MG4 Software Update Thread

[PristDean]

All in all.. we have all bought into a bit of a mess in my view. MG is owned by a Chinese state owned automotive company, SAIC. The design, development and R&D of the cars is owned by SAIC who's technical development centre is in London. Factories building their cars are based in China, India and Thailand.

UK Dealers are all franchises and MG staff total about forty in number in their UK office, home of the lovely Gary S.

Spot the problems with that setup !....MG are just sitting there as a brand with historic (questionable) value. Meanwhile we have detached dealers who just want to sell and run coupled with a very distant manufacturer who are working to a cost ensuring profits.

As a result, poor QA on the cars, software, dealerships and customer support too, all very fragmented. SAIC could easily dump MG and put 'support' in their SAIC R&D office, whilst promoting SAIC as a brand and bring it all together.
But the car looks the part and drives very nicely indeed !

 

[Rolfe]

I’m staying as far away as possible from the dealer I bought my car from. Cars2 is the biggest Mickey mouse operation in all of Yorkshire.

I’m going through to the Doncaster dealer fingers crossed next week to see about the AC unit and it was this dealer who fixed the guy mg4 on here. I’ll ask then if it could be changed.

I've heard about them. Wise to stay away! But well worth asking someone reputable if R13 can be restored. I can't see how it wouldn't be possible if dealers are still sending new cars out with that version, and anyway, the worst they can say is no. No harm in asking.

 

[Rolfe]

All in all.. we have all bought into a bit of a mess in my view. MG is owned by a Chinese state owned automotive company, SAIC. The design, development and R&D of the cars is owned by SAIC who's technical development centre is in London. Factories building their cars are based in China, India and Thailand.

UK Dealers are all franchises and MG staff total about forty in number in their UK office, home of the lovely Gary S.

Spot the problems with that setup !....MG are just sitting there as a brand with historic (questionable) value. Meanwhile we have detached dealers who just want to sell and run coupled with a very distant manufacturer who are working to a cost ensuring profits.

As a result, poor QA on the cars, software, dealerships and customer support too, all very fragmented. SAIC could easily dump MG and put 'support' in their SAIC R&D office, whilst promoting SAIC as a brand and bring it all together.
But the car looks the part and drives very nicely indeed !

I think that's a bit pessimistic. I think a lot of us on here (and I include myself in that) are a bit prone to obsess about issues with the cars, when the serious issues seem to affect only a few lemon cars, and the non-serious ones are annoyances rather than deal-breakers. And while there are some idiot dealers around, there are also some perfectly reputable ones who look after their customers because they value their good name.

Lots of cars are made in China or other potentially questionable régimes, it's not just MG. They're getting their act together because they want to build a business, build a brand, build a reputation, and stay operational.

And the car drives like a dream.

 

[PristDean]

I think that's a bit pessimistic. I think a lot of us on here (and I include myself in that) are a bit prone to obsess about issues with the cars, when the serious issues seem to affect only a few lemon cars, and the non-serious ones are annoyances rather than deal-breakers. And while there are some idiot dealers around, there are also some perfectly reputable ones who look after their customers because they value their good name.

Lots of cars are made in China or other potentially questionable régimes, it's not just MG. They're getting their act together because they want to build a business, build a brand, build a reputation, and stay operational.

And the car drives like a dream.

It may be pessimistic, but its facts... firmly brought on by customer experiences thanks to all I have mentioned above. I'm no GS and will not bury my head in the sand when faced with poor service and issues. If they had done things differently, what a much better place we could all be in !

Plus, I wouldn't have to be travelling all the way to Gloucester tomorrow trying to find a dealer willing to help with the seven listed Issues I have with my car. As my local dealer purports to have a 'Service & Parts' area, but actually does not and when I tried to use them they sent me to Volvo next door who needed the go-ahead from the lovely GS to do anything !!

 

[Rolfe]

If I hadn't been on the forum I wouldn't have known about a lot of the issues at all. I wouldn't have looked under the car. I wouldn't have thought the aircon noise might be abnormal. I wouldn't have known anyone had ever been locked in their car. I wouldn't have known any cars had ever leaked oil. I wouldn't have known that a small number of SR cars had demonstrated a horrendous loss of power fault. I wouldn't have known that some cars had done phantom emergency stops.

I'm glad I asked the dealer to check the A/C, but I accepted the response that if you're hearing it inside the car then there's a fault, but it's normal to hear a bit of noise from it outside the car because it's not soundproofed to the outside. At least I've flagged it up if anything does happen.

I'm glad I checked the undertray, and were we're at at the moment with that is, "MG haven't given us any guidance on this issue, but we've readjusted your undertray as a warranty issue." I didn't get the "it's a characteristic, they're all like that" response. I'm waiting for the rain to go off to see how well they've dealt with it.

The rest of the stuff is infotainment software gripes. If I hadn't been on the forum I wouldn't even have known it might be possible to fix these with an update. I'd be grumbling and putting up with them, expecting to put up with them forever. Since the car drives like a dream, I'd be resigning myself to putting up with them forever.

So actually, I have very little gripe with the car at all. The forum is a two-edged sword in that respect. It alerts you to possible issues, which is a good thing, but it also makes you a bit anxious by hearing about issues other people are having, even when you're not having them yourself. It enables you to realise that MG could actually fix the minor, annoying niggles, so it encourages you to get cross about why aren't they doing it.

I know I sometimes need to step back and drive my car and remind myself of how much I like it and how little has actually gone wrong.

 

[Heelsie]

R46 installed and iPhone has no problems in pairing - in fact it didn’t need to pair - it did it automatically- however interesting there seems to be a bug on the left hand steering wheel star button - wanted to change it to AC or driving mode - did so but it went straight back to power mode - yes it’s stuck on power mode - MG investigating !!

Just had mine updated today and spotted this issue. So it will have to go back in again when they hopefully fix it. I like the new air con screen though, much easier to use.

 

[PristDean]

If I hadn't been on the forum I wouldn't have known about a lot of the issues at all. I wouldn't have looked under the car. I wouldn't have thought the aircon noise might be abnormal. I wouldn't have known anyone had ever been locked in their car. I wouldn't have known any cars had ever leaked oil. I wouldn't have known that a small number of SR cars had demonstrated a horrendous loss of power fault. I wouldn't have known that some cars had done phantom emergency stops.

I'm glad I asked the dealer to check the A/C, but I accepted the response that if you're hearing it inside the car then there's a fault, but it's normal to hear a bit of noise from it outside the car because it's not soundproofed to the outside. At least I've flagged it up if anything does happen.

I'm glad I checked the undertray, and were we're at at the moment with that is, "MG haven't given us any guidance on this issue, but we've readjusted your undertray as a warranty issue." I didn't get the "it's a characteristic, they're all like that" response. I'm waiting for the rain to go off to see how well they've dealt with it.

The rest of the stuff is infotainment software gripes. If I hadn't been on the forum I wouldn't even have known it might be possible to fix these with an update. I'd be grumbling and putting up with them, expecting to put up with them forever. Since the car drives like a dream, I'd be resigning myself to putting up with them forever.

So actually, I have very little gripe with the car at all. The forum is a two-edged sword in that respect. It alerts you to possible issues, which is a good thing, but it also makes you a bit anxious by hearing about issues other people are having, even when you're not having them yourself. It enables you to realise that MG could actually fix the minor, annoying niggles, so it encourages you to get cross about why aren't they doing it.

I know I sometimes need to step back and drive my car and remind myself of how much I like it and how little has actually gone wrong.

This forum demonstrates the power and value of collective minds. As you say, you may never have known about a lot of the issues without it. A number of issues may not have impacted you, as some have not impacted me. But others have, some I would have found without this forum and some I may not, but I am particular when buying something for north of £30k and I will not suffer poor service or issues gladly.

The most niggling part is that it is a good car, but could be so much much better. I would have happily paid a couple of K more for it to be that bit better.

 

[Rolfe]

That's close to what I said to the salesman who sold me the car when I saw him yesterday. "MG have a cracking car here, but they're in danger of spoiling it by not paying attention to piddling little details they could fix in ten minutes at zero cost."

He had remarked that they seemed to be listening because cars were now coming through with rear wipers and headrests. I said I thought they were paying attention to the wrong people. To people who voiced surprise or mild concern about these things when they first saw the car, because they're obvious. Me, I'd rather have electrically folding mirrors than a rear wiper, because having driven the car for a bit I have realised the read wiper genuinely isn't needed. And I don't know when I had three people in the back of my car last. Most people will simply remove that third head-rest because they can't see the bit of the window the wiper just wiped with it in place!

They need to start paying attention to the people who have the cars, and who have identified the stuff that really bugs them after they've been driving them for a bit. Or maybe they don't care because they already have our money.

 

[val33]

UK Dealers are all franchises

I keep seeing this being said about MG. Are people not aware that this is how the motor industry works. All Main Dealers, irrespective of brand (excluding Tesla) are franchises.
Dealers being franchise operators is not the issue. A lack of training and support from the manufacturer is, coupled with the huge expansion of the dealer network over the last couple of years.
I‘m sure that MG will get better as time passes and the dealer network get used to the product and the different way of working with a Chinese manufacturer.

 

[PristDean]

Totally agree @Rolfe . They have added the rear wiper and headrest for an NCAP tick in the box. This shows detachment from actual customer concerns such inability to disable the auto door lock, but the switch to do it is there, greyed out, as on your car.

Indeed, as you say, they need to listen to actual customers. if they brought in and took note of what we have all found as customers, they could move forwards very quickly indeed.

When I bought this car, I did not expect to have to fork out for an independent EV specialists report to try and convince a dealership miles away to carry out repairs because my local dealership and MG support are so inept.

 

[PristDean]

I keep seeing this being said about MG. Are people not aware that this is how the motor industry works. All Main Dealers, irrespective of brand (excluding Tesla) are franchises.
Dealers being franchise operators is not the issue. A lack of training and support from the manufacturer is, coupled with the huge expansion of the dealer network over the last couple of years.
I‘m sure that MG will get better as time passes and the dealer network get used to the product and the different way of working with a Chinese manufacturer.

Yes, I think most are aware, I did not say that was the issue, but the issues are the variation in service and levels of dealership training. Something other motor manufacturers have nailed as part of attempting to maintain a good reputation for their brand.

 

[Rudi]

Collected my se/excite today. On R21. Everything seems to work well. Lane kill assist mild.

Apart from not showing external temperature display

 

[Ian Key]

For SE owners not on R13

 

[Rolfe]

 

[Robf]

View attachment 19393

For SE owners not on R13

Lets hope a certain Girry Smert doesnt see that, he will be getting them stuck on the cars

 

[cyberster]

And does yours have the outside temperature display?

Someone on Facebook apparently has a phase 2SE which is on R13?

No external temp on display only app.

 

[cyberster]

R16 is the latest I'm aware of. I think a Phase 2 SE has come with R21.

Correct.

 

[Rolfe]

No external temp on display only app.

I had heard that was still the case on R21. They really need to get this fixed. What use is the app if you're driving and the temperature falls below freezing? You need to know. This is a safety issue.

 

[cyberster]

I had heard that was still the case on R21. They really need to get this fixed. What use is the app if you're driving and the temperature falls beliw freezing? You need to know. This is a safety issue.

Yes agreed. I like to remain positive that MG will IDC. Overall I think it's a cracking car for the money but a weird omission non the less.

 

[Deleted member 10041]

Yes agreed. I like to remain positive that MG will idc. Overall I think it's a cracking car for the money.

That is the main point
"cracking car for the money"