MG5 SR Headlights

[john w]

does anyone know if there has been a safety recall on the mg 5 the headlights are not fit for purpose and if you change them to led lights they then would not pass a mot

 

[Alb]

Have you tried using better halogen lamps?

 

[BigBear]

If your finding them not fit for purpose, there is something wrong with YOUR lights. Setup up correctly, there is nothing wrong with the standard lights and are in fact pretty good So, no, not to my limited knowledge, there is no recall. Led lights - whether they would pass an MOT would be down to the tester, but strictly speaking, at the moment, no.

 

[Archev]

If your finding them not fit for purpose, there is something wrong with YOUR lights. Setup up correctly, there is nothing wrong with the standard lights and are in fact pretty good So, no, not to my limited knowledge, there is no recall. Led lights - whether they would pass an MOT would be down to the tester, but strictly speaking, at the moment, no.

Yes I must admit I’ve had no trouble with the five’s headlights. I’ve driven around 12000 miles over the last year on all sorts of roads and found them to be fine.

 

[Jomarkh]

does anyone know if there has been a safety recall on the mg 5 the headlights are not fit for purpose and if you change them to led lights they then would not pass a mot

They are not the brightest off headlights but fine.
You could change them to Osram Night Breakers for a better beam.

 

[Silver estate]

So it’s taken you 20 months to complain about the headlights , I would say the bulbs are getting tired and need changing

 

[john w]

i haven't used it at night before all journeys in the day before this week

 

[mourneuk]

I've just been to Wales and back with a fair bit of driving at night on roads with streetlights and without. I found the lights to be ok. They're obviously not as bright as the LED lights on my previous car, but they were acceptable.

I had considered changing the bulbs to the Osram Nightbreakers when I first got the car but now I'll just keep them as is.

 

[manictomb]

Yes I drive at night and found my lights ok even been flashed when on dipped thought I hadn't taken main off lol but my mg5 had already dipped them

 

[smokie]

Possible eyesight problem?

 

[Hairyfool]

The headlight along with the bulbs are "E" marked so have been approved for their intended use.

"not fit for purpose" is a complex legal condition and the car would not have received type approval if the headlights were that bad. They are considerably better than my Transit headlights.

 

[Les burrows]

I shall now throw a spanner in the works I’ve had my MG5 SR now around 20 months or so getting on for 18000 miles 2 nd winter coming up and I was at first a little bit concerned having come from my Skoda Superb estate which had HID headlights which where fantastic and where also fitted with high power washers which makes one hell of a difference, to the mg 5 I knew the lights where not as good they would never going to be but I am now well use to them and there’s nothing wrong with the standard set up at all for me.

Fitting LED bulbs plenty about but against the law, and will fail the MOT, a lot of owners say nightbreakers or better I don’t know never seen them but here comes the spanner last week my wife got an MG4 which is fitted with LEDs as standard my ho my what a difference fantastic they are even better than the Superb was, without doubt, just one little tip to John w who started the thread off, be sure to give them a quick wipe over often it sure does help when they are clean.
And if the new MG5 comes with the same lights as the MG4 it might just sway me.
Les

 

[Hairyfool]

The idea that the factory setup is poor is to some extent subjective however, there is little doubt good LEDs are considerably better overall.

That it is an issue is going to depend on usage. For 90% of my nighttime driving it will be in traffic with at least 75% under street lighting, therefore the "problem" with tungsten is more about battery consumption than anything else.

 

[Kithmo]

The headlight along with the bulbs are "E" marked so have been approved for their intended use.

"not fit for purpose" is a complex legal condition and the car would not have received type approval if the headlights were that bad. They are considerably better than my Transit headlights.

And way better than the ZS Gen 1 headlights with the original HB3LL bulbs.

 

[john w]

i came from a ds ds4 with great lights to the mg 5 and i have been driving in the daylight so no reason to query the headlights before now but I'm now driving at night a big difference from the ds4

 

[Les burrows]

i came from a ds ds4 with great lights to the mg 5 and i have been driving in the daylight so no reason to query the headlights before now but I'm now driving at night a big difference from the ds4

Hi John w,do you fine them better or worse than the DS you don’t say
Les

 

[john w]

Hi John w,do you fine them better or worse than the DS you don’t say
Les

I'm afraid the mg5 lights are not as good as the ds 4

 

[Aberdeenshire]

There is a bit of a habit on this sub to explain to people who find the headlights on the mg5 poor (and there have been many instances) that they are in fact wrong.

The stock headlights are poor compared to other headlights available in 2022, largely because they are halogen. There is a reason the mg4 uses LED headlights. The upside of halogen is that better halogen bulbs can be bought cheaply and fitted at home. If that does not bring them up to an acceptable level of performance then there are 2 options: replace with LED bulbs (it is illegal in UK, will fail an MOT, may affect insurance, but it is an option), or get a different car.

For many people the stock bulbs seem sufficient. For my partner and I in rural Northern Scotland they are simply not.

 

[Johncc]

Does the long range have led's?
If so you may be able to change the entire unit?- it's replacing halogen with led bulbs that's illegal not upgrading the whole unit.
Not a cheap option though.
I also found the headlights mediocre compared to other vehicles (non led) I have owned - good for the range though, you have to moderate your speed .

 

[Aberdeenshire]

I have the long range exclusive and it uses halogens. Not sure about the facelift model