MG4 in Australia

[wattmatters]

Can you leave your phone in your pocket, or does the phone have to be near the device for good reliability?

For the sake of science, I just did a small trip to town for an errand. After stopping to pick some stuff up, I left my phone in my pocket for the drive home.

No issues.

In fact the wireless CarPlay fires up almost immediately when I get in the car. I was sort of expecting a delay but it just starts up and is ready when I am. Good signs so far but will see how it goes with more use.

 

[Coulomb]

For the sake of science,

Thanks for putting up with the discomfort, "for science".

I leave my phone in my shirt pocket, and I'm used to it being there all the time. All shirts without a pocket, or a pocket that is too small, are never worn. A few shirts have had the pocket extended or trimmed.

 

[Trooper]

I connected up one of these today:
2air CarlinKit 5.0 Wireless CarPlay
View attachment 26474

2air CarlinKit 5.0 &4 Wireless CarPlay Wireless Android Auto Box 2.4G&5.8Ghz WiFi BT Auto Connect Plug&Play For Wired AA CP Cars - AliExpress 34

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

How’s the delay when using steering wheel controls for forward/back/pause music, and with phone calls? Just curious as those are normally the two areas I see complaints about with a lot of adaptors (and sometimes laggy GPS) when I’ve been looking into getting one.

 

[securespark]

Not Aus, but NZ. Seem a few on the roads, and a couple of dealers too.

And saw this in a shopping centre.

 

[wattmatters]

How’s the delay when using steering wheel controls for forward/back/pause music, and with phone calls? Just curious as those are normally the two areas I see complaints about with a lot of adaptors (and sometimes laggy GPS) when I’ve been looking into getting one.

Not tried it. But will try it out today and report back. I mostly just use Waze and phone options. Sometimes podcasts on longer trips but they are long form so not much control other than volume perhaps.

I don't use music options much, never turned on the radio either. Probably because some years back all my stored music got wiped and I was not going to go through the hassle of re-ripping it all from my (now ageing) CD collection. Never tried ripping from my LPs.

Yesterday when I went out a second time the CarPlay screen was blank on start up. Not sure what was going on with that. The car's home screen was fine, it was just CarPlay. I restarted and it came up OK after that. I'll keep monitoring and update as I go.

 

[clayton4115]

I connected up one of these today:
2air CarlinKit 5.0 Wireless CarPlay
View attachment 26474

2air CarlinKit 5.0 &4 Wireless CarPlay Wireless Android Auto Box 2.4G&5.8Ghz WiFi BT Auto Connect Plug&Play For Wired AA CP Cars - AliExpress 34

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

I was surprised at both how compact it was and how easy it was to set up. Pretty much just plug in, connect phone via bluetooth, tap the confirmation on the car's display screen and that was it, CarPlay started up. It comes with a small piece of double sided tape so I stuck it under the centre control shelf out of sight but stuck to the front panel, not the underside of the shelf itself.

I then went into the unit's settings (use a browser on the phone you connect to it's own local IP address) to check for firmware updates (none) and to change the start up delay to 20 seconds to give the car's system time to fire up before it tried to connect. That was also very easy.

CarPlay worked no differently to being wired, nice and fast response. Mine usually has the Waze app running.

I'll see how it goes but it seems to be a good solution for wireless CarPlay in the MG4.

Does anyone know if this will work with Huawei phones?

 

[CMack]

Once I used a short 50cm genuine Apple cable, made sure the phone port was clean and did not plug in until the centre screen had completed then it's worked well for me. But mine is a iPhone 11 with the lightning cable, not the USB-C.


Link not working. Up to now most of the bluetooth wireless adapters have not worked well with the MG4. I'm trialling the one I mention a few posts up as it has an option where it delays start up until after the MG4's infotainment system fires up.


Same issues.


I wouldn't either, always carry a physical key.


OPD comes to a full stop for me no issues. But I don't use it much, more of a city/urban driving thing. I use it when coming down the local mountain.

"Once I used a short 50cm genuine Apple cable, made sure the phone port was clean and did not plug in until the centre screen had completed then it's worked well for me. But mine is a iPhone 11 with the lightning cable, not the USB-C."

I have tried absolutely everything over the past 5 months... I am looking at buying an alternative dongle via AliExpress, but reluctant to purchase "more" tech before contacting MG to try to figure out if it is actually my car.

OPD - Yes, I have a full stop when there is a car in front, but the car cannot "see" a red light if I am first in line. I you have to manually break. AG, just have to remember to brake!

 

[CMack]

Not tried it. But will try it out today and report back. I mostly just use Waze and phone options. Sometimes podcasts on longer trips but they are long form so not much control other than volume perhaps.

I don't use music options much, never turned on the radio either. Probably because some years back all my stored music got wiped and I was not going to go through the hassle of re-ripping it all from my (now ageing) CD collection. Never tried ripping from my LPs.

Yesterday when I went out a second time the CarPlay screen was blank on start up. Not sure what was going on with that. The car's home screen was fine, it was just CarPlay. I restarted and it came up OK after that. I'll keep monitoring and update as I go.

Blank CarPlay screen is a major issue for me, related to my general issues of cables, dongles, USB C plug connectivity issues since new car pick up in January. I am now contacting MG to see if it is a bigger problem, or if it is me (my tech I am using).

 

[CMack]

I connected up one of these today:
2air CarlinKit 5.0 Wireless CarPlay
View attachment 26474

2air CarlinKit 5.0 &4 Wireless CarPlay Wireless Android Auto Box 2.4G&5.8Ghz WiFi BT Auto Connect Plug&Play For Wired AA CP Cars - AliExpress 34

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

I was surprised at both how compact it was and how easy it was to set up. Pretty much just plug in, connect phone via bluetooth, tap the confirmation on the car's display screen and that was it, CarPlay started up. It comes with a small piece of double sided tape so I stuck it under the centre control shelf out of sight but stuck to the front panel, not the underside of the shelf itself.

I then went into the unit's settings (use a browser on the phone you connect to it's own local IP address) to check for firmware updates (none) and to change the start up delay to 20 seconds to give the car's system time to fire up before it tried to connect. That was also very easy.

CarPlay worked no differently to being wired, nice and fast response. Mine usually has the Waze app running.

I'll see how it goes but it seems to be a good solution for wireless CarPlay in the MG4.

How is this going? I am looking at purchasing one in coming days based on your review. Cheers

 

[CMack]

Get the latest AEB update applied by your dealer.

Mine did it last week under warranty and it's a different car. The pulling on the wheel and the constant beeps have gone away now.

Ok, I will contact the Dealer as well as MG, for all my issues, hopefully between the two of them all my problems will go away.....

 

[OriginalBigAl]

Hello all Aussies, here we are now approaching our summer and we have had one hot day (32degrees) when TBH the air con struggled to cool the car down. What have been your experiences over the last few months? Our versions do not have heat pumps , but over the last few years we have had temps up to 40 degrees , so thoughts please.

 

[wattmatters]

OPD - Yes, I have a full stop when there is a car in front, but the car cannot "see" a red light if I am first in line. I you have to manually break. AG, just have to remember to brake!

I'm not understanding what you are saying.

OPD does not look for red lights. It's One Pedal Driving, not automated driving.

If you lift the foot off the accelerator pedal the car will come to a complete stop. You just need to time how much to lift the foot and when to release the accelerator completely so as to stop where you want it to.

How is this going? I am looking at purchasing one in coming days based on your review. Cheers

Well it's early days, so I can't give a long term review.

Took dog to the beach today.

Open garage, and use the fob to unlock the car and remove the charge cable, then open the back door for the dog and put the dog's harness on. Get in and CarPlay was already up and running as soon as I sat down.

After the walk, back to car, unlock with door button, get dog back in car and in harness and again CarPlay was ready pretty much as soon as I was.

Stopped for a brief loo stop on way home. Locked car with dog inside, window open. Get back to car, unlock with door button, hop in and then I get the blank CarPlay screen issue. I see the device with a small message saying to connect to Bluetooth, which it was, then it would fire up but blank screen. Normal home screen is fine.

After that not sure but after a bit of mucking about it came back. I don't know if there is a particular sequence that trigger the blank screen issue. It may be I need more use to work out the sequence to avoid.

As for responsiveness, no issues. I played some music and the steering wheel controls for next/previous track and volume control were responsive.

 

[Coulomb]

we have had one hot day (32degrees) when TBH the air con struggled to cool the car down.

My ZS Mark 1 doesn't put much power into the air conditioning if in ECO mode, unless the coldness (not temperature in my model) setting is at the very low end. The idea is presumably to preserve range, unless you really ask for it.

In the MG 4, you might have to set the temperature setting pretty low if you choose ECO driving mode. My ZS is perfectly adequate for coping with 32°C days.

but over the last few years we have had temps up to 40 degrees

I'm guessing that you are in the southern end of France. Here in Brisbane Australia, we've had several 38°C days last summer, but not up to 40°C for a while. Further north and further inland, they would see these temperatures more often. My ZS copes with 38°C just fine, even in ECO mode (my choice for driving). Needless to say, on those days, the coldness control is at the very coldest end.

 

[Trooper]

Stopped for a brief loo stop on way home. Locked car with dog inside, window open. Get back to car, unlock with door button, hop in and then I get the blank CarPlay screen issue. I see the device with a small message saying to connect to Bluetooth, which it was, then it would fire up but blank screen. Normal home screen is fine.

After that not sure but after a bit of mucking about it came back. I don't know if there is a particular sequence that trigger the blank screen issue. It may be I need more use to work out the sequence to avoid.

Maybe this is worth a try for a few days? CP2A got a black screen after connecting to CarPlay/Android Auto

 

[wattmatters]

Maybe this is worth a try for a few days? CP2A got a black screen after connecting to CarPlay/Android Auto

Thanks, will have a play. Since it doesn't always happen it may take a while to see what, if any, setting changes have a positive impact.

Definitely worth trying to dial in the settings as I very much like not having to plug the phone in, and it seems to work most of the time and work well.

Also I forgot to mention, the wireless charger works for my iPhone 11. It never used to, which I never really thought much about mainly because it was pretty much always plugged in but it didn't work until yesterday when I removed the magnetic strip that sits between the phone and its protective cover - the magnet was used to secure the phone to a holder in another car. Makes sense a magnet would interfere with the inductive charger's operation.

Another thing to note is I picked up my car in September 2023, and it has had no software/firmware update in the time I've had the car, unless there is something over the air I'm unaware of.

 

[Trooper]

Hello all Aussies, here we are now approaching our summer and we have had one hot day (32degrees) when TBH the air con struggled to cool the car down. What have been your experiences over the last few months? Our versions do not have heat pumps , but over the last few years we have had temps up to 40 degrees , so thoughts please.

Late January our place had I think 4 days in a row of around 40°C max (and didn't get below 20°C at night), and the MG4 air-con handled it great.

 

[wattmatters]

The MG4 aircon is quite powerful. I had it set to 24°C as anything lower over this past Summer was too cold.

 

[decrep]

Yes I have mine on 25. When you get acclimatised to 26°C anything much less feels too cold, especially just sitting still driving.

 

[PeterM]

I'll see how it goes but it seems to be a good solution for wireless CarPlay in the MG4.

Just ordered one from your link, AliExpress, $55, seems a good deal.

How’s the delay when using steering wheel controls for forward/back/pause music, and with phone calls? Just curious as those are normally the two areas I see complaints about with a lot of adaptors (and sometimes laggy GPS) when I’ve been looking into getting one.

Does anyone know if this will work with Huawei phones?

How is this going? I am looking at purchasing one in coming days based on your review. Cheers

I've been using the CarlinKit 2air 5.0 for approximately 6 months now.
Performance is pretty good - better than the aftermarket Pioneer unit in my other car.
Using it with 2 android devices (Moto G9 plus and Moto G10).

Observations so far:

• You need to set the startup delay. 15 seconds has been reliable in my experience. More info here: 192.168.50.2, option settings explained (text, browser translatable)-Carlinkit Official Website | Smart Driving Safe Traveling
• The device crashes after ~1 hour of continuous use. When it does crash it will reboot and after a minute or two resume OK, so it's not a deal breaker.
  I've applied the settings recommended in the following blog post [FPS limit of 20, Bit rate of 2Mbps]. Haven't taken the car on a long enough drive to verify the issue is resolved: Carlinkit 3.0 keeps crashing.
• Whenever the car wakes up (eg for scheduled charging or to charge the LV battery) it powers up the USB port. This isn't specific to the CarlinKit, but rather the fact the USB port power on under many different conditions. As a result if your phone is within range it will try and connect. It's pretty normal for me to wake up in the morning and discover my phone (or my wifes) has tried to connect to the car when it's not running. Even worse if you're on a phone call and your mobile connects to the car when you're nowhere near it
• When you have more than one phone configured it can be very slow to work out there's a change of state. Example: My wife and I put the kids in the car. The car connects to my phone. My wife drives away and my phone disconnects. It can take ages to then connect to her phone. In some cases it won't at all without a power cycle

It's a great device, but has some quirks and is at the mercy of the car too (especially that USB power-on behaviour).

 

[Trooper]

• Whenever the car wakes up (eg for scheduled charging or to charge the LV battery) it powers up the USB port. This isn't specific to the CarlinKit, but rather the fact the USB port power on under many different conditions. As a result if your phone is within range it will try and connect. It's pretty normal for me to wake up in the morning and discover my phone (or my wifes) has tried to connect to the car when it's not running. Even worse if you're on a phone call and your mobile connects to the car when you're nowhere near it

Glad you mentioned that. I was actually wondering if this would be an issue where the phone would remain connected for a few minutes after stopping the car (until the USB port powers down).

I didn’t realise though the port could power up again at other times when the car’s off. Good to know!