Is MCU2 upgrade worth it if I have LTE with 64GB emmc

[ajit6]

Hello all, I have a 2017 Model S having MCU1 with LTE and recently upgraded to 64gb emmc. It's definitely a little slower but it's hasn't frozen yet. I saw that everyone recommends upgrading to MCU2 but is it really worth it provided the emmc is already upgraded?

I also have FSD included and have the latest update. Do you think Tesla might do MCU upgrades for FSD cars at some point, with the recent recall?

 

[bmah]

Hello all, I have a 2017 Model S having MCU1 with LTE and recently upgraded to 64gb emmc. It's definitely a little slower but it's hasn't frozen yet. I saw that everyone recommends upgrading to MCU2 but is it really worth it provided the emmc is already upgraded?

I also have FSD included and have the latest update. Do you think Tesla might do MCU upgrades for FSD cars at some point?

MCU2 provides substantial upgrades in performance compared to MCU1 (regardless of the state of your eMMC). Whether that's worth it or not to you is an individual decision. The upgrade replaces both the IC and CID screens, which might address some issues (yellow border, leakage) resulting from defects in the screen. Note that you will definitely lose AM radio tuner functionality, and possibly (depending on which option you select) the FM radio tuner.

My impression is that most people who have done the MCU2 upgrade feel it was worthwhile. (My Model S is still on its second MCU1 unit...the original was replaced for eMMC issues before eMMC-only repairs were available. I'm considering doing the MCU2 upgrade but have not committed to it yet for various reasons.)

It looks like your second question has the implied qualifier of "free" MCU upgrades for FSD cars, and I believe that to be highly unlikely.

Bruce.

 

[ajit6]

MCU2 provides substantial upgrades in performance compared to MCU1 (regardless of the state of your eMMC). Whether that's worth it or not to you is an individual decision. The upgrade replaces both the IC and CID screens, which might address some issues (yellow border, leakage) resulting from defects in the screen. Note that you will definitely lose AM radio tuner functionality, and possibly (depending on which option you select) the FM radio tuner.

My impression is that most people who have done the MCU2 upgrade feel it was worthwhile. (My Model S is still on its second MCU1 unit...the original was replaced for eMMC issues before eMMC-only repairs were available. I'm considering doing the MCU2 upgrade but have not committed to it yet for various reasons.)

It looks like your second question has the implied qualifier of "free" MCU upgrades for FSD cars, and I believe that to be highly unlikely.

Bruce.

Thank you for the quick response Bruce. Well explained!

 

[KalJoMoS]

Well I would not recommend if there is no other reason apart from mentioned issues in previous post. I have only done the eMMC recall and it seems fine since (I haven’t seen the major issues with it at all). I do not have habit to use the MCU for youtube or such. Additionally if you do the MCU change then you will also loose “Range mode” functions as this does not exist on MCU2. I’m not 100% sure, hope someone can confirm this. This only applies to dual motor model. Additionally this new MCU is having different setup and can bring up higher vampire drain on the battery.

 

[PCMc]

Well I would not recommend if there is no other reason apart from mentioned issues in previous post. I have only done the eMMC recall and it seems fine since (I haven’t seen the major issues with it at all). I do not have habit to use the MCU for youtube or such. Additionally if you do the MCU change then you will also loose “Range mode” functions as this does not exist on MCU2. I’m not 100% sure, hope someone can confirm this. This only applies to dual motor model. Additionally this new MCU is having different setup and can bring up higher vampire drain on the battery.

You do not lose "Range mode" just because of the change to MCU2. I have a mid-2016 AP1 vintage MS90D and upgraded to MCU2 in Dec 2021 and can confirm that I still have the option for Range mode.

What you might be confusing is the Energy Saving feature. That had to deal with whether the MCU would stay awake such that you would avoid any power up / wake up time when you got back into the car. This does go away as it has to do with differences in how the two MCU chips handle a sleep type of power saving state.

 

[H4RDWRK]

What software wersion are you running? I got my cameras upgrade in january and have MCU1 with new Daughter board too. Model x 100D 2017… still no FSD Beta Software and we bought the software day of vehicle purchase….

We are stuck on… 2022.8.10.11

Please help

 

[gaswalla]

I have a 2012 - same situation as you and I am happy w mcu1 bc I don’t care for games and Netflix
I also have a 2017 with FSDb - MCU2 is a game changer. The car feels modern, FSD is great, and I still don’t play games or watch Netflix. Best upgrade possible for a car w AP2

 

[ajit6]

What software wersion are you running? I got my cameras upgrade in january and have MCU1 with new Daughter board too. Model x 100D 2017… still no FSD Beta Software and we bought the software day of vehicle purchase….

We are stuck on… 2022.8.10.11

Please help

I didnt have to do any camera upgrades and I got the FSD Beta 10.69.3.3 somewhere around Jan'23. Haven't gotten any updates since.

The visualizations for FSD aren't great with MCU1 and the green light chime doesn't work with that update, hence I've been considering upgrading options.

 

[recluce]

Just like the OP, I have the MCU 1 (AP 1 car) with LTE and the new 64k eMMC. I heard a lot about performance issues with MCU 1, but I do not feel that that is true for my car. Navigation, controls and audio entertainment are snappy and working as they should. Since I rather watch movies at home on a 120" screen and play games on a PC, I also rarely use the Internet browser, which sucks on the MCU 1. I really have no use case that would justify spending the money on the MCU 2 to me.

Also, you should note that you will lose AM radio and it will cost you an extra $500 to retain FM. Not an issue for everybody, but for me it would be.

 

[maximizese]

Because there are so many variants among owner vehicles and usage that it is very hard to say if the upgrade would be worthwhile for you or not. All we can do is describe our prior experiences with the MCU1 versus the replacement MCU2. In my case our 11/13 built S85 was performing just fine on V8 software but started to slow down with V9 software (had the audio lock up while driving requiring a reboot) and got very bad for us on V10. The MCU1 would reset while driving a few times each month and the boot up time to "ready" the car would be hit or miss. About 20% of the time it would take up to 4 minutes for the car to properly boot up. We had the eMMC replaced shortly after Tesla issued the recall and we say about a 30% improvement but it was still too unreliable for us. We upgraded to the MCU2 and have only had it reboot twice on us in the 2 years that we've had it.

 

[vcor]

If you have the refresh (~Jun-2016 or later), one great thing is the dashcam feature. It works very poorly with MCU1 and is limited to 3 cameras. MCU2 makes the dashcam feature work well and includes four camera recordings.

 

[earroyo]

Pre refresh 2016 MS - Upgraded to MCU2 and lost Passive Entry. Tesla can't figure out what happened or will fix the issue.
I would check what other issues exist and if they are important to you before you upgrade.

 

[KalJoMoS]

Have you seen this discussion?

 

[earroyo]

Have you seen this discussion?

Yes, I did, nobody seems to know the fix for this.... :-/ Not even Tesla... They want me to pay for 3 door handles. 3 door handles can't go bad at the same time (or can they?) Inquiring minds want to know...! :S

 

[Zeeshan Javaid]

You do not lose "Range mode" just because of the change to MCU2. I have a mid-2016 AP1 vintage MS90D and upgraded to MCU2 in Dec 2021 and can confirm that I still have the option for Range mode.

What you might be confusing is the Energy Saving feature. That had to deal with whether the MCU would stay awake such that you would avoid any power up / wake up time when you got back into the car. This does go away as it has to do with differences in how the two MCU chips handle a sleep type of power saving state.

I have same MX 2016 90D on MCU1 with AP1
Did you find any improvement in AP behaviour after MCU2 upgrade? Does it detect other vehicles Passing left and right quickly now?

 

[Zeeshan Javaid]

For anyone having range mode, did you notice if it actually makes any difference? I compared it many times during my drives but I don’t see any difference at all

 

[Big Dunc]

So we have a 2014S and have been considering MCU2 for some time. We don’t watch Netflix, play games or use the internet in the car and the MCU1 is fine 99% of the time, but does have the occasional funny moment, normally cured by a reboot. After much deliberation I recently scheduled the upgrade to MCU2 mainly to “future proof” the car.
Imagine my surprise when Tesla messaged me to say they won’t have parts available for four months…. (This is in the UK)

 

[vcor]

Imagine my surprise when Tesla messaged me to say they won’t have parts available for four months…. (This is in the UK)

Not that surprising. Electronic components are still a problem for many automakers and there are a lot in MCU2 and the IC. I estimate there are over 1000 discrete parts that make up the retrofit. It only takes one part problem to stop deliveries. More and more owners are finding the retrofit a bargain too. For example, Lexus sells just the 9" display module for about $4200 (labor extra). It has a fraction of the electronics compared to the retrofit MCU2 and IC.

 

[vcor]

... 3 door handles can't go bad at the same time (or can they?)

Doubtful, but it's likely two had already failed and you didn't notice it. When the driver's handle failed, you may have then noticed the others. They may fail around the same time, as they all get pushed out and back at the same number of times, and those wires tend to break (on Gen 1/2) over time.

Now having two handles on one side fail at the same time is possible. There is a handle controller for each side of the car. It is exceptionally rare to hear of a controller failure.

 

[PCMc]

I have same MX 2016 90D on MCU1 with AP1
Did you find any improvement in AP behaviour after MCU2 upgrade? Does it detect other vehicles Passing left and right quickly now?

I do not recall noticing any significant difference in AP1 behavior. Biggest benefits I notices were improved performance of navigation system in terms of the amount of time it would take to figure out routings and no longer being concerned about the MCU locking up, becoming unresponsive in the middle of a drive, and needing to do a reboot while on the road to get functionality back.

Much of the limitation of AP1 in detecting vehicle passing you quickly is detection is via the ultrasonic sensors when people are overtaking you from the rear. Those sensors have very limited range. Your overtaking/passing a car at high speed goes to forward looking vision system only have a limited range of visibility (much less than what you see with your eyes).