MG4 Mysteries

[AlC]

Having owned my MG4 (Phase 2 / Australian version) for a little under a year now, I can say I'm pretty happy with it overall (so nice to drive!) but, it has a few quirks that I can't explain. Maybe someone here knows, or maybe you can just add to my list of quirks.

The ones that I find myself wondering about often are:

1. Why does the infotainment screen sometimes start immediately, and other times go through the full boot (with MG logo) when I hop in the car? There seems to be no pattern to it. Sometimes I'll be away from the car for hours and when I hop in, the screen resumes instantly. Other times, I'll pop into a shop for 5 minutes, come back to the car and it wants to do a full boot. Mildly annoying because I need to wait until I can see the reverse camera.

What gives? Is it random? Will it do a full boot every x number of times the car is powered up? I haven't found the pattern yet.

2. Why (for us metric types) does the energy consumption number cap at 29.8 kWh/100km. I mean, I could maybe understand SAIC not wanting to scare users with a higher number (even if that seems silly, we're all grown ups). But why cap it at 29.8 specifically? Why not round to 30 or just go back to displaying "---". It's a silly thing I know but it bugs me every time I see it! Does it cap at a "worst" reading for you UK people? I assume it just drops to 0 for you because you get "miles per kWh" which is reversed from what we have.

3. What is going on with all the relays clicking every time I unlock the car, check the app or open a door? It sounds like an electromechanical computer! What are all those relays doing?!? I thought we did this stuff in solid state switches these days. Don't get me wrong, I think it sounds cool. I just want to know what those relays are doing!

4. Adaptive cruise control is way smoother if you drop regen to 1. Shouldn't make a difference but it does, why? I assume the MG4 uses an off-the-shelf SAIC cruise control module, which operates the accelerator pedal "virtually" rather than interfacing at a lower level with the vehicle, so when it requests "0 acccelerator" you end up hitting whatever regen setting you have. Seems silly but there it is.

Also, a couple of neat things I've noticed with this car:

1. When the front wipers are going, if you put it into reverse, it'll run the rear wiper a couple of times for you to clear the back window. Nice touch.

2. With the wipers on intermittent, when you pull away after being stopped for a bit, it'll give them a couple of extra wipes, just to catch any water that might have moved around after the car moves off.

3. It won't automatically disengage the parking brake when you shift into drive or reverse on a hill. Caught me out the first time it did this, but I think it's a thoughtful touch.

Overall, a really nice car (unless you landed one of the lemons). The software as everyone has noticed is like a developers fever dream, but hey, at least it doesn't run CrowdStrike!

 

[webhiker]

1. I've noticed too. My guess is cached files. They expire for different reasons and time

3. High power battery currents probably require physical relays, and they might be cheaper

 

[AlC]

Cached files is an interesting thought, hadn't considered that. I also think I'm going to start counting the number of times I power on the car before the system does a full boot, and see if there's any consistency there.

On the relays, yeah there's definitely a set of high voltage contactors for the main battery. You can hear those close and open with a pretty satisfying thunk a few seconds after locking the car or when you sit in the driver's seat and the car powers up.

But besides that there's also those smaller relays, sound like they might be 12 volt, which click like a bird tap dancing on the roof every time you open a door or look at the car suggestively

 

[decrep]

Cached files is an interesting thought, hadn't considered that. I also think I'm going to start counting the number of times I power on the car before the system does a full boot, and see if there's any consistency there.

On the relays, yeah there's definitely a set of high voltage contactors for the main battery. You can hear those close and open with a pretty satisfying thunk a few seconds after locking the car or when you sit in the driver's seat and the car powers up.

But besides that there's also those smaller relays, sound like they might be 12 volt, which click like a bird tap dancing on the roof every time you open a door or look at the car suggestively

Well my ears are approaching 80, and aren't as good as they used to be, but I don't hear those little relays. I do hear the big ones though. I'll listen closer next time I turn on. Also haven't noticed a variable boot time, but now you mention it, we've possibly got that as well.

 

[Kithmo]

The relays thing is the same with ICE cars, I noticed it about 15 years ago when I had a Mk4 Mondeo.

 

[KingA]

4. Adaptive cruise control is way smoother if you drop regen to 1. Shouldn't make a difference but it does, why? I assume the MG4 uses an off-the-shelf SAIC cruise control module, which operates the accelerator pedal "virtually" rather than interfacing at a lower level with the vehicle, so when it requests "0 acccelerator" you end up hitting whatever regen setting you have. Seems silly but there it is.

Perhaps this isn’t all that strange. If you’ve asked for regen 3 for example then adaptive cruise control should use that setting when slowing down, so it will feel less smooth than 1.

 

[dave99]

2. Why (for us metric types) does the energy consumption number cap at 29.8 kWh/100km. I mean, I could maybe understand SAIC not wanting to scare users with a higher number (even if that seems silly, we're all grown ups). But why cap it at 29.8 specifically? Why not round to 30 or just go back to displaying "---". It's a silly thing I know but it bugs me every time I see it! Does it cap at a "worst" reading for you UK people? I assume it just drops to 0 for you because you get "miles per kWh" which is reversed from what we have.

UK caps at 20 miles per kWh when going down a big hill, not sure about the bottom - maybe 2.0?

 

[Petrescu82]

Having owned my MG4 (Phase 2 / Australian version) for a little under a year now, I can say I'm pretty happy with it overall (so nice to drive!) but, it has a few quirks that I can't explain. Maybe someone here knows, or maybe you can just add to my list of quirks.

The ones that I find myself wondering about often are:

1. Why does the infotainment screen sometimes start immediately, and other times go through the full boot (with MG logo) when I hop in the car? There seems to be no pattern to it. Sometimes I'll be away from the car for hours and when I hop in, the screen resumes instantly. Other times, I'll pop into a shop for 5 minutes, come back to the car and it wants to do a full boot. Mildly annoying because I need to wait until I can see the reverse camera.

What gives? Is it random? Will it do a full boot every x number of times the car is powered up? I haven't found the pattern yet.

2. Why (for us metric types) does the energy consumption number cap at 29.8 kWh/100km. I mean, I could maybe understand SAIC not wanting to scare users with a higher number (even if that seems silly, we're all grown ups). But why cap it at 29.8 specifically? Why not round to 30 or just go back to displaying "---". It's a silly thing I know but it bugs me every time I see it! Does it cap at a "worst" reading for you UK people? I assume it just drops to 0 for you because you get "miles per kWh" which is reversed from what we have.

3. What is going on with all the relays clicking every time I unlock the car, check the app or open a door? It sounds like an electromechanical computer! What are all those relays doing?!? I thought we did this stuff in solid state switches these days. Don't get me wrong, I think it sounds cool. I just want to know what those relays are doing!

4. Adaptive cruise control is way smoother if you drop regen to 1. Shouldn't make a difference but it does, why? I assume the MG4 uses an off-the-shelf SAIC cruise control module, which operates the accelerator pedal "virtually" rather than interfacing at a lower level with the vehicle, so when it requests "0 acccelerator" you end up hitting whatever regen setting you have. Seems silly but there it is.

Also, a couple of neat things I've noticed with this car:

1. When the front wipers are going, if you put it into reverse, it'll run the rear wiper a couple of times for you to clear the back window. Nice touch.

2. With the wipers on intermittent, when you pull away after being stopped for a bit, it'll give them a couple of extra wipes, just to catch any water that might have moved around after the car moves off.

3. It won't automatically disengage the parking brake when you shift into drive or reverse on a hill. Caught me out the first time it did this, but I think it's a thoughtful touch.

Overall, a really nice car (unless you landed one of the lemons). The software as everyone has noticed is like a developers fever dream, but hey, at least it doesn't run CrowdStrike!

1. Mine does exactly the same regarding the boot-up sequence.

2. It bottoms out at 2.0 miles per kWh, which I have seen several times in the winter when having the heating on full blast before setting off. It can take a few miles of driving before it starts creeping up!

3. Mine also the same with the relays etc

 

[Joules]

Having owned my MG4 (Phase 2 / Australian version) for a little under a year now, I can say I'm pretty happy with it overall (so nice to drive!) but, it has a few quirks that I can't explain. Maybe someone here knows, or maybe you can just add to my list of quirks.

The ones that I find myself wondering about often are:

1. Why does the infotainment screen sometimes start immediately, and other times go through the full boot (with MG logo) when I hop in the car? There seems to be no pattern to it. Sometimes I'll be away from the car for hours and when I hop in, the screen resumes instantly. Other times, I'll pop into a shop for 5 minutes, come back to the car and it wants to do a full boot. Mildly annoying because I need to wait until I can see the reverse camera.

What gives? Is it random? Will it do a full boot every x number of times the car is powered up? I haven't found the pattern yet.

2. Why (for us metric types) does the energy consumption number cap at 29.8 kWh/100km. I mean, I could maybe understand SAIC not wanting to scare users with a higher number (even if that seems silly, we're all grown ups). But why cap it at 29.8 specifically? Why not round to 30 or just go back to displaying "---". It's a silly thing I know but it bugs me every time I see it! Does it cap at a "worst" reading for you UK people? I assume it just drops to 0 for you because you get "miles per kWh" which is reversed from what we have.

3. What is going on with all the relays clicking every time I unlock the car, check the app or open a door? It sounds like an electromechanical computer! What are all those relays doing?!? I thought we did this stuff in solid state switches these days. Don't get me wrong, I think it sounds cool. I just want to know what those relays are doing!

4. Adaptive cruise control is way smoother if you drop regen to 1. Shouldn't make a difference but it does, why? I assume the MG4 uses an off-the-shelf SAIC cruise control module, which operates the accelerator pedal "virtually" rather than interfacing at a lower level with the vehicle, so when it requests "0 acccelerator" you end up hitting whatever regen setting you have. Seems silly but there it is.

Also, a couple of neat things I've noticed with this car:

1. When the front wipers are going, if you put it into reverse, it'll run the rear wiper a couple of times for you to clear the back window. Nice touch.

2. With the wipers on intermittent, when you pull away after being stopped for a bit, it'll give them a couple of extra wipes, just to catch any water that might have moved around after the car moves off.

3. It won't automatically disengage the parking brake when you shift into drive or reverse on a hill. Caught me out the first time it did this, but I think it's a thoughtful touch.

Overall, a really nice car (unless you landed one of the lemons). The software as everyone has noticed is like a developers fever dream, but hey, at least it doesn't run CrowdStrike!

Yep, all of the above and also, have you noticed when you plug in to a home charge unit the clicking and clunking? There's a pattern to that and I'm able to identify ?(geek) when it's going to ignore the scheduled charging settings. When it happens I unlock with the remote then lock it again, it goes back through the sequence of clunking, clicking and a whizz for good measure? which is the locking latch for the plug and it then shuts down ready to charge at the appointed hour. Still a great car to drive.

 

[Blindin]

Let me add a few more annoying issues in:
-Vibration from X-Power above 70kph+, seems like MG can't fix it.
-Climate control thinks it's in a whole other eco system. Could be set at 30 and still blow cold, may as well use a magic wand on the setting, it might be more accurate.
-Throttle pedal freezes and no response for several seconds while driving.
-I.Smart app drops out constantly, no connection and unknown car location.
-As mentioned, the info screen random start up and freezes occasionally.
-Radio doesn't always start, and sometimes takes pressing the screen / buttons for 10 minutes to get working.
-Gear selection won't engage, twizzle that knob back and forth but it just won't let you have a gear.
-Camera sticks on, freezes screen.
-Adaptive cruise brakes for anything, sometimes for shadows, dips or just for fun.
-Lane keep has about as much finesse as a drunk 12 year old.
-Charging difficult to start some times; lock and unlock, charger on/off for 5 minutes.
-Charging cable gets locked in the port and again, need to spend 5 minutes locking / unlocking to try and release.
-Regen varies, sometimes works well, other times need to jump on the brakes as it just doesn't slow down as much. (regardless on battery soc)
-Stopping with opd downhill, the big jolt at 7kph.
-The car starts reversing at a stop with opd if you touch the brake pedal.
-The info screen swapping sides from rhd to lhd orientation.
-Charging flap randomly opens.
-A bubbling / kettle like sound behind steering wheel.
-Massive power loss and under performance.

All of this has been reported a few times and nothing the dealer will do.
I do like that its a good price, but I suppose that's why there is so many issues.
It seems put together reasonably well, if only they could sort out the electrical systems.
Seems to drive well and handle ok if you remove all the electrical safety features which to honest, make it quite scary as they don't work very well. (anchoring on the brakes for no reason, yanking the steering in all directions for no reason)

I think I would really like this car if they sorted the the info screen out, safety features and power issues. It could've been a great car.

 

[decrep]

I love our car. As long as I remember to turn off LKA! And make sure ACC doesn't come on.
There's nothing else that bothers us.

 

[Lanster27]

Let me add a few more annoying issues in:
-Vibration from X-Power above 70kph+, seems like MG can't fix it.
-Climate control thinks it's in a whole other eco system. Could be set at 30 and still blow cold, may as well use a magic wand on the setting, it might be more accurate.
-Throttle pedal freezes and no response for several seconds while driving.
-I.Smart app drops out constantly, no connection and unknown car location.
-As mentioned, the info screen random start up and freezes occasionally.
-Radio doesn't always start, and sometimes takes pressing the screen / buttons for 10 minutes to get working.
-Gear selection won't engage, twizzle that knob back and forth but it just won't let you have a gear.
-Camera sticks on, freezes screen.
-Adaptive cruise brakes for anything, sometimes for shadows, dips or just for fun.
-Lane keep has about as much finesse as a drunk 12 year old.
-Charging difficult to start some times; lock and unlock, charger on/off for 5 minutes.
-Charging cable gets locked in the port and again, need to spend 5 minutes locking / unlocking to try and release.
-Regen varies, sometimes works well, other times need to jump on the brakes as it just doesn't slow down as much. (regardless on battery soc)
-Stopping with opd downhill, the big jolt at 7kph.
-The car starts reversing at a stop with opd if you touch the brake pedal.
-The info screen swapping sides from rhd to lhd orientation.
-Charging flap randomly opens.
-A bubbling / kettle like sound behind steering wheel.
-Massive power loss and under performance.

All of this has been reported a few times and nothing the dealer will do.
I do like that its a good price, but I suppose that's why there is so many issues.
It seems put together reasonably well, if only they could sort out the electrical systems.
Seems to drive well and handle ok if you remove all the electrical safety features which to honest, make it quite scary as they don't work very well. (anchoring on the brakes for no reason, yanking the steering in all directions for no reason)

I think I would really like this car if they sorted the the info screen out, safety features and power issues. It could've been a great car.

Sounds like a lemon, to be honest. Got a MG4 standard and none of the issues you listed. I doubt it’s common for X-Power either.

 

[decrep]

Another mystery is the clamp on the worst consumption numbers. Metric it's 29.8 kW/hr /100km in imperial it's 2ml/kW/hr. The question was asked somewhere, why such a strange number as 29.8, why not 30.
Thought I had the answer so I've done a check.
"decrep@decreps-mint:~$ units 2mile/kWh kWh/100000m
reciprocal conversion
* 31.06856
/ 0.03218688"
So it's not the conversion of the even 2miles per kW hour to metric.
Which brings me to the next question, what energy units do the Chinese use?
Because this still looks like a unit conversion thing to me.

 

[Spider036]

Having owned my MG4 (Phase 2 / Australian version) for a little under a year now, I can say I'm pretty happy with it overall (so nice to drive!) but, it has a few quirks that I can't explain. Maybe someone here knows, or maybe you can just add to my list of quirks.

The ones that I find myself wondering about often are:

1. Why does the infotainment screen sometimes start immediately, and other times go through the full boot (with MG logo) when I hop in the car? There seems to be no pattern to it. Sometimes I'll be away from the car for hours and when I hop in, the screen resumes instantly. Other times, I'll pop into a shop for 5 minutes, come back to the car and it wants to do a full boot. Mildly annoying because I need to wait until I can see the reverse camera.

What gives? Is it random? Will it do a full boot every x number of times the car is powered up? I haven't found the pattern yet.

2. Why (for us metric types) does the energy consumption number cap at 29.8 kWh/100km. I mean, I could maybe understand SAIC not wanting to scare users with a higher number (even if that seems silly, we're all grown ups). But why cap it at 29.8 specifically? Why not round to 30 or just go back to displaying "---". It's a silly thing I know but it bugs me every time I see it! Does it cap at a "worst" reading for you UK people? I assume it just drops to 0 for you because you get "miles per kWh" which is reversed from what we have.

3. What is going on with all the relays clicking every time I unlock the car, check the app or open a door? It sounds like an electromechanical computer! What are all those relays doing?!? I thought we did this stuff in solid state switches these days. Don't get me wrong, I think it sounds cool. I just want to know what those relays are doing!

4. Adaptive cruise control is way smoother if you drop regen to 1. Shouldn't make a difference but it does, why? I assume the MG4 uses an off-the-shelf SAIC cruise control module, which operates the accelerator pedal "virtually" rather than interfacing at a lower level with the vehicle, so when it requests "0 acccelerator" you end up hitting whatever regen setting you have. Seems silly but there it is.

Also, a couple of neat things I've noticed with this car:

1. When the front wipers are going, if you put it into reverse, it'll run the rear wiper a couple of times for you to clear the back window. Nice touch.

2. With the wipers on intermittent, when you pull away after being stopped for a bit, it'll give them a couple of extra wipes, just to catch any water that might have moved around after the car moves off.

3. It won't automatically disengage the parking brake when you shift into drive or reverse on a hill. Caught me out the first time it did this, but I think it's a thoughtful touch.

Overall, a really nice car (unless you landed one of the lemons). The software as everyone has noticed is like a developers fever dream, but hey, at least it doesn't run CrowdStrike!

Probably the best written post I’ve seen on the forum - well done! Totally agree that overall, a great car, but let down by terrible software.

 

[Blindin]

Sounds like a lemon, to be honest. Got a MG4 standard and none of the issues you listed. I doubt it’s common for X-Power either.

It's certainly not the only one with these issues. But I agree, some of this isn't normal. To be fair, most of it is only intermittent and have only happened a few times in 10,000km; however, in my mind, a 6month old car with only 10,000km shouldn't have any issues. I've said it before; if you are used to lower quality vehicles, then the problems probably wouldn't be obvious, but if you've had good cars where everything works well, then these can be really annoying. I've been reporting all this to the dealer and hopefully it'll be able to get fixed. So far though, they haven't had any of the problems occur whilst they've had the car. Even the vibration they say isn't there, which is well documented. I'll also say, that I believe its MG themselves who need to look and improve. The dealers can only fix faults that MG have fixes for as all of this is in the software.

 

[Kithmo]

You seem to have inherited just about all the issues possible with yours. ?
I think you need a priest.

 

[salty]

I've said it before; if you are used to lower quality vehicles, then the problems probably wouldn't be obvious, but if you've had good cars where everything works well, then these can be really annoying.

So does that mean (possibly) your expectations are a bit to high. ?

 

[Martinonline]

China uses kilometres for distance measurements so you you must start from the 29.8kWh/100km. That gives you 2.085miles/kWh which someone has truncated to 2.0miles/kWh.

 

[decrep]

China uses kilometres for distance measurements so you you must start from the 29.8kWh/100km. That gives you 2.085miles/kWh which someone has truncated to 2.0miles/kWh.

but what does it use for energy? I bet it's not kWh. As other people have noted 29.8 makes no sense. If you're going to pick an arbitrary limit, surely you'd go for a whole number.

 

[decrep]

I give up, I've done a search for Chinese energy units, and everything comes back in Whs.