[Moto G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bur2000:
Unlocking the Bootloader is Required! This will erase all data and void your warranty!

Since all data will be wiped it's best to do this immediately after getting the phone. At least unlocking the bootloader.

I won't add a disclaimer, because if you trust some guide from some guy on the internet you should know what that means without being told explicitly.

For me the bootimage method posted on Modaco does not work and apparently others seem to have trouble as well (see the poll at Modaco). And since I couldn't find any guide here on XDA I thought I'd write one. XDA helped me a lot when I got my DHD, so maybe now I can help back. :)

This is based on soyd's guide at swedroid.se which I used to finally get my phone rooted after some unsuccessful attempts.

The guide is for Windows, but could probably be easily adapted to Linux/Mac by using the appropriate drivers/tools. I followed these steps to successfully root my Moto G (16 GB, german retail, Android 4.4.2, OTA 176.44.1).

Here're the neccessary steps:

Install Motorola and ADB Drivers

Unlock Bootloader

Flash Recovery

Flash SuperSU

Enjoy

Install Motorola and ADB Drivers

Do not connect your phone to your PC just yet.

If you already have ADB drivers and Motorola drivers installed, just skip this step.

Download these files:

Motorola Drivers

ADB Tools (thx to androidpit.info)

mfastboot.exe (only download that file from the G-Drive folder - thx to whoever uploaded it)

Run the MotorolaDeviceManager_2.4.5.exe you just downloaded and install it

Extract the two folders from adb-tools_treiber.zip

Open ADB-Treiber folder and run UniversalAdbDriverSetup.msi

Copy mfastboot.exe to ADB-Tools folder

Now this next part might be optional, but some things might not work without it and there's no real harm so:

Enable USB-Debugging

On your phone, open Preferences

Scroll all the way down to About this phone

Scroll all the way down to Build-Number

Tap 7 times on that entry

You'll get a message "You're a developer now"

Go back and open the new item Developer options

Check USB-Debugging

Connect your phone to the PC

Drivers will be installed and the phone will ask you to confirm USB debugging from that computer

Unlock Bootloader

There are probably lots of guides around, but to have it all in one place, here's yet another one:

!YOU WILL LOOSE YOUR WARRANTY AND ALL DATA BY UNLOCKING THE BOOTLOADER!

Switch off your phone

Hold Volume-Down and press and release Power to boot into Fastboot

A text screen should appear

Connect the phone via USB to the PC

Open a command prompt and browse to the ADB-tools folder you just created

Type:

fastboot oem get_unlock_data

You'll get five lines of characters, all beginning with (bootloader):

(bootloader) 0A40040192024205#4C4D3556313230
(bootloader) 30373731363031303332323239#BD00
(bootloader) 8A672BA4746C2CE02328A2AC0C39F95
(bootloader) 1A3E5#1F53280002000000000000000
(bootloader) 0000000

Copy all lines into one long string without the (bootloader) part!

You want something like 0A40040192024205#4C4D355631323030373731363031303332323239#BD00 and so on.

Open Motorola Unlocker Site (you need to sign-in)

Copy the string in the box at 6. and press Can my device be unlocked?

A Request my Unlock Key button should appear. Check I Agree to the legal stuff and press that button

Check your mail for the unlock key

In the ADB-tools folder type:

fastboot oem unlock [I]paste_your_key_here[/I]

The phone should reboot and greet you with a nice warning about you having lost your warranty.

Flash Recovery

Now that the booloader is unlocked you have to flash a custom recovery to be able to flash SuperSU.

Download the CWM image from this post. The file should be named something like recovery-clockwork-6.0.4.7-falcon.img. Copy the file to the ADB-Tools folder you created earlier and rename it to CWM.img

Your phone should still be connected to your PC and have finished rebooting and be in stock ROM.

In the ADB-Tools folder type:

adb reboot bootloader

The phone should reboot and the bootloader will come up again

To make sure all's working as expected type:

fastboot devices

You should get a response similar to:

List of devices attached
TA93005M6V device

To flash the custom recovery, type:

mfastboot flash recovery CWM.img

On the phone you might get a message about size mismatch, just ignore it. Now you have to enter the newly flashed CWM recovery. Take your phone and:

Press Volume-Down to scroll to the Recovery menu item

Press Volume-Up to select that item (yes, Vol-Up selects)

The phone will boot into recovery

Now is a good time to backup your system.

Press Volume-Down to scroll to Backup and Restore

Press Power to select that item

Press Volume-Down to scroll to Backup to /sdcard

Press Power to select that item

Backup will commence, once it's finished go back to the main menu and select Reboot, then confirm with YES

You phone will reboot into the stock ROM.

Flash SuperSU

Now you can finally flash SuperSU and be done with the whole business.

Download the newest SuperSU and save the file to your phone's SD-Card's root directory. The phone should show up as an MTP device in Windows file explorer.

In ADB-Tools folder type:

adb reboot recovery

The phone will reboot and once CWM Recovery has come up, use the Vol-Up/Down keys to scroll and Power to select

Select Install zip

Select zip from /sdcard

Select /0

You should find a file like UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.94.zip there.

Select that file, confirm YES and wait for the flashing to finish

Go back to the Main menu and select Reboot, confirm YES

The phone should once again reboot into normal stock ROM operation. To check if all went well, open the app drawer, tap on SuperSU and if no error message comes up... You're done!