XM/FM Radio with MCU 2 Upgrade

[bigdaddie]

It's been about a month since I scheduled the MCU2 plus radio upgrade for our 2017 S. The original appointment was last week - which Tesla rescheduled because they didn't have the tuner. They're still waiting for the tuner.

Bob,
It's well worth the wait. But as Tesla owners, we want our stuff yesterday!

Another benefit is the 5GHz wifi. My MCU 1 would always disconnect from wifi and sometimes wouldn't even see the access point (about 10ft away). The dashcam/sentry viewer is pretty cool too.

 

[TTT]

Bob,
It's well worth the wait. But as Tesla owners, we want our stuff yesterday!

Another benefit is the 5GHz wifi. My MCU 1 would always disconnect from wifi and sometimes wouldn't even see the access point (about 10ft away). The dashcam/sentry viewer is pretty cool too.

Got my MCU2 and FM/XM radio upgrade done on 11/19. All that I can say is WOW, what a difference. Was it worth the $3k price tag? I guess it depends on your financial situation. I don't have $$ coming out my ass, but I can afford it and pay my CC of in 2-3 months. So for me, I would say a resounding YES. The web browser is usable and the display overall is very fast. One thing that I really didn't think about was the Netflix, Hulu, Youtube and such. I figured without the upgrade I would just watch this stuff on my tablet, no big deal right? No, it is. Netflix combined with the Premium sound system is amazing!

It turns out that my MCU1 had issues. It wouldn't even complete the techs diagnostic tests. The web browser would not load anything. It took like 20 sec to change radio stations. Navigation loading was very slow. Sometimes just completely unresponsive. I'll pimp Tesla and see if they'll rebate some of the costs but I'm not holding my breath. The SC did document the problems.

So, I say do the upgrade. The $$ only hurts for awhile and you will have an interface that will bring a smile to your face.

just got my MCU2 upgrade with FM, but I can’t find the FM radio tuner. Did they forget a software update?

 

[bigdaddie]

just got my MCU2 upgrade with FM, but I can’t find the FM radio tuner. Did they forget a software update?

I'm guessing you got this resolved with a software modification. Sorry I just saw your message.

 

[solardudesf]

Hope I am asking in the correct place. I do not mean to take over the thread. Just purchased a 2018 MS and it came with the Infotainment Upgrade (meaning it had MCU2). When I spoke with the Tesla sales rep, I was told if I want the radio (FM/HD/XM) to work I would have to pay for the radio upgrade (for $500). My question for you all is if the radio upgrade has not been done, what do you expect to see? How would the UI present itself? Will the software just not show the radio button or the XM button anymore? Would the buttons exist but the radio just not function correctly? It seems that in my car, the radio button is there and it works, but the connection is a bit static-y (would the radio upgrade just provide a better antenna?). The XM button is also there and I can see the XM radio id displayed. I am guessing that the radio upgrade was already done in this car and the Tesla salesperson did not know that?

 

[Art VandeIay]

the radio button is there and it works, but the connection is a bit static-y (would the radio upgrade just provide a better antenna?). The XM button is also there and I can see the XM radio id displayed.

Hi @solardudesf

All Model S and Model X vehicles built from March 2018 onwards had the MCU2 (and radio) from the factory. You can look at the sticker on the lower section of the driver side door for your car's build month and year, maybe your Model S had the MCU2 all along and was not updated.

If it did went through the Infotainment Upgrade, the fact that you can see the "Radio" and "XM" buttons on your car's MCU, means the previous owner did get the radio upgrade as well. I got the Infotainment Upgrade on my 2017 Model S and then got the radio upgrade a few months later. During that time, I didn't have the Radio or XM icons on my screen nor could I see them on the sources toggle list on the audio settings.

 

[solardudesf]

Hi @solardudesf

All Model S and Model X vehicles built from March 2018 onwards had the MCU2 (and radio) from the factory. You can look at the sticker on the lower section of the driver side door for your car's build month and year, maybe your Model S had the MCU2 all along and was not updated.

If it did went through the Infotainment Upgrade, the fact that you can see the "Radio" and "XM" buttons on your car's MCU, means the previous owner did get the radio upgrade as well. I got the Infotainment Upgrade on my 2017 Model S and then got the radio upgrade a few months later. During that time, I didn't have the Radio or XM icons on my screen nor could I see them on the sources toggle list on the audio settings.

@Art_Vandelay Thank you! This is just the info I was looking for.

 

[meomyo]

why would you pay $500 more to get fm radio in the upgrade? seems silly

 

[fmm]

all the FM stations I would listen to and more are available on TuneIn Radio.

 

[meomyo]

ALSO why not just include the radio anyhow? i mean it seems like nickle and diming by tesla which is lame

 

[meomyo]

all the FM stations I would listen to and more are available on TuneIn Radio.

so is this tunein avail on a tesla WITHOUT need of the radio upgrade?

 

[cousin_IT]

so is this tunein avail on a tesla WITHOUT need of the radio upgrade?

Yes, it’s a streaming service and works well (here in the Netherlands), after using it a couple of times I concluded that the radio module was not worth the extra € 500.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Just an FYI but not all FM stations are available on Tunein. Entercom removed their 235 stations from TuneIn back in 2018 in an effort to grow their radio.com service. If Tesla offered a Radio.com app, then I'd be able to listen to my old FM station easily.

To Grow Radio.com, Entercom Will Remove Streams From TuneIn.

Entercom will pull its radio station streams from online audio aggregator TuneIn and make Radio.com the exclusive digital portal for its 235 radio stations. The goal is to drive digital

www.insideradio.com

 

[meomyo]

Yes, it’s a streaming service and works well (here in the Netherlands), after using it a couple of times I concluded that the radio module was not worth the extra € 500.

free streaming? thru the tesla ? I only listened to kuvo jazz and 90.1 classical stations.

 

[fmm]

so is this tunein avail on a tesla WITHOUT need of the radio upgrade?

Yes. It's a streaming service built into the car - just like Slacker. Looks like there are some stations that have been removed from the platform (see above) but all of my local stations are there and I listen to them anywhere even if I'm out of the area. Don't use it much but definitely not worth $500 for the FM tuner as this more than meets my needs.

 

[meomyo]

Yes. It's a streaming service built into the car - just like Slacker. Looks like there are some stations that have been removed from the platform (see above) but all of my local stations are there and I listen to them anywhere even if I'm out of the area. Don't use it much but definitely not worth $500 for the FM tuner as this more than meets my needs.

thanx..seems after my mcu2 infotainment upgrade at 1500.00 it has fm radio..thanx

 

[geordi]

Trying to sort out if they screwed up another part of my service. Had the MCU upgrade done, I had taken a picture of the XM radio ID prior just in case I lost access to that screen (expected to if there's no tuner) yet after the upgrade, I can see all the channels / favorites and the radio ID, but there is just no sound.

What gives? Did they do the upgrade and somehow half-break the XM or is this how it usually is? Why not offer the option of streaming XM or spotify over the cellular - because there's no "streaming" service named, just the one with the tesla news channel... What service is that using? Can we not use ANYTHING else?

The energy screen also seems to only record power INTO the battery from regenerative braking, not power out from driving - so I have no idea how the economy is faring now. I feel like they managed to screw this up, just looking for comparison with others.

 

[geordi]

So I figured out that yes Spotify is there, but wasn't turned on in the sources. Fixed that.... and apparently either the MCU2 was USED or the tech turned it on for himself because it seems to be logged in to an account that has unlimited skips and TERRIBLE taste in music.

Not feeling the love from Tesla (more about that in a minute) I went ahead and adjusted all the favorites / followed artists to ones that are more agreeable than an endless collection of "featured" hip-hop trash.

The same XM radio ID as before does show, although under subscription where it said "active" before, now it says "come back to XM" which is odd as I have done nothing to the subscription. I don't understand how it is still showing the same radio ID as before, if the tuner was removed as part of the upgrade. It also doesn't seem to react to the radio reset requests. I need to do some poking around, b/c from what I understand that menu item (XM) shouldn't even show up at all - the AM and FM sources are totally gone as expected but XM is still listed. I can choose the channels, but it can't tune them in OR the demo channel. I'm wondering if maybe they just didn't plug the tuner in or unplugged the antenna. TBD.

So why am I not feeling the love? I finally sorted out the energy screen and trip indicators that weren't working properly - apparently the MCU needed a forced reboot. That seems like something the service center should have done, instead of what they DID do - I had asked about the energy / battery metrics that didn't match the battery (90kw installed under warranty months before I bought the car), and 24 hours after picking up my car I get a phone call... Where they inform me that because of my question, they discovered and were "fixing Tesla's mistake" and changing my car's limit to only allow the 60kw that the car originally had. WTAF. Stealing 30% of my available range out of the car remotely right then while I was on the phone! Oh, but I could get that back if I paid them a ransom of $4500. This was delivered to me as if I was supposed to be happy with this news that they were pouring 30% of my fuel tank worth of ball bearings into the tank, because why wouldn't I suddenly want to have 30% of the battery I have to lug around held for ransom by a mega-billionare's toy car company. I was then summarily ignored for the next 45 minutes on the phone (she just dumped it on her desk and I could hear plenty of background noise the whole time) until 30 minutes after closing time when she just hung up on me.

Elon can eat an entire barrel of dicks. Every time I've brought the car to a SC, they have charged MORE than was originally declared (because their automagical system decides, and that's then what they will charge) and they have managed to break something ELSE that wasn't planned on or broken prior. This makes FOUR trips in a row that have happened this way. There is no more trust, they've ruined it. I love the car, but would NEVER suggest anyone deal with this company if they have any alternatives at all.

 

[MP3Mike]

So I figured out that yes Spotify is there, but wasn't turned on in the sources. Fixed that.... and apparently either the MCU2 was USED or the tech turned it on for himself because it seems to be logged in to an account that has unlimited skips and TERRIBLE taste in music.

If you go to the account "tab" in the Spotify app you can see the email address of who's Spotify account you are using. (I'm assuming North America here, since I think Spotify is included in Europe, while it isn't in NA.)

The same XM radio ID as before does show, although under subscription where it said "active" before, now it says "come back to XM" which is odd as I have done nothing to the subscription. I don't understand how it is still showing the same radio ID as before, if the tuner was removed as part of the upgrade. It also doesn't seem to react to the radio reset requests. I need to do some poking around, b/c from what I understand that menu item (XM) shouldn't even show up at all - the AM and FM sources are totally gone as expected but XM is still listed. I can choose the channels, but it can't tune them in OR the demo channel. I'm wondering if maybe they just didn't plug the tuner in or unplugged the antenna. TBD.

Did you pay the extra $500 to get the XM/FM tuner upgraded along with the MCU2? It sounds like you didn't which means you wouldn't have either.

 

[geordi]

Yes, I can see the email address - and a couple of the Spotify tabs show the name (I don't use Spotify, this is my first time really messing with it) but I don't recognize the name. If it stays logged in on the car, I'm fine with that. If it doesn't, I'm OK with that too. I'll use it for the moment, maybe switch to the XM app from my phone later.

And you are correct - I didn't pay for the tuner upgrade at this point, which is why I'm surprised that it shows in the MCU at all. I've done upgrades on other cars (Not Tesla) and generally speaking, if the satellite tuner isn't connected, then it doesn't show up as an option at all - certainly not with the previous radio ID number. My understanding of THIS upgrade is that the old radio module is analog-out to the MCU, and cannot be plugged in at all to the MCU2, so while the physical tuner is still there under the steering column, there's no connection to the MCU. That's what has me puzzled, b/c it clearly shows my radio ID and channels.

 

[MP3Mike]

My understanding of THIS upgrade is that the old radio module is analog-out to the MCU, and cannot be plugged in at all to the MCU2, so while the physical tuner is still there under the steering column, there's no connection to the MCU. That's what has me puzzled, b/c it clearly shows my radio ID and channels.

The audio portion has switched from analog to digital, but I think the control portion is the same. So maybe they re-hooked up your analog tuner to the control portion and they shouldn't have. (I don't think I have seen anyone else report this issue.)