The update worked for me, but there is a catch.
On the first reload of the referenced Revit file, all previously applied 3D studio materials are over written with the Default Revit materials. For sequential reloads of the Revit reference, the 3d studio overwritten materials stayed in place.
To make this transition less painful, here is what I did. (provided that you modifed the imported Revit materials, or possibly used the same name for the Studio material as the Revit Material.)
Open the existing scene prior to the reloading of the Revit reference.
Save the entire scene materials to a new material library.
Save a copy of your existing scene (in case this does not work for you) as a backup.
Reload the Revit reference.
Once reloaded, update the scene materials from the newly created material library.
This won't fix everything but it should correct the majority of it.
