Lane Assist Trying To Kill Me!

[decrep]

I guess if MG says, "this update is to fix a fault, please do it," then dealers will feel no obligation.

 

[Joningy]

What evidence do we have to convince a dealer / MG Australia that it's a warranty issue? There will be nothing in the car's logs indicating a fault. It's an intermittent issue so a dealer service test drive is unlikely to yield any joy.

Warranty claims like this will be denied/refused.

Definitely not intermittent on my MG4 trophy LR, it's always present and a rather dangerously jerky correction, it's the only thing I really dislike about the car, if I forget to disable it, it doesn't take many minutes to remind me.
Another rare one is the emergency braking, out yesterday evening and a parked car triggered the emergency brake, my wife asked why I braked, I didn't, the flippin car did it! ??

 

[siteguru]

It seems to me that several people with intrusive LKA also seem to have AEB issues - so is the root cause a calibration issue?

 

[Tonych]

NCAP/govt/authorities need to sort this out. Most of us have made it a routine to turn off LKA. Its stupid tech that introduces more risk than its trying to mitigate

The new cheap Dacia EV (which has a great NCAP rating) apparently has a button that you press twice to disable LKA. Why can't MG do the same?

 

[NLMGSAN]

This must be the Spring. It only has a warning system for lane departure (alert on the mg4). This does not add much to the overall ncap rating for safety system. So they can just as well ignore the EU law, which prohibits a simple button click (twice) to disable lane assist.
Btw, I haven't seen a new NCAP test yet. But the version before the update scored 1 star only....

Edit: the 2024 version also has been given LKA, resembling LDA of the MG4. But..
While Dacia has been forced to fit advanced safety features to all of its vehicles, it will add a 'My Safety' button to the dashboard which can be customised to allow selected crash-avoidance systems with a single click.

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[sczoo]

I have to say that I have a Hyundai and my LKA works perfectly every time as it should! It corners and steadies me in lanes as well as the emergency braking comes on when it should. Not sure what’s wrong with MG’s version.

 

[NLMGSAN]

We need to be careful when we judge the lane assist (LA) system. SE specced cars only have two modes, the warning system and lane departure assist. The higher specced cars (Luxury, Trophy etc) also have ELK. This one uses front facing cameras in the mirrors apart from the central camera. It enables the system to intervene if cars approaching in the opposite direction could crash into yours while you leaving the lane. It also uses blind spot monitoring to prevent collisions with cars approaching you from the rear. This mode is the most reactive and uses the strongest steering reactions. It causes most of the complaints as it defaults if lane assist is active. Especially the earlier software versions of ELK where harsh and erratic. Nowadays, latest updates have reduced impact of this mode. But it did not improve the error rate (personal impressions) very much.

Hence, depending on the type of car and software versions you have, you will have different experiences with the MG LA systems. And I did not even discuss road conditions....

The fact that some MG owners also reported phantom braking next to a failing LA system does not mean they are connected. I also thought so in the beginning. But phantom breaking remained when the EAB was off, and/or LA was off. In the end it was clear that ACC was causing it (and it has not been fixed yet). I do admit that certain bends at specific speeds with cars crossing or cars driving the opposite direction may cause sudden braking when AEB is active. But that has nothing to do with LA. It also happened without LA activated (personal experience).

I can live with the idea that LA can help me. But as the manual states, to trust it I must be able to disable it when the system is (expected to be) erratic. So far, there is no such thing (not even with r59). And that gives me an uncomfortable feeling. Cause in the end, I'm responsible. Most worrying is the decision of MG to default to ELK in the higher specced MG4's since it is still the mode with the most errors. The law doesn't even describe this mode as mandatory (as it only refers to alert and lane departure assist mode).

I stick to alert mode every time, and I disable the sound signals to reduce the annoying experience of useless errors. Yes, it simply does not work where it should. And it occasionally vibrates when there is nothing to worry about. But at least it does not pull my steering wheel and it does occasionally warn me I might indeed need to correct. I can live with that... YMMV, of course.

Overall advice: push the dealer to install the latest version for LA and chose the mode you can live with. Mine is the simplest.
Sorry for the long story.

 

[ozzz]

I would place some tape attached to the top of the steering wheel and set up a GoPro and record the extreme movement and it would be date stamped

 

[wattmatters]

I would place some tape attached to the top of the steering wheel and set up a GoPro and record the extreme movement and it would be date stamped

I'm not buying a GoPro just for this. In any case modern cameras have image stabilisation.

 

[kiwi]

I wonder what would happen if you pulled the fuse that protects the motor that actuates the steering wheel?

 

[ozzz]

I'm not buying a GoPro just for this. In any case modern cameras have image stabilisation.

Use your phone

 

[decrep]

I wonder what would happen if you pulled the fuse that protects the motor that actuates the steering wheel?

Maybe no steering at all? Depends what's being pulled, the steering is electric assisted, could just modify the assistance, so I wouldn't be surprised if the steering got very heavy.

 

[NLMGSAN]

Use your phone

A piece of white tape helps. But to be honest, with the audio signal activated, any decent phone picks up the sound and the movement of your hands to correct it. This way I filmed the car pulling me back into the lane while the indicator was already on for several seconds. That helped convincing the dealer to get an update installed. Now, the system no longer doing that.
BTW, this specific issue was caused by the block shaped lane markers. The only issue left for me is that, in whatever mode, lane assist just does not work on normal roads with double lined lane markers, and on country roads with only markers on outside of road in both directions. Give me a DACIA like button to disable lane assist (reprogram the currently available ones) and it is fine though.

 

[Joningy]

I took my 2016 4wd Hyundai Tucson out today to fill up with diesel for my wife, she won't drive the MG4, she's seen what it's like to set up every time we want to use it, it's a true pain.
I switched on LKA with one button, it works beautifully, with just an audible warning, NO massive tug of the steering wheel, but we still turn it off and it stays off, we simply don't want it, especially the MG's horrible set up.
We've only had it 9 months, already I'm thinking about swapping it for another brand which behaves better.
It's such a reasonable car to drive, so I'm probably going to keep it until 2 years, when the interest free finance is up, but I'm already looking around.

 

[Rolfe]

I took Caliban to the hand car wash earlier today, and I'm pretty sure I forgot to disable the LKA when I left. I only remembered when I was setting off again after popping into Tesco on the way home.

Nothing happened. Um....

 

[Rolfe]

I took Caliban to the hand car wash earlier today, and I'm pretty sure I forgot to disable the LKA when I left. I only remembered when I was setting off again after popping into Tesco on the way home.

Nothing happened. Um....

Actually, I'm an idiot. I didn't get out of the car while it was being washed. No wonder I didn't notice anything untoward.

 

[AB71]

Definitely not intermittent on my MG4 trophy LR, it's always present and a rather dangerously jerky correction, it's the only thing I really dislike about the car, if I forget to disable it, it doesn't take many minutes to remind me.
Another rare one is the emergency braking, out yesterday evening and a parked car triggered the emergency brake, my wife asked why I braked, I didn't, the flippin car did it! ??

Is your car a black SE? I've been reading your comments and you are having the exact same 2 main problems I had with mine. You haven't bought my old one have you ? ?

HY ALL hope you are all fine and fettling. ?

 

[decrep]

My LKA turned on on me today. I had stopped and parked, but not turned off, OPD was still active, so I assumed LKA was still off, until there was a big jerk on the wheel.

 

[NLMGSAN]

My LKA turned on on me today. I had stopped and parked, but not turned off, OPD was still active, so I assumed LKA was still off, until there was a big jerk on the wheel.

If you are sure it was off at the beginning, you are not on old firmware and you did not fiddle with the light, this is odd..

I just tested it in my ER. If I disable lka, drive just a bit, put into park again and then drive off again, lka is still off. But mine is an ER with probably the latest EU firmware.

 

[decrep]

Can't be absolutely certain, I do remember turning it off at the start of the journey, but memory is doing funny things these days. There was certainly no jerks on the way out. I only stopped to pick up family from the train station, didn't touch lights, only windscreen wipers and indicators.
Just put the park brake on without locking, so it didn't drop out of ready mode.
Not sure of firmware but possibly not EU I think our Australian Branch may do their own thing.
I'll try and remember to check in the morning