Darker evenings ahead...

[JohnS29]

This may have been raised before, but could be a helpful tip for new MG4 drivers. I drove my MG4 in the dark for the first time recently and had the alarming experience of switching to full beam - and everything going black. I'd pushed the left stalk away from me for full beam, and inadvertently knocked the lighting control switch that's embedded in the stalk to the OFF position. A hazard to be aware of and one that could be eliminated by a simple change of design (eg putting the switch in the top edge rather than the face of the stalk)?

 

[OriginalBigAl]

Welcome to the club. I did that on a narrow twisting downhill section of road with deep ditches on either side , found the brake pedal quick enough. Spent 20 minutes the following morning getting used to the controls and learning some muscle memory. Not done it since. Careful with the auto high beam?? you might want to limit its use .

 

[bedsev]

I've actually found the auto main beam better than my previous car, I'm definately blinding less people as it reacts faster to seeing oncoming traffic and at a longer distance. When it's got it wrong a quick flick of manual main beam (pull back) seems to turn it off, but auto also goes off for a bit too.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

On straight flat roads its fine, but on undulating bendy roads it is too slow to react ( probably like a lot of cars) so better to go manual.

 

[SD43]

There’s a couple of threads about this now. I’ve done it twice myself now and have trained myself to turn full beam on and off with my fingertips. It’s a design flaw that needs fixing.

 

[DixieTGS]

After I did this, I experimented with things wrapped around the stalk to make it stiffer to push the switch to the off position.

In the end I left it as is because of the possibility of the bodge moving and turning auto mode off without me being aware.

All the following worked well otherwise:
Tripled up thick elastic band.
Tie wrap.
Appropriately sized grommet.

Some form of sticky tape may be better except for the stalk getting sticky over time.

 

[SD43]

After I did this, I experimented with things wrapped around the stalk to make it stiffer to push the switch to the off position.

In the end I left it as is because of the possibility of the bodge moving and turning auto mode off without me being aware.

All the following worked well otherwise:
Tripled up thick elastic band.
Tie wrap.
Appropriately sized grommet.

Some form of sticky tape may be better except for the stalk getting sticky over time.

Please could you post a photo?

 

[DixieTGS]

In the photo below I used a red band so it shows up better.

Besides using a black band, it can be made to look much neater with a bit of time and effort. I would make sure it doesn't touch the slide switch at all normally, otherwise it could push it to the sidelight position which is just as bad as the original problem, and leaves them on when you leave the car.

 

[jonginn]

My auto high beams decided to come on while on a country road headed towards a parked police car, and in my attempt to turn it off I managed to do the same thing as the OP and nuked my lights. Honestly shocked they didn't pull me over.

Very poor design

 

[Rolfe]

I've done this a few times, so it's obviously a design issue. I've trained myself to operate the full beam by pressing the stalk away from me by touching it relatively close to the steering wheel column where there is a smooth blank area with nothing to mess up. But the rubber band looks like a clever solution.