MG4 in Australia

[Coulomb]

Has anyone changed the 12V in their MG4 I see there is a large horizontal bar with bolts over the top of where the 12V is housed, with the inevitable 12V change of battery this looks like a pain in the arse to change the 12V.

I haven't changed mine yet, but I've figured out that it will come out without removing that bar (albeit with some effort) towards the front of the car once the cover (or froot/frunk if you have one) is removed. It's just 6 of those "Christmas tree clips". This reveals a largish space in front of the 12 V battery, albeit with various cables etc to snag the 12+ kg battery's exit.

That bar carries a lot of other gear; it would indeed be a pain to try to remove.

Edit: Sorry for the very late reply.

 

[wattmatters]

I recently had an video interview with Youtube journo Neerav Bhatt. We covered a range of things and he split the chat into a couple of videos, this one on our MG4 experience:



38 minutes and change.

 

[T1 Terry]

A great video, thank you for sharing. Our MG4 51 has a sticker in the driver's side pillar Feb 24 and the MG sticker is 2024 02, but to be honest I've never looked for the Aust compliance plate so I have no idea what date is on there.
We bought it from New Spot MG in Adelaide mid Feb 2025, they assured us it had all it's updates and I mentioned I had an MG4 64 that was sold by New Spot and was a total write off because it had done a sharp right hand turn into a white post, folding the right front wheel under the drivers floor and folding the guard up to the driver's door ..... if my wife has an accident because of a software fault, that you tell me has been done, we will be looking at legal action, including criminal negligence if required .......
The bright smiles that sales upper management have, faded faster than rain on a supermarket receipt, the senior sales manager darted off and came back around 15 mins later assuring us that every update had been done as I had requires before we picked up the car ......
It has been a brilliant car the drive for the last 12 mths and covered 14,000kms, the wife turns the lane keep assist off, I don't bother, I like the one green bar on the adaptive cruise control, Margaret like two or three, but I find it annoying that it slows down so for back from the car in front that someone will cut in front in traffic .....
It does get scared easily if it sees a parked car or a car approaching from the opposite direction that is close to the centre lane, annoys the hell out of the wife, but I always have the foot resting on the accelerator when driving on narrow roads, so it just doesn't bother me .... I don't believe in expecting a computer to make all the decisions when driving, it is an assistant after all .....

T1 Terry

 

[Corindikev]

I finally got round to watching the video. My experience was fairly similar though I left the LKA on all the time even before the software upgrade. The difference is I guess that most of my driving was done on the Pacific Highway or main roads and in town, not on winding unmarked country roads. I learned to live with it and it did teach me to drive accurately in the lane The steering wheel tugs are far more subtle after the software upgrade.

My experience with rain sensing wipers is that they often come on after a few spots and if the screen is a bit dirty then they just leave smears so you need to activate the washer. If the dirt is a bit gritty the screen can become scratched after a while. I am happy they aren't there.

The headlights are OK on low beam but in mine in high beam is way too high & shines up in the trees. On a main highway it shows all of the reflective marker posts and signs a long way in front but there is a dark gap between the low beam and where the high beam starts. There are threads on this issue on this forum so it is common.

Like yours mine was in the first batch so I paid full price though got the 3k government rebate. Didn't even get floor mats as they didn't have them then.

Service has been a bit patchy from Geoff King. the 1000k service took only about 1/2 an hour but the service people didn't even know how to start the car when I got there.

The undertray bulge issue was a bit of a hassle. Geoff King said they had no knowledge of the bulletin. I eventually quoted the number & they did ring back & apologise. Mine was the first done in January 24. It took all of 1/2 an hour.

When I booked for the 2 year 40k first service the schedule listed all software updates. Software updates were not done & I was told MG had specified updates are not part of the scheduled service & I'd have to complain to get them done. The detail is on a thread here. I produced the original schedule & said this was part of the service contract. It was done but I had to come back for another day. The drive from home is a 3 hour round trip. The infotainment system was not updated & there is no ELK button on the quick dropdown menu. The infotainment software upgrade is done from a USB stick. This can be downloaded but i have not tried yet. One owner i think from Turkey has written commands to move options to different screens & it works so things can be customised. Functions don't change it is just accessing it from a different part of the input screen

The only other fault in the first 35k was the drivers window would no longer open. Traced to a poor cable connection but they broke some bits getting it off so the car had to go back in. Also I'd asked for the high beam to be adjusted down & they forgot to do it & they said it was done during the Software update but it hasn't been adjusted at all. I'll do it myself. There are threads here on how to do this.

I got a towbar fitted last week. I was quoted 3-5 hours labour & was booked in at 7.45am. I got the car back at 3.45. I left home in the dark to get there so was not impressed by the almost double amount of time. I could have arrived at lunch time. I was charged for 4 hours labour. The job was well done though.

Other than that I really like my MG4. The design & looks are good. Soft plastic for the tops of the door trim would be nice but the rest is pretty good. Took a while to get used to the wide sills but I don't notice this now. It is the best drivers passenger car I've owned. Booting it out of a corner is great fun & with all that torque. The RWD & 50:50 weight distribution makes a 1.6 tonne vehicle feel really nimble. I took a detour coming home from Noosa & took the road from Murwillumbah to Nimbin past Mt Warning. Heaps of tight corners and not a lot of traffic. A local came up behind me & wanted to pass. I booted the MG & he was nowhere to be seen after a couple of km.

Verdict. Great car, well made, good looks, excellent handling, great to drive, reliable but a few niggles, slowish touch screen but acceptable but pretty ordinary service from the dealer & MG Australia doesn't help.