radio

Tunein's broken at the moment (no planet rock, forgets link to personal account, etc.), Tesla has visited and run its diagnostic script (add a station as a fav, wait for the car to fall asleep, observe that the fav no longer stored).
Acknowledges I'm not alone in suffering this.

 

[Maxim]

Tunein's broken at the moment (no planet rock, forgets link to personal account, etc.), Tesla has visited and run its diagnostic script (add a station as a fav, wait for the car to fall asleep, observe that the fav no longer stored).
Acknowledges I'm not alone in suffering this.

Very easy to fix.

Just pair with the mobile app (iOS / Android), then you can manage all your favourites from the app or desktop browser.

Just did it, works fine. You don't need a premium account for that, use a free one.

 

[Maxim]

Another change that I observed is that my MCU1-equiped car would not be able to maintain a stable connection to the wifi AP, hence impact its ability to download upgrades, etc. The stats were showing constant disconnects, etc. As soon as I parked with my now MCU2 car, it connected solidly to the AP.

Yes. Again, MCU2 is much better connectivity and supports 5Ghz networks. MCU1 is not. Very outdated WiFi chipset is used on MCU1 - slow, unreliable.

 

[goRt]

View attachment 612245
Very easy to fix.

Just pair with the mobile app (iOS / Android), then you can manage all your favourites from the app or desktop browser.

Just did it, works fine. You don't need a premium account for that, use a free one.

As I said that keeps getting forgotten and planet rock never works

 

[johnbol1]

Sorry to revive this old thread but a bit of confusion here. I have a 2017 manufactured X, P100D
I have MCU1, and no FSD but do have nav on AP, Autopark, Premium connectivity, summon and smart summn (never tried this but it shows on the app)
Now im looking to get he better features and speed of the MCU2 upgrade ? what do I need to ask for.

When I open the app the only option it gives me is FSD upgrade at £3500.00 gbp
does the fsd upgrade mean I automaticcaly get the MUC upgraded or the computer, Im a but confused by what exactly is what. One of the service techs that came to fix a seal told me I need to upgrade the computer or somethng to "transition" type

thanks in advance

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Sorry to revive this old thread but a bit of confusion here. I have a 2017 manufactured X, P100D
I have MCU1, and no FSD but do have nav on AP, Autopark, Premium connectivity, summon and smart summn (never tried this but it shows on the app)
Now im looking to get he better features and speed of the MCU2 upgrade ? what do I need to ask for.

When I open the app the only option it gives me is FSD upgrade at £3500.00 gbp
does the fsd upgrade mean I automaticcaly get the MUC upgraded or the computer, Im a but confused by what exactly is what. One of the service techs that came to fix a seal told me I need to upgrade the computer or somethng to "transition" type

thanks in advance

From the details on the infotainment upgrade page: Infotainment Upgrade

How do I purchase the Infotainment Upgrade?
You can schedule an appointment through the Tesla app, under category 'Other,' for purchase and installation.

 

[johnbol1]

From the details on the infotainment upgrade page: Infotainment Upgrade

Im with you now.
I was assuming via the "upgrades" page in the app. I dont see it in there as category "other"
but in the "service" tab, under software, then infotainment, i guess it can be actioned that way.
thanks

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Im with you now.
I was assuming via the "upgrades" page in the app. I dont see it in there as category "other"
but in the "service" tab, under software, then infotainment, i guess it can be actioned that way.
thanks

It looks like they've changed the service categories but haven't update the instructions yet. Sounds like you've found the right spot!