Wish list of MG4 improvements

[Sparky2]

Just as playing golf is a good walk ruined, the MG4 Trophy LR is a good car ruined by flaky software and the associated cameras and touchscreen. Unlike my previous BMW i3, this is not a car you can just get in and drive. Assuming the touchscreen is alive on getting in the car (it is sometimes asleep), the first thing you need to do is check what HVAC settings it has remembered (not always the ones you had before) and what radio station it has selected for you (again, not what you had before).

Then you must disable the wretched ELK to have manual control over the steering and prevent the car swerving all over the road. While you are at it, go into MG Pilot and turn off the totally useless speed limit signs warnings and the front collision thingy if you don't want the car to slam the brakes on randomly for no reason at all. Then you will have to pair the car with your mobile phone because it will have forgotten that you did it yesterday and every day before that

Once you set off, if you happen to drive under some trees in broad daylight, the car turns the headlights on. You can switch this annoying feature off but you have to do it every time. I very nearly collided with a car which came out of a side road after some trees caused the headlights to come on. The other driver thought I was flashing him to exit the side road. This is typical of the bonkers 'safety' software which makes the car so dangerous to drive. If you switch off the ELK you cannot use the cruise control. If you park with the front wheels at an angle, when you select reverse the car tells you to straighten the wheels even if that would result in colliding with cars behind you. Bonkers.

If you try to use the satnav, not only will the big blue bar obscure your route but every so often the car will warn you of a "rock slide area" or a "school zone ahead" even if the school in question was knocked down 30 years ago. Turning slowly at a junction causes the touchscreen to show you a fine view of the tarmac at the side of the car, presumably as an option to looking out of the window!

I could go on about the lack of rear interior lighting and the creaky tailgate but that's enough for now

 

[OriginalBigAl]

Have you called it " Christine " by any chance ?

 

[LenEV2016]

Just as playing golf is a good walk ruined, the MG4 Trophy LR is a good car ruined by flaky software and the associated cameras and touchscreen. Unlike my previous BMW i3, this is not a car you can just get in and drive. Assuming the touchscreen is alive on getting in the car (it is sometimes asleep), the first thing you need to do is check what HVAC settings it has remembered (not always the ones you had before) and what radio station it has selected for you (again, not what you had before).

Then you must disable the wretched ELK to have manual control over the steering and prevent the car swerving all over the road. While you are at it, go into MG Pilot and turn off the totally useless speed limit signs warnings and the front collision thingy if you don't want the car to slam the brakes on randomly for no reason at all. Then you will have to pair the car with your mobile phone because it will have forgotten that you did it yesterday and every day before that

Once you set off, if you happen to drive under some trees in broad daylight, the car turns the headlights on. You can switch this annoying feature off but you have to do it every time. I very nearly collided with a car which came out of a side road after some trees caused the headlights to come on. The other driver thought I was flashing him to exit the side road. This is typical of the bonkers 'safety' software which makes the car so dangerous to drive. If you switch off the ELK you cannot use the cruise control. If you park with the front wheels at an angle, when you select reverse the car tells you to straighten the wheels even if that would result in colliding with cars behind you. Bonkers.

If you try to use the satnav, not only will the big blue bar obscure your route but every so often the car will warn you of a "rock slide area" or a "school zone ahead" even if the school in question was knocked down 30 years ago. Turning slowly at a junction causes the touchscreen to show you a fine view of the tarmac at the side of the car, presumably as an option to looking out of the window!

I could go on about the lack of rear interior lighting and the creaky tailgate but that's enough for now

I agree with most of what you say but there are updates for the vast majority of those faults.
I do agree however that it's a great value great driving car let down by crap software, some poor dealers and atrocious UK customer support.

 

[haloweenhamster]

Just as playing golf is a good walk ruined, the MG4 Trophy LR is a good car ruined by flaky software and the associated cameras and touchscreen. Unlike my previous BMW i3, this is not a car you can just get in and drive. Assuming the touchscreen is alive on getting in the car (it is sometimes asleep), the first thing you need to do is check what HVAC settings it has remembered (not always the ones you had before) and what radio station it has selected for you (again, not what you had before).

Then you must disable the wretched ELK to have manual control over the steering and prevent the car swerving all over the road. While you are at it, go into MG Pilot and turn off the totally useless speed limit signs warnings and the front collision thingy if you don't want the car to slam the brakes on randomly for no reason at all. Then you will have to pair the car with your mobile phone because it will have forgotten that you did it yesterday and every day before that

Once you set off, if you happen to drive under some trees in broad daylight, the car turns the headlights on. You can switch this annoying feature off but you have to do it every time. I very nearly collided with a car which came out of a side road after some trees caused the headlights to come on. The other driver thought I was flashing him to exit the side road. This is typical of the bonkers 'safety' software which makes the car so dangerous to drive. If you switch off the ELK you cannot use the cruise control. If you park with the front wheels at an angle, when you select reverse the car tells you to straighten the wheels even if that would result in colliding with cars behind you. Bonkers.

If you try to use the satnav, not only will the big blue bar obscure your route but every so often the car will warn you of a "rock slide area" or a "school zone ahead" even if the school in question was knocked down 30 years ago. Turning slowly at a junction causes the touchscreen to show you a fine view of the tarmac at the side of the car, presumably as an option to looking out of the window!

I could go on about the lack of rear interior lighting and the creaky tailgate but that's enough for now

Lane assist was fixed over a year ago, Bluetooth is fixed, the rest I can't say I've had an issue with

 

[salty]

Lane assist was fixed over a year ago, Bluetooth is fixed, the rest I can't say I've had an issue with

Must admit, I'm the same. No problems with mine at all.

 

[Kenp1]

The only thing that really annoys me is not being able to swipe down for the climate controls when using Android auto.

 

[haloweenhamster]

The only thing that really annoys me is not being able to swipe down for the climate controls when using Android auto.

Only fix for that is going back to an older version
From memory
R33 for SE
R46 for trophy

 

[Jamesrr]

The only thing that really annoys me is not being able to swipe down for the climate controls when using Android auto.

I assign the AirCon to the right hand "star" button on the steering wheel. This pops up an AirCon interface overlay even when AA is running. Does that work for your version of the car's software?

 

[Kenp1]

I assign the AirCon to the right hand "star" button on the steering wheel. This pops up an AirCon interface overlay even when AA is running. Does that work for your version of the car's software?

That doesn't show the heated seats or steering wheel.

 

[Jamesrr]

That doesn't show the heated seats or steering wheel.

True, neither of which are of interest to me.

Anyway, that's what works for me. YMMV

 

[Sparky2]

As mentioned before, my MG Dealer claims he has done all the software updates available for our car and more importantly the only updates that MG Motors Uk Ltd are prepared to pay for. I have lost count of the number of complaints I have made in writing to MG Motors Customer Service (joke) about the dangerous software embedded in my car but their silence is deafening. If I want the MG Dealer to investigate the many faults with the software, I have to agree to paying the dealer £140 up front in case MG Motors refuse to cover the cost. The software defects are NOT COVERED by the MG warranty which is outsourced to the franchised dealers and has so many exclusions it is not worth the paper it is not printed on! The very existence of this forum and the thousands of complaints on it should tell MG Motors UK Ltd everything they need to know about what an almighty mess they have made of the software and associated hardware in these cars

 

[salty]

As mentioned before, my MG Dealer claims he has done all the software updates available for our car and more importantly the only updates that MG Motors Uk Ltd are prepared to pay for. I have lost count of the number of complaints I have made in writing to MG Motors Customer Service (joke) about the dangerous software embedded in my car but their silence is deafening. If I want the MG Dealer to investigate the many faults with the software, I have to agree to paying the dealer £140 up front in case MG Motors refuse to cover the cost. The software defects are NOT COVERED by the MG warranty which is outsourced to the franchised dealers and has so many exclusions it is not worth the paper it is not printed on! The very existence of this forum and the thousands of complaints on it should tell MG Motors UK Ltd everything they need to know about what an almighty mess they have made of the software and associated hardware in these cars

Agree. MG UK are a joke. And treat people with contempt. As for this or any other car forum. You'll always find the majority of posts are complaints. Some trivial,
some major. It's just the nature of forum's.

 

[Sparky2]

Thanks Salty. I understand your point but what I don't understand is the car industry's headlong plunge into defective digital control of their vehicles in the face of massive criticism from the motoring press and the car-buying public. People like me who have been driving (and racing) cars for more than 50 years get in a modern EV and wonder what the hell is going on and why their ability to control the car has been hijacked by computers programmed by incompetent geeks. In my experience, everything digital falls over sooner or later and most of us are ill-equipped to understand why or do anything about it. I will just have to continue to derive my motoring pleasure from driving my classic Alvis and Jaguar and accept that my MG4 is just another digital device

 

[LenEV2016]

Thanks Salty. I understand your point but what I don't understand is the car industry's headlong plunge into defective digital control of their vehicles in the face of massive criticism from the motoring press and the car-buying public. People like me who have been driving (and racing) cars for more than 50 years get in a modern EV and wonder what the hell is going on and why their ability to control the car has been hijacked by computers programmed by incompetent geeks. In my experience, everything digital falls over sooner or later and most of us are ill-equipped to understand why or do anything about it. I will just have to continue to derive my motoring pleasure from driving my classic Alvis and Jaguar and accept that my MG4 is just another digital device

Don't just accept it, try another dealer there are genuinely updates out there which make the crap software more bearable.
I think some manufacturers have listened, Renault never did away with buttons on their new EVs and VAG group are apparently bringing them back.
The Chinese manufacturers just tried to copy Tesla but unsuccessfully

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

I assign the AirCon to the right hand "star" button on the steering wheel. This pops up an AirCon interface overlay even when AA is running. Does that work for your version of the car's software?

The other option is to shout "Hey, MG - Raise the cabin temperature 2 degrees"
(Other temperatures are available)

 

[Sparky2]

Apparently, turning on 'towing mode' switches everything off but that includes the reversing camera. My son-in-law in Fife has leased a Tesla but he will be glad to hand it back very soon. If you can ignore the bonkers iPad touchscreen, the dual motor model is a great driver's car but scrolling through a menu on the screen just to open the glovebox shows very clearly how easy it has become for the software geeks to lose touch with reality. One wonders if any of them have actually driven an 'analogue' car with knobs, buttons and switches instead of much the cheaper flaky screens

I have nothing against reliable technology that genuinely improves the user interface with a piece of equipment. A good example is the heads-up display of your speed on the inside of the windscreen in front of the driver, a feature which only seems to be available on premium models. A really bad example, though not applicable to EVs, is the disappearance of the engine oil dipstick on ICE cars, replaced by a digital sensor that requires endless scrolling through menus to check the oil

Why can't we have an EV with all the best technology to make driving safer and more comfortable but WITHOUT inappropriate (and often dangerous) gizmos that remove car control from the driver while requiring him/her to take their eyes off the road to fiddle with a touchscreen to carry out simple adjustments to the heater or alter the volume on the wireless. A multitude of multi-function buttons on the steering wheel are not user-friendly and too easy to catch while steering

Just like battling with apps on my mobile phone, driving a modern car just makes me feel old

 

[Kenp1]

I don't even know where the volume control is on the screen, I haven't used the volume knob in a car since they could be adjusted on the steering wheel. Not sure how you would catch the steering wheel buttons on a car, it's not something that has ever happened to me in any car.

 

[Kithmo]

The only thing that really annoys me is not being able to swipe down for the climate controls when using Android auto.

Press the home key to go back to the home menu, then swipe down. Press the AA tile on the home screen to go back to AA.

 

[haloweenhamster]

As mentioned before, my MG Dealer claims he has done all the software updates available for our car and more importantly the only updates that MG Motors Uk Ltd are prepared to pay for. I have lost count of the number of complaints I have made in writing to MG Motors Customer Service (joke) about the dangerous software embedded in my car but their silence is deafening. If I want the MG Dealer to investigate the many faults with the software, I have to agree to paying the dealer £140 up front in case MG Motors refuse to cover the cost. The software defects are NOT COVERED by the MG warranty which is outsourced to the franchised dealers and has so many exclusions it is not worth the paper it is not printed on! The very existence of this forum and the thousands of complaints on it should tell MG Motors UK Ltd everything they need to know about what an almighty mess they have made of the software and associated hardware in these cars

Tbh I didn't rely on an MG dealership, I updated the car myself and recalibrated the radar & camera
This sorted my dangerous car long before the sc077
Partially the update, partially the recalibration (maybe what yours needs)

Tbh I'd probably be as annoyed as you if I had to rely on a dealership because when I did complain about issues with the car I was fobbed off

Because of poor dealerships several of us have taken things into our own hands and that has made MG become angry about their "dealership internal use only" data being shared openly

Hard for dealerships to refuse knowledge of an issue when customers turn up with a print out of an MG fix for said issue

I personally think MG are going to kill themselves with their customer service, work colleagues I've suggested MG to have said no due to what they've read online about reliability and customer services

 

[Kenp1]

Press the home key to go back to the home menu, then swipe down. Press the AA tile on the home screen to go back to AA.

Exactly, that's the issue.