Main Beam on - safety issue?

[dsr]

Headlights on (not on auto), with the lights slider switch fully left. More than once now I have pushed the arm to choose main beam and, in the process, accidentally moved the switch to the right - so that I find myself on sidelights. Did it last night on a bendy B road and it scared me more than a bit. Just me not being careful enough, or have others done the same?

 

[MG4NI]

Yes. I have done that a few times on our country roads. Very scary. I have now learnt to be extra cautious.

 

[lsb777]

Not personally. I use auto lights and auto main beam. 9/10 all works fine, only a couple of times someone has flashed because they came round a bend before me or the car could have seen them to switch off main beam. Usually works well in my experience.

 

[gazza487]

I find auto main beam hopeless. It comes on well but doesn’t dip so end up fighting it to not blind people. Each to their own - just glad it can be killed off easily enough.

 

[Adam C]

I haven’t done it myself but can see how it can be easily if your not extra careful

My lights do seem to have a mind of their own though. Set on Auto, often during the day, not overcast & I notice it’s got the headlights on as well, not all the time but probably 50/50 so now I often switch them off manually so just the LED daytime lights are on

Auto high beam I’ve turned off. One occasion an oncoming car flashed me & I realised full beams were still on. Could have just been a one off but I’d rather activate/deactivate these manually

 

[JonnyG]

I find auto main beam hopeless. It comes on well but doesn’t dip so end up fighting it to not blind people. Each to their own - just glad it can be killed off easily enough.

Just need to be sure you don't exit the car and leave the lights on by mistake if switching to manual . I've done it at least twice now

I haven’t done it myself but can see how it can be easily if your not extra careful

My lights do seem to have a mind of their own though. Set on Auto, often during the day, not overcast & I notice it’s got the headlights on as well, not all the time but probably 50/50 so now I often switch them off manually so just the LED daytime lights are on

Auto high beam I’ve turned off. One occasion an oncoming car flashed me & I realised full beams were still on. Could have just been a one off but I’d rather activate/deactivate these manually

It's funny how later cars (software) seem to have gone the other way now !! I have to manually turn my lights on sometimes when it's raining moderatley during the day.

 

[gazza487]

Just need to be sure you don't exit the car and leave the lights on by mistake if switching to manual . I've done it at least twice now

I leave auto lights on but auto main beam off in the infotainment screen, as I made that mistake before - thankfully I’d just plugged into charge locked the car and was like whaaaaaa lights on ?

 

[Adam C]

Just need to be sure you don't exit the car and leave the lights on by mistake if switching to manual . I've done it at least twice now

I’ve done this as well

My daughter the cheeky cow. Had the car about 3 days, came out in the morning & she stuck a bright pink post it not on the phone charger ledge, on it said

“I know age gets the better of us all so don’t blame yourself but remember lights & to turn off lane keep assist”

Bloody kids, I’m only 53

 

[paulm]

I use auto lights but manual full beam/dipped.
I've switched the lights completely off by accident 3/4 times, easy to nock the small switch while manually dipping etc. Very scary the first time on a dark country road before I worked out what had happened.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

I’ve done this as well

My daughter the cheeky cow. Had the car about 3 days, came out in the morning & she stuck a bright pink post it not on the phone charger ledge, on it said

“I know age gets the better of us all so don’t blame yourself but remember lights & to turn off lane keep assist”

Bloody kids, I’m only 53

At least she cares, you could always remind her of inheritance laws and care home costs.

 

[tsedge]

There's a software update that fixes the auto-lights level so they come on at dusk properly and not too early. Not sure if there have also been updates to the auto-high beam too, but possible.

I run with auto-lights on (since having the update) but auto-high beam off.

 

[siteguru]

I run with both in auto and don't recall any scenario yet when it hasn't done what I expected.

And yes, the auto lights on is much better now - I've now reverted to the original cover.

 

[Adam C]

At least she cares, you could always remind her of inheritance laws and care home costs.

I’ll keep this is mind for next time

 

[Rolfe]

It's happened to me too. Two or three times I've found myself in what appears to be absolute darkness when trying to dim the headlights.

I find the auto-dipping to be a pain because the bloody car is always dipping them when there is no approaching traffic - usually at a difficult bend, when it sees its own lights reflected in the warning sign. It also dips the lights if it sees tail-lights ahead, even if they're more than half a mile away. I usually over-ride the auto-dipping, then I have to be careful.

There are two ways. Maybe the best one is to pull the stalk towards you to dip the lights, then again to go back to full beam. This doesn't risk going anywhere near the other controls. I find it awkward though, because the stalk is designed for people with larger hands than I have, and the reach is a bit long for my fingers. I have therefore adopted the second way, which is to push the stalk away from me with the flat of my fingers, taking care only to touch the smooth part of the stalk nearer the steering wheel column. Again this avoids interfering with the auto-light switches.

If you switch off the auto-lights you WILL forget about it, you WILL leave the car parked with the headlights on, and you WILL flatten the 12v, I suspect. (Or maybe you won't, if the car tops up from the traction battery. What do I know?)

 

[tsedge]

I run with both in auto and don't recall any scenario yet when it hasn't done what I expected.

And yes, the auto lights on is much better now - I've now reverted to the original cover.

It is probably worth saying this is not related to the infotainment version - I got this fix through some unrelated car module updates by the dealer when they did not change my infotainment version.

No I don't know the specific updates, but if you tell your dealer you have problems with auto lights, you should get them.

I will try out the auto high beam again and see if it is any better.

 

[mg4mc]

My wife keeps doing this when she drives the car, it's never been problem for me. It seems smaller hands touch the stalk more centrally near the switch and larger hands towards the end.

 

[Rolfe]

I do think it's an issue with smaller hands. I think you have to look at the layout of the stalk and memorise it, then make an effort to acquire the muscle memory of missing the part with the switches.

 

[SD43]

This came up in a thread in 2022:

MG4 light switch

Has anyone else accidentally switched off their lights when driving at night? I’ve done it 3 times when dipping the main beam - nightmare. The switch is far too accessible and easily flicked for something so critical. I’m going to have to put tape on it to stop it happening. It’s a recipe...

www.mgevs.com

I’ve got a special knack for controlling the main beam as the alternative is being plunged into darkness.

 

[Kithmo]

I did it once.

 

[SWK74]

It freaked me out the first time it happened because it was on a B road! I’m really careful now with lights.

I think it must charge the 12v when you leave the lights on - don’t quote me though. The reason is that I switched to “manual on” today because of fog, forgot the lights on all day (10 hours), but the car started fine and the battery was 14.3V.