Two weeks in, feeling a bit Meh about the MGS5 EV if I am honest.

I also came from a Hyundai (Ioniq 5 Ultimate and a petrol Tucson before that) and I am enjoying my S5.

It has a few quirks, but nothing I can’t live with. I’ve said before that my main niggles are the drive mode and regen going back to default each time you restart, and also the radio may or may not need manually starting when the car starts.

But these things can all be changed from the steering wheel, and are not a big deal (to me).

The S5 is of course a much cheaper car than the Ioniq 5, but given how much less I am now paying monthly, I can live with the quirks and don’t find them to be a deal breaker.

It’s easy to look at your previous car with rose tinted glasses, but the Ioniq 5 had its annoyances too - namely the well documented tailgate rattle, and the rattly rear seatbelts if the passenger left them twisted. And occasionally the infotainment system would lose its online services and need something small pushed into the pinhole reset button.

Overall I am happy with my S5 and find it to be a very competent vehicle. And it doesn’t rattle :)
I did consider a 1 year old Ioniq 5 Premium 77kWh but have read so many issues about the ICCU failing on that and the Kia EV6 it put me off to be honest.

I don't look at the Kona with full rose tint, the infotainment stopped working 3 times, well it worked but no display and a reset wouldn't bring it back just a leave the car off for 2-3 hours and then it seemed ok again. The Kona was a lot noisier than the S5 thats for sure, the S5 is a very quiet car I think.

The only other time I felt the same way when I switched cars was going from a Jaguar XJ to a Toyota Yaris, needs must at the time but that one was a big leap and was never going to go well...lol.

I will get used to it I am sure, had a play with Sports mode and it has the performance for sure it just needs a bit more oomph in Normal mode when you put your foot to the floor, not foot to the floor 1-2-ah its moving.
 
Not really it’s in Normal mode, I wouldn’t expect such sluggish acceleration in its default mode there is a definite lag. I don’t want to drive in sports mode everywhere and I would expect a foot to the floor in normal to give more than a gentle push on the accelerator. My Kona used to override any drive mode when you floored it. Maybe it is just an MG way of doing things
Yeah I suppose. Using sports mode is a perfectly acceptable solution for me. Makes the car handle nicely. I don't really like it in normal mode, but sports mode is a dream. I can't really understand the logic of not even having tried it. The pedal-feel is essentially the entire difference.
 
I did consider a 1 year old Ioniq 5 Premium 77kWh but have read so many issues about the ICCU failing on that and the Kia EV6 it put me off to be honest.
Fortunately I didn’t ever have ICCU failure, but there was always the ticking time bomb feeling. I did have the 12v battery fail after 2 years (also common) but it was replaced under warranty.

A family member has a gen 2 Kona Electric which I drive from time to time, and it’s quite nice but also has a couple of annoyances - the drive mode always defaults to normal, whereas she prefers eco. And the driver attention system is far too intrusive. Even glancing in the mirror for a second too long triggers it. Im quite grateful that it can be turned off quickly in the S5.

Also I meant to say, you can increase the cluster brightness in the S5. The default is medium but I’ve put mine on the higher brightness level and it makes it better (and it retains the setting).
 
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I took an MG S5 out from the Everything Electric exhibition earlier this year when it was first released. I must say I was impressed by the car. I am probably used to some of the features or otherwise that others have talked about in this thread with MG, and other makers too to gain a high Euro NCAP rating.
One thing that did stand out though was the chalk and cheese nature of normal and sport modes. As an MG4 owner I nearly always drive in ECO mode and never run out of acceleration from a standtill or while on the move. When driving the MG S5 I often found the accelerator hitting the end stop when pulling away without driving enthusiastically. In sport mode however it seemed much more of a beast, pinning you back in the seat when the accelerator was pressed. I guess this has been done to eek out some more efficiency in everyday driving since the figures are about 20 miles higher than an MG 4 for the same battery pack size.
Another surprise was the manual dipping rear view mirror, although I believe the Cyberster is the same. Spoilt I guess with my MG 4 Trophy and my previous car bought in 2013 both having electronic dimming versions, or just needless penny pinching?
 
Yeah I suppose. Using sports mode is a perfectly acceptable solution for me. Makes the car handle nicely. I don't really like it in normal mode, but sports mode is a dream. I can't really understand the logic of not even having tried it.
I collected the car and haven't had the chance to use it properly in 2 weeks for various reasons, its still only got 200 miles on the clock! I took it out tonight and yes Sports mode it behaves like a rocket, Falcon 9 I would say as it is a fairly bulky car to have 6 second 0-60. I just need to get some more time behind the wheel I think, it took me a 30 mile drive up the A1 to fully understand how the Cruise control modes worked and limiter functions. Still can't get my head around when LKA is on and what LCA really does other than light the orange blindspot warning in the wing mirror. I did see Cross Traffic alert do something in the supermarket car park tonight, thats the first time I have seen that kick in. I have had too long driving Hyundai obviously so change was easy as it didn't really do much different between cars.

I do wish you could set up a custom drive mode and have it default to on or part of the MG Pilot Custom feature which is very good for setting the ADAS to the way I like it with just a swipe, tap and a tap. That I do like.

I took an MG S5 out from the Everything Electric exhibition earlier this year when it was first released. I must say I was impressed by the car. I am probably used to some of the features or otherwise that others have talked about in this thread with MG, and other makers too to gain a high Euro NCAP rating.
One thing that did stand out though was the chalk and cheese nature of normal and sport modes. As an MG4 owner I nearly always drive in ECO mode and never run out of acceleration from a standtill or while on the move. When driving the MG S5 I often found the accelerator hitting the end stop when pulling away without driving enthusiastically. In sport mode however it seemed much more of a beast, pinning you back in the seat when the accelerator was pressed. I guess this has been done to eek out some more efficiency in everyday driving since the figures are about 20 miles higher than an MG 4 for the same battery pack size.
Another surprise was the manual dipping rear view mirror, although I believe the Cyberster is the same. Spoilt I guess with my MG 4 Trophy and my previous car bought in 2013 both having electronic dimming versions, or just needless penny pinching?
good grief its manual, I just assumed it was automatic! I haven't even looked at it other than to fit a dash cam below it, that is indeed penny pinching but at least they work, my Hyundai one was awful never really worked properly in my opinion.

I was going to say, if these are the biggest problems in your lives, or even in the top 50, you should go down on your knees, raise your hands to heaven and thank the Lord...

There are a few places I drive regularly where every passing car illuminates every window of a house on a bend, or at the opposite side of a T junction, and I am very conscious that it must be annoying, but I assume they've got shutters or blinds and just get on with their lives, thankful that no neighbouring state has invaded them, showering them with munitions.
I agree but neighbours will be neighbours from my experience... I do sympathise a bit though as modern LED headlamps can be so damned bright.
 
I collected the car and haven't had the chance to use it properly in 2 weeks for various reasons, its still only got 200 miles on the clock! I took it out tonight and yes Sports mode it behaves like a rocket, Falcon 9 I would say as it is a fairly bulky car to have 6 second 0-60. I just need to get some more time behind the wheel I think, it took me a 30 mile drive up the A1 to fully understand how the Cruise control modes worked and limiter functions. Still can't get my head around when LKA is on and what LCA really does other than light the orange blindspot warning in the wing mirror. I did see Cross Traffic alert do something in the supermarket car park tonight, thats the first time I have seen that kick in. I have had too long driving Hyundai obviously so change was easy as it didn't really do much different between cars.

I do wish you could set up a custom drive mode and have it default to on or part of the MG Pilot Custom feature which is very good for setting the ADAS to the way I like it with just a swipe, tap and a tap. That I do like.
So there is more to customize but thesevare not saved in the custom feature ? Like sports mode or OPD?
 
So there is more to customize but thesevare not saved in the custom feature ? Like sports mode or OPD?
They seem to be saved in the custom feature of Drive mode, the last tab on car drive mode, but you can't tell the car 'custom' should be the default mode. This would be so easy to simply have a favourite icon to select on your favourite drive mode and just get the car to default to favourite.

There are many missed software opportunities in cars sadly, like on the MG Radio station you can't re-order the station favourites by just dragging them to the order you want.
 
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They seem to be saved in the custom feature of Drive mode, the last tab on car drive mode, but you can't tell the car 'custom' should be the default mode. This would be so easy to simply have a favourite icon to select on your favourite drive mode and just get the car to default to favourite.

There are many missed software opportunities in cars sadly, like on the MG Radio station you can't re-order the station favourites by just dragging them to the order you want.
I was told you could quickly select the custom mode?
 
You can put drive mode on a steering wheel button, if you wish.

However, I have found that going into Custom mode resets other things, like OPD, and I just stick in Normal or (very occasionally) Sport, by hitting buttons on the screen, so as not to go via Custom, even for a second, and lose settings.
 
The other side of that coin is that I feel no obligation to become a fanboy just because I buy a particular car. If someone doesn't like it, so be it, chaçun à son gout.
 
Did my first long trip today. The software does need some refinement. Bluetooth audio is a bit choppy and the lack of light/dark mode switching is a bit frustrating, although Android Auto does switch its colours and the screen dims so it's not too bad.

Coming from a Leaf 30 it's a huge step up. MG Pilot works really well, doing all the steering work and feeling confident and safe. It's great both cruising and in traffic. I turned off speed limit recognition as that was constantly seeing side road signs. It still nags you if you temporarily over-speed to make an overtake (why do people speed up when you start to overtake them?), but that's minor.

I see that Another Route Planner has just added the S5 as a beta car, but it seems to be way too pessimistic. It said I would arrive with 45%, and I arrived with 58%. Okay there were some roadworks and traffic, but I thought it could account for that, and I don't think it's enough to explain such a huge difference. I didn't do any energy saving at all, drove at the speed limit mostly on autopilot.

It's quiet too. Really enjoying it, and even if it wasn't half the price I'd say it compares favourably to many similar EVs.
 
Did my first long trip today. The software does need some refinement. Bluetooth audio is a bit choppy and the lack of light/dark mode switching is a bit frustrating, although Android Auto does switch its colours and the screen dims so it's not too bad.

Coming from a Leaf 30 it's a huge step up. MG Pilot works really well, doing all the steering work and feeling confident and safe. It's great both cruising and in traffic. I turned off speed limit recognition as that was constantly seeing side road signs. It still nags you if you temporarily over-speed to make an overtake (why do people speed up when you start to overtake them?), but that's minor.

I see that Another Route Planner has just added the S5 as a beta car, but it seems to be way too pessimistic. It said I would arrive with 45%, and I arrived with 58%. Okay there were some roadworks and traffic, but I thought it could account for that, and I don't think it's enough to explain such a huge difference. I didn't do any energy saving at all, drove at the speed limit mostly on autopilot.

It's quiet too. Really enjoying it, and even if it wasn't half the price I'd say it compares favourably to many similar EVs.
Big leap from a Leaf 30 to the MG thats sure. Out of interest how was the battery on the Leaf 30 when you traded it? I had one of those for 3.5 years and liked the car but battery was at 90% SOH after 32k miles.
 
I'm afraid I don't know, I didn't check it. 12 bars on the last service, but only 2 years old.
 
As for the neighbour refusing to shut their curtains...

He surely can't expect everyone to pussyfoot around at night, pandering to him, the only man in the street who has his curtains open at night.

If he does, he's a selfish burger.
 
Hi, I have had my MGS5 now for 15 days and yes there are a few quirky things that do irritate me about the car, like you said fly by wire throttle not responsive enough, my car every morning comes up with an error on crash assist and lane assist not working and that fault disappears after 5 mins of driving, the qi in this heat just makes my iPhone overheat and then I have lost all functionality. Mine also doesn’t keep the pilot settings, but me personally enjoy the drive and the low costs of driving ( granny octopus charging). I did speak to my dealer and have arranged to go along with a list of what I don’t like or don’t understand properly and the service guys will help me sort things.
Sorry you not totally happy with new car but I have just turned it into what’s next in a good way 👍
My advice is to get those startup faults properly investigated and resolved really quickly. It sounds very similar to what happened to me and my ZS, which is all documented in a thread on here. Those startup faults turned out to be related to a HV BATTERY DISCONNECT issue which stopped the car dead in traffic. Scary and happened to me 4 times. I now know more about rejecting a car under the CRA than I really want to.

Unlikely your faults are going to lead to the same but my advice is don't treat them lightly. Make sure the dealer prioritises getting them properly diagnosed.
 
10. Auto Headlight Off switch does not work unless car is in Park, it is impossible to turn off the headlamps when dark if in reverse or drive which for me is a big issue as I have to reverse into my drive and its illuminating the neighbours front room, who never shut their curtains, every time. He has complained twice already but I can't do anything about it. The only slight assistance I can offer him is to drop the levelling down to 3 so the lights are pointing lower. I don't think it helped that when I first did it the auto main beam kicked in and spotlighted him on his sofa!
If it is similar to my MG4, you can switch the lights to manual mode and then only have front DRLs showing when parking. Not sure if the MGS5 is the same.
 
If it is similar to my MG4, you can switch the lights to manual mode and then only have front DRLs showing when parking. Not sure if the MGS5 is the same.
On the S5 it has a twist to off (anti-clockwise) and then springs back. This seems to let you turn off the headlights when parked but not in Drive or Reverse where they come on automatically and the twist off on the stalk doesn't do anything. I suspect it's a bug in software or feature. I did ask MG customer services this and when the LKA green icon should show on the cluster and their response after 1 week was to book my car in for diagnostic at the service centre!
 
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