MG4 totally dead

[Fredrik F]

Hi!

I bought my MG4 Luxuary with 64 kwh battery in March 2023. In general I have been satisfied with the car. It is fun, fairly practical, charging speed is good and battery capacity is sufficient. In June I had problem with the air condition cooling but MG fixed that easy. At the same time MG stated they had up-dated software. In August the car did not want to cooperate. I could enter the car but not put into Drive or Rear drive mode. The cas is not moving. The light was on and the ventilation and air condition but I could not turn them off and I could not lock the car. I called the assistance which arrived but they could not do anything either on site. The assistance had to transport the car to service station. After four weeks the car was returned. The service station said they had up-dated software and it had been a massive up-date. Now in October when I was about to leave early in the morning the same problem has occured again. The car is unlocked, the light is on and the ventilation is on but I can't set the gear into Drive or Rear drive mode. Also I can't turn off and lock the car. It is just standing there unlocked with light and ventilation on. Now the assistance is coming again. Anyone experienced similar problem?

 

[jonney]

Christ that's a bad one.
How did you get on after?

 

[MelanieMoxon]

It happened to my MG4 Trophy, but after the software update it hasn't done it again.

Sounds like they simply re-set the car rather than updating the software to me.

 

[Fredrik F]

Thank you for reply. When the car went dead the first time I hoped that after the first massive software up-date everything would be ok. The service station told that they had up-dated all software that was possible to up-date. At that time they had the car for four (!?) weeks at the service station. Now it has happened again and the car is on its second week at the service station my confidence in the car has decreased a lot.

 

[vintageb3]

Did you get a rental car from the dealer?

 

[Fredrik F]

Yes, MG offers seven day rental car for free. But the repair has taken much longer time.

 

[JvS]

I had also twice a death lux22. First time after 7 days, could not start the car, all warning signs on, info creen off. Apparently the BCM module was defect. So they had replaced the BCM module(3weeks repair). On the internet i read that if the BCM module is defect, 95% of the time this is caused by some other defect. So I asked if they checked what caused the defected BCM module. They didn't know, and they didn't had to check only replace the BCM module according to MG tech. Alright so the car worked again. But after approximately 7 days, again a non responsive car, only this time the car wouldn't shut down. This time we rejected repairing, and asked for the legal guarantee of a new car. Our garage owner, offered this option.
So after 2,5 months of issues, we finally can drive a MG4.
(Attached some pictures of the error screens we had)

 

[Jeroen]

I had this once with my MG4 and I solved it by starting a charging session and that solved it that time.

So weird.

 

[Fredrik F]

Thank you for interesting stories. I talked to the service station this week and after keeping the car for almost three weeks they had decided or been recommended by MG, it seems like they are in contact with MG, to replace the BCM module. Reading the comment JvS it doesn't sound very promising but let's try. To be continued.

 

[JvS]

Thank you for interesting stories. I talked to the service station this week and after keeping the car for almost three weeks they had decided or been recommended by MG, it seems like they are in contact with MG, to replace the BCM module. Reading the comment JvS it doesn't sound very promising but let's try. To be continued.

How is the status? Is the BCM module replaced? Or already an idea when it should be replaced?

And ask if they have searched what caused the defected BCM module.
Cause if that's not repaired, and you car is having again this problem...well then it keeps a problem (and would definitely demand a new car, according to warranty and a non-conformity car/product)

But I hope your car will work like a charm again after it's fixed.

 

[Fredrik F]

The story continues. Last Friday I talked to the garage. Earlier on they had told me they would replace the BCM and that was also what they did. The result was not very good. After the BCM had been replaced the car did not work at all. This outcome is the same as what JvS above did experience. Now I talked to the garage again this week and they had no specific plan how to continue. My understanding was that they again were working very broad.
Also I talked to the sales guy and he is open for replacement of the car.

 

[Rolfe]

I'd push for that.

 

[Fredrik F]

On Friday last week I talked to the sales guy about a very specific plan for replacing my car with a new car. I had expected the new-car-process to be finalised this week, so that I could live a normal life. On Monday morning I was contacted by the garage and to my surprise they told me they had repaired the car and the car was now working normal. I felt suspicious and asked the repair guy to be more specific and explain why it would work this time and the problem not to come back. The repair guy told me that he had found a cable that was loose in a connection. The cables only had to be connected properly. The location of the loose cable was on the right side behind a panel where you have your feets in the front. So all the software up-dates and replacement of the BCM did most probably not make any change. If true it seems like the assambly of the car at the factory has been made careless. I have been driving a couple of days and the car works fine but I still feel suspicious. It will take time to build up the confidence.

 

[JuziWomble]

On Friday last week I talked to the sales guy about a very specific plan for replacing my car with a new car. I had expected the new-car-process to be finalised this week, so that I could live a normal life. On Monday morning I was contacted by the garage and to my surprise they told me they had repaired the car and the car was now working normal. I felt suspicious and asked the repair guy to be more specific and explain why it would work this time and the problem not to come back. The repair guy told me that he had found a cable that was loose in a connection. The cables only had to be connected properly. The location of the loose cable was on the right side behind a panel where you have your feets in the front. So all the software up-dates and replacement of the BCM did most probably not make any change. If true it seems like the assambly of the car at the factory has been made careless. I have been driving a couple of days and the car works fine but I still feel suspicious. It will take time to build up the confidence.

If it happens again say within 10 days - I would request / ney demand that they replace the car as they seemed to be going down that route until they 'found' this loose wire

 

[tsedge]

It does sound plausible - assembly of cars is heavily human led so mistakes can be made and we have had them before.

But I would indeed want to be cautious about whether was the true cause.

 

[JvS]

On Friday last week I talked to the sales guy about a very specific plan for replacing my car with a new car. I had expected the new-car-process to be finalised this week, so that I could live a normal life. On Monday morning I was contacted by the garage and to my surprise they told me they had repaired the car and the car was now working normal. I felt suspicious and asked the repair guy to be more specific and explain why it would work this time and the problem not to come back. The repair guy told me that he had found a cable that was loose in a connection. The cables only had to be connected properly. The location of the loose cable was on the right side behind a panel where you have your feets in the front. So all the software up-dates and replacement of the BCM did most probably not make any change. If true it seems like the assambly of the car at the factory has been made careless. I have been driving a couple of days and the car works fine but I still feel suspicious. It will take time to build up the confidence.

I can totally imagine that you have to get your confidence back. Had exactly the same feeling here (even with the new one).
But I hope that the repair really helped this time, and that there are no more problems. And you can indeed enjoy driving and use the car for what it is intended for.
But indeed if there is a problem again, then really demand a new one.