Newbie MG5 10 Things Learnt in First Month

[Stuart Priest]

Buying...
1. Decided last week of May to buy MG5 LR, found an ex-demo available from Barnsley 29th May, which they managed to sell twice and so got to pick up a brand new one at ex-demo price on 23rd June (my York MG garage was promising a 4-6 month wait).

Extras...
2. MG5 does not come with a type 2 cable and most MG dealerships don't sell them! I asked if I needed to buy any extra cables when I was buying the car, but they said "no"! So I bought this
Amazon product ASIN B09NKZ4MTW £109.99
3. I live in a terraced house with no off-street parking. I have tried to charge from home once by using a weatherproof power extension cable coming out of the front 1st-floor window and being tied to the far side roof rail using a Bungy cord - this gives a 10ft minimum overhead cable clearance over the pavement (which is safer than using a cable protector across the pavement). This is what I bought...
Amazon product ASIN B006X09WDC £24.87

Charging...
4. I live in York and our council has installed a BP Pulse network of chargers, my nearest is 0.4 miles away, and the price is the same as home electricity (currently 25p/kW). 5% to 100% takes 8 hours and costs £11:50 . So if you don't have a drive way, just carry on as you did with your ICE - go somewhere to fuel up
5. The BP Pulse app doesn't always tell me if it's really still charging (has stopped charging twice so far - both times after 1 hour), so I use the Zap Map app to monitor whether the BP Pulse socket is still in use
6. So far, GridServe is by far the easiest charger I've used - just present your card or contactless device and away you go. Geniepoint has been the worst experience - you have to use their app with starts by taking a pseudo £8 payment and limits you to 90 minutes on a 7kW source (their 50kW connector was broken)!

The car...
7. Took me 2 weeks to work out how to stop the car crawling forward (use the "A" button behind the "P" handbrake button).
8. Took me 3 weeks to work out that you could lock and unlock the car using the button on the front door handles (you have to have the keys on you though)
9. Can store the type 2 cable on top of the engine cover under the front hood! In fact, I intend to create my own frunk by removing the engine cover, unscrewing the cover frame and then drilling holes in a plastic crate such that I can screw it into the cover frame anchor points.

Useful websites...
10. Most sat navs don't care about hills and mountains on route, however often an extra distance detour on flat ground rather than going over the mountain can save you battery. This site helps you plan the battery friend route ABRP

 

[greeiig]

The car...
7. Took me 2 weeks to work out how to stop the car crawling forward (use the "A" button behind the "P" handbrake button).

Funny what seems easy and what doesn't. I've had mine since December and only just started using the Auto Park Brake - pressed it by accident and thought "how helpful - I don't need to keep my foot on the brake".. I don't always use it though - don't like how jerky it is when the brake releases

9. Can store the type 2 cable on top of the engine cover under the front hood! In fact, I intend to create my own frunk by removing the engine cover, unscrewing the cover frame and then drilling holes in a plastic crate such that I can screw it into the cover frame anchor points.

I store my Type 2 cable there too - it fits and doesn't leave a mark so I figured it wasn't doing any harm. Apparently a Frunk is shortly being made - I'm not keen on doing it DIY style. You'll see lots of chat about this on the forum..

Useful websites...
10. Most sat navs don't care about hills and mountains on route, however often an extra distance detour on flat ground rather than going over the mountain can save you battery. This site helps you plan the battery friend route ABRP

I use ABRP too - bought a paid subscription when I did a trip to France which I keep meaning to cancel. I like how you can export the route to Google Maps and use that. Going to France again shortly so the subscription remains..

 

[Jomarkh]

Best place to keep a type2 cable is under the bonnet with a 10mm spanner?

 

[jared]

I only have on street parking too. I save a little on charging using the Bonnet app. It covers the chargers around me but doesn't include gridserve so not much use if you need to charge at one of the motorway services. Gridserve used to be cheaper than Bonnet in the good days of last year

 

[MonsterMonster]

I discovered that you can open and close the windows with the key fob. I had this on a Mondeo ST220 and it was brilliant. I tried it on our 5LR when we first got it but nothing happened. I tried again today and after about 7 seconds of holding the fob unlock or lock button the windows operated. I just wasn't patient earlier.

 

[MonsterMonster]

Another thing I found recently is if you long press the dial/knob under the screen it turns off the display and only shows a large clock and date with temp at top. Oh and it turns off the audio.

 

[Jomarkh]

It must be the Exclusive you bought.

 

[MonsterMonster]

It must be the Exclusive you bought.

Yes, Exclusive. 7 seconds to hold the fob buttons seems like an age but is welcome in this hot weather.

 

[Stuart Priest]

Another thing I found recently is if you long press the dial/knob under the screen it turns off the display and only shows a large clock and date with temp at top. Oh and it turns off the audio.

Yes I only discovered that recently - before I discovered it I was having to turn the volume knob to 0 (this still leaves the navigation volume on) since I couldn't work out how to switch off the radio!