? PCM 6 Update Announcement [Update: Retrofit Being Explored For Existing Taycans]

[awharton]

“This update, only applies to vehicles built from calender week 7 – 2022. At present Porsche have not released the update for vehicles built prior to this date, as we understand it will be released later this year (no dates at present). The car will need to visit the workshop.”

Visited my dealer today and was told the same.

Cars built from 14th February 2022 will come with this update both in terms of software and upgraded hardware - hence the change in part number to prefix PAD from the older 9J1. Older 20/21/22 pre 14th February 2022 are on the original hardware and therefore a software update may be available at a later date.

Seemed pretty informed about the situation - although there does seem to be a lot of conflicting information from various dealers around this so who knows....

 

[@lpher]

9J1 is still present in the early MY22, also in my CT4S. I guess PAD would indicate a new part (“upgrade“ ?)

I would sort that in the category "most likely"

 

[@lpher]

Visited my dealer today and was told the same.

Cars built from 14th February 2022 will come with this update both in terms of software and upgraded hardware - hence the change in part number to prefix PAD from the older 9J1. Older 20/21/22 pre 14th February 2022 are on the original hardware and therefore a software update may be available at a later date.

Seemed pretty informed about the situation - although there does seem to be a lot of conflicting information from various dealers around this so who knows....

My car, that finished product on January 24th, is confirmed to have the PAD 035 070 main unit. And that would, as i interpret it, contradict the Feb 24th cut off date, IF that is refering to the hardware.

It's more likely we are dealing with an hardware change that has occured in the last couple of months, and in addition to that there are one or two "revolutionary" software changes after the introduction of the new hardware platform aswell?

That being said...as far as i can tell...we havent seen anyone with the new "PAD" hardware platform IRL yet?

 

[itsRandy]

My car, that finished product on January 24th, is confirmed to have the PAD 035 070 main unit. And that would, as i interpret it, contradict the Feb 24th cut off date, IF that is refering to the hardware.

It's more likely we are dealing with an hardware change that has occured in the last couple of months, and in addition to that there are one or two "revolutionary" software changes after the introduction of the new hardware platform aswell?

That being said...as far as i can tell...we havent seen anyone with the new "PAD" hardware platform IRL yet?

How do you know what version you have if you don’t yet have the car?

 

[@lpher]

How do you know what version you have if you don’t yet have the car?

As long as you have the VIN-number, it will work on any parts-catalogue system that supports Porsche, and off course that supports partnumber searches based on VIN-numbers.

I personally use Partslink24.com, that is subscription based, but i suspect there are many alternatives out there for this purpose.

 

[Liberator]

can anyone check the software version on a GTS (democar f.e.), as they are the latest model, maybe they use these new parts already ?

 

[Dave777]

I have 3615 and no color icons on home screen. My model 2022 build in mid-Nov 2021 - CT4S.

 

[mlambert890]

As long as you have the VIN-number, it will work on any parts-catalogue system that supports Porsche, and off course that supports partnumber searches based on VIN-numbers.

I personally use Partslink24.com, that is subscription based, but i suspect there are many alternatives out there for this purpose.

The way the "Central Computer" is represented in all of the parts systems really seems "retrofittable". Sucks that in the US it seems no one does this type of work. I've noticed in China, South Korea and Singapore there are specialist shops retrofitting all kinds of shit like it was nothing. There's a YT channel for one shop that seems to do ACC retrofits basically every day. I'd bet they could do this upgrade easily. Maybe Ill move to Singapore. Expensive "solution" to the problem, but the food is awesome

 

[gnop1950]

Can I just point out that VAG has been having serious issues hiring enough software engineers for years now. I’m sure this also impacts the available talent pool Porsche has to pick from. Let’s not underplay this problem. From experience the consequences of that can be really hard to mitigate and deliveries will suffer.

Personally I would love to work for Porsche in this capacity and bring my years of experience, but they don’t appear to be looking for remote workers.

Everyone is having problems hiring good software engineers and even more problems retaining them. In the 40 plus years I worked in the Computer Science/Software Engineering field (my second career) I never worked for a company that was: 1 - Fully Staffed, 2 - Wasn't constantly trying to hire more software engineers.

Heck, I've been fully retired now for almost a year and am still getting multiple job queries every month. I did a quick check on Porsche software engineering jobs and did find several, including at least one of which, a Principal Software Engineer, Security, that was completely remote. I'd check with them directly if you are interested in working for Porsche.

As a software person, you might be interested in this article: https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/202...rfect-replica-hardware-in-the-loop-25159.html

 

[mlambert890]

Everyone is having problems hiring good software engineers and even more problems retaining them. In the 40 plus years I worked in the Computer Science/Software Engineering field (my second career) I never worked for a company that was: 1 - Fully Staffed, 2 - Wasn't constantly trying to hire more software engineers.

Heck, I've been fully retired now for almost a year and am still getting multiple job queries every month. I did a quick check on Porsche software engineering jobs and did find several, including at least one of which, a Principal Software Engineer, Security, that was completely remote. I'd check with them directly if you are interested in working for Porsche.

As a software person, you might be interested in this article: https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/202...rfect-replica-hardware-in-the-loop-25159.html

VAG (all legacy auto) face a problem you can't really just hire your way out of IMO. Tesla is fundamentally structured differently. They've taken vertical integration of control systems to a level legacy auto never even considered (since traditionally those systems were largely secondary). As cars became more and more digital maybe they should have seen this coming, but entrenched industry models are very hard to pivot.

The best software engineers, hardware engineers, product managers, program managers, designers, etc in the world could all go work for Porsche, but it doesn't change the fact that they'd then have to start working within all of the constraints that "come with the territory" and are nearly impossible to change anytime soon. Particularly without buy in from the board on 9 figure investment. There's a "DNA issue" as well. In giant tech companies there's a "moonshot" mindset (now infamous in some cases) where suggesting "we should just build our own ASIC and bring all of that in house" is something that the CEO is likely to LOVE rather than kick you out the window for. Legacy auto? Not so much... ?‍

 

[Skilly]

In collecting various PCM HW/SW version combos from various update threads some interesting patterns emerged in the hardware versions. Looks like:

• H9J1035 is a major rev indicator and is consistent from 2020-2022
• 092 seems to be region code US, 070 seems to be EU/UK and 140 seems to be Asia
• Final digit seems to be either single or double letter, but no clue what the significance might be

Maybe folks already know this, but was news to me. Software is less relevant since these were pulled from different points in time, so the older revs are pre AMB5. I would expect that truly "new hardware", meaning with capabilities sufficiently beyond current that software updates are no longer backwards compatible, would carry a different designation than H9J1035.

Hardware Version	PCM Software Version	Model Year	Region
H9J1035092AH	3615	2022	US
H9J1035070AG	3613	2022	EU
H9J1035070AG	3613	2022	UK
H9J1035140AG	3613	2022	Asia
H9J1035092AD	3397	2021	US
H9J1035070AD	3397	2021	EU
H9J1035070T	3397	2021	EU
H9J1035092M	3276	2020	US

So, I have an MY 2020 with PCM s/w version 3397 (the update). It has had all of the recalls done and up until about 3 weeks ago, it had no TSBs attached to it either. Everything as a known issue that has an available fix was current, and then I was notified by them that on an upcoming service I would need to perform Campaign WMHO...again.

Has anyone come across having to go through a second run of this, or have they appended to the deliverables addressed in this campaign?

 

[JonS1234]

VAG (all legacy auto) face a problem you can't really just hire your way out of IMO. Tesla is fundamentally structured differently. They've taken vertical integration of control systems to a level legacy auto never even considered (since traditionally those systems were largely secondary). As cars became more and more digital maybe they should have seen this coming, but entrenched industry models are very hard to pivot.

The best software engineers, hardware engineers, product managers, program managers, designers, etc in the world could all go work for Porsche, but it doesn't change the fact that they'd then have to start working within all of the constraints that "come with the territory" and are nearly impossible to change anytime soon. Particularly without buy in from the board on 9 figure investment. There's a "DNA issue" as well. In giant tech companies there's a "moonshot" mindset (now infamous in some cases) where suggesting "we should just build our own ASIC and bring all of that in house" is something that the CEO is likely to LOVE rather than kick you out the window for. Legacy auto? Not so much... ?‍

If those teams were more integrated little things like the Taycan preferring battery power to pre condition the cabin wouldn’t happen. There’s probably two or more different teams in that mix and the logic doesn’t translate. If the car is plugged in no matter wether it is charging or not it should prefer to use power from the wall.

 

[Dslev]

I think it has little to do with the method that they project manage releases, except we are seeing how they lack handling bugs.

In fact, its their promotion of the software into production GA status that tells is that the quality control and testing cycle to promote from non-prod to prod is a DISASTER.

This is the kind of thing that Microsoft, or Google would have several class actions already positioned against them. There are cars returned for these currently unsolvable, and WELL documented issue(s) and they decided to litter the streets with announcements of a new release. It's actually pretty mind boggling for any car mfg to operate like this, let alone Porsche.

I'll go back to my original statements asking us to consider if this were brakes or battery. What if they randomly reset or decided to occasionally not work as designed. Like those items, the PCM is an integral part of the car, it's just that a glitch isn't resulting in a catastrophe....yet.

This isn't hyperbole.

Its well documented fact - for those saying 'hold the line, just wait. we don't know that they won't leave this unsolved. we are guessing.' etc. It's been almost 2 years of known and documented cases directly tied to this. Moreover, you can review carfax buybacks and see Porsche has even taken steps in buying these cars back and then offering them in the gray market.

They know the problem and they are choosing to avoid even a TSB to address, or acknowledge these issues. Even if they announced a fix tomorrow, it's clear up to the time of writing this, they are doing their best to avoid/ sidestep ANY accountability.

Hell, that avoidance might even be part of their project management deliverables!

Very true. I filed suit against Porsche back in December 2021, my car has more PCM/Computer and other issues then I've every had with any version of their cars I've owned over the last few years, and more poignant is they are unable to resolve them after a multitude of attempts. My car went into the dealer (which as been stellar in their attitude and handling of me) January 28th and still remains there on a "vehicle light and Headlight control error", they continue to tell me it's taking so long because Porsche Germany (as opposed to PCNA) had to get involved. My car only has about 4,600 miles. I tried to get PCNA, under the California Lemon Law to buy it back, but they refused and offered me a paltry amount of money to go away, so I filed suit, no other choice. It has really shaken my faith in the brand and corporate's customer care.

 

[feye]

In collecting various PCM HW/SW version combos from various update threads some interesting patterns emerged in the hardware versions. Looks like:

• H9J1035 is a major rev indicator and is consistent from 2020-2022
• 092 seems to be region code US, 070 seems to be EU/UK and 140 seems to be Asia
• Final digit seems to be either single or double letter, but no clue what the significance might be

Maybe folks already know this, but was news to me. Software is less relevant since these were pulled from different points in time, so the older revs are pre AMB5. I would expect that truly "new hardware", meaning with capabilities sufficiently beyond current that software updates are no longer backwards compatible, would carry a different designation than H9J1035.

Hardware Version	PCM Software Version	Model Year	Region
H9J1035092AH	3615	2022	US
H9J1035070AG	3613	2022	EU
H9J1035070AG	3613	2022	UK
H9J1035140AG	3613	2022	Asia
H9J1035092AD	3397	2021	US
H9J1035070AD	3397	2021	EU
H9J1035070T	3397	2021	EU
H9J1035092M	3276	2020	US

I am in Asia and my hardware version is H9J1035070AC MY 2020 PCM Software Version 3379 - Clearly old and buggy!

 

[mlambert890]

I am in Asia and my hardware version is H9J1035070AC MY 2020 PCM Software Version 3379 - Clearly old and buggy!

Oh! Huh. That's interesting. Was the car an import? Everything I've found about 070 seems to indicate that it's EU only?