Speedometer Not Working

[corningjeff]

Hi, I joined the motoring ranks today with the purchase of a Sparkling Silver S Clubman! I was fortunate to find it in a showroom this past weekend, and it had almost everything I wanted. Sure beats the >= 12 week wait!
Anyway, one issue: Since it resided in the showroom after the dealer received it a couple weeks back, it had never been on the road & only had 2 miles on the odometer. Imagine my surprise when I started home and noticed the center console speedometer was not working.
It was late and no mechanics at the dealer, so they will call me back tomorrow. Has anybody had or heard of the same issue, and is it an easy fix? I live 2 hrs. away from the dealer and certainly prefer fixing it myself Vs. a Guilligan's Island tour. Thanks! BTW, the digital speed readout on the tach display is working properly.

[Ahchoo01]

Ah, sorry to hear about your defunct speedometer! The car is brand new. You'd think they would have noticed something like that when inspecting it before letting you drive off the lot.

[DragonWagon]

Yikes. Never heard of that problem.
My gallery has Sparkling Silver pics.
The gallery link is on far right side of the post.

When you take a pic of your Clubman, put it in your gallery and here:
http://www.northamericanmotoring.com...d.php?t=140534

[corningjeff]

Yep, and the Service Mgr. hadn't heard of it either. The fuses check out O.K., so it looks like its back to the shop! Nice ride, Dragonwagon - mine appears very similar. When I snap a few pics of it I will add them to the link you suggest.

[corningjeff]

Well, speedometer module has to be replaced. Apparently this is a very infrequent problem, so the spare may need to be shipped from across the pond. Thank goodness for the digital speedometer!

Is there a way to display both the digital speed and the instantaneous mpg? I know you can display avg. mpg on the center console, but it seems instantaneous only appears on the tach, and I can't figure out a way to display both.

[DragonWagon]

corningjeff,
My center console is set to display the digital speed.
I've forgotten about the center colsole speedo after a month.

[corningjeff]

Yep, but after spending the $ on a new Mini, the center console should work!

Also, on another thread there were some posts about speedometer accuracy, but I can't locate it right now. Well, while at the Mini dealer Sat. a SA gave me a copy of BMW TIS bulletin (SI1996-620296). It describes the allowable speedometer tolerance, which is + 10% / - 0%. In addition, the speedometer can read high by another 2.4 mph. This combined tolerance is called speedometer advance. This is the example BMW gave in the bulletin (quoting):

Actual Speed: 50 mph
50mph x 10% = 5mph; 5mph + 2.4mph = 7.4mph

Therefore, the permissable displayed speed is 50 to 57.4mph.
(Note: The displayed speed must never be less than actual speed).

It goes on to say that no repairs should be made to speedometers that are within the range. Sounds pretty sloppy to me. I guess it's a liability thing, but the tolerance range is more than I thought. Note, this is a BMW bulletin and is not exclusive to Minis.

It also mentions that the "advance" has no effect on the accuracy of the odometer.

[JGS]

All BMW's are set up this way. It averages out to about 5mph over the actual speed.

[DragonWagon]

I thougth that only VW speedos went bad quickly.
That stinks, man.

[jamz9987]

So it reads high? I'll have to take my GPS watch out with me the first time to check the speed, eh?

If everyone is on your rear, I guess it's reading high.

[coleman_ck]

I posted the following in the "Coupe Talk (2007+)" Thread.


I just returned from the One year oil change at my local Mini dealer (we have a 2007 Cooper with a total of 6800 miles and am using Continental 175/65 R15 tires with very little wear). On the way there I checked speed against my GPS and calculated speed with the freeway mile markers at 50, 60, 70 and 75mph indicated. The speedo consistantly read 6% high at all speeds. When I presented these data to the Service Department, the manager said that this is normal for the Mini, from 2002 to the present. The speedo on the 2007 takes its input from sensors on the left front and right rear wheels. On the 2008 it averages the sensors on all four wheels. But the problem lies with the car's computer and apparently it cannot be calibrated (or at least the service dept was not interested in spending the time to correct it). The service manager showed me a service bulletin addressing the subject wherein Mini considers 10% + 2.4 mph acceptable. This would be a 7.4mph error at 50mph actual speed. He also claimed that the odometer should still be correct, even though my speedo is 6% off. How this could be, I have no idea. Am in the process of checking the accuracy of the odometer and will post the results soon.

Personally, I am used to a higher standard of accuracy with aircraft and automotive instrumentation. I am amazed that BMW would produce an instrument which is so inacurate as this, and which cannot be (or will not be) calibrated by the dealers. We need to push BMW for a fix to this problem.


Since the above post, I have been unable to find a fix for this problem. It apparently is a result of a diode or resistor placed in the system which results in the speedo reading too fast, but does not affect the accuracy of the odometer. This is an intentional inaccuracy built into the system for political reasons, having to do with European Union laws which state that a speedo may read rediculously fast, but may not read slow by any ammount....not even 0.000001%. So the manufacturer errors on the side of caution and intentionally makes them read way too fast. There must be an aftermarket out there which can produce the proper diode for this system.....BMW seems unable to do so. Had I known the gross inaccuracy of this instrument, I would never have purchased the car.

[rippymcs]

Personally I would rather have the speedometer reading higher than the actually speed, but at 10% + 2.4 is a big difference. I had the same problem on my Z3, and I fixed it by upsizing the wheels & tires to increase the rolling diameter.

I wouldn't be too worked up about it, as it doesn't affect how the car handles.

[corningjeff]

Yep, the "offset" deliberately put into the speedo is frustrating to me too, and apparently no fix. I suspect most newer cars also have some sort of offset, but Mini's can be quite severe. A couple weeks ago I traveled to Cleveland OH and back (~4.5 hrs. each way) and noticed the digital speedo read about 2.5 mph faster, no matter the (highway) speed. So, I simply set the cruise 2-3 mph higher than I normally do, which of course ticked-off my wife!

[coleman_ck]

rippymcs:

Of course the speedo error could be mitigated by going to a larger diameter tire, but this would also affect the odometer, making it read too low. There is an electronic equivalent to purchasing larger tires: a device known as an Electronic Rate Adjustor. This would be installed between the wheel rotation rate sensors and the instrument. The ERA will electronically adjust the rate of rotation to improve speedometer accuracy but, like the larger tire fix, would also make the odometer read too low. The rate sensors for speedo and odometer input are: 2007 front left and right rear. 2008 all four wheels. Don't know about pre-2007 cars.

What we need is a way to adjust the speedometer only: a correct diode or resistor, or possibly a software change? The police departments in Europe who use BMW products have speedometers which do not incorporate this "speedometer advance"....they are accurate. Are there any Mini design engineers or mechanics out there who would be willing to comment on this anonymously (in spite of the political pressure to remain quiet about it)?

[schatzy62]

I have tested my odometer in the following way. This is not a speedometer test

1. Long stretch of hi-way with mile markers.
2. Checked with state to see how accurate the mile markers were and where they were calibrated to. The are supposed to be with in 5 feet of the actual distance as measured in the center of the left lane of traffic.
3. Overall distance of 70 miles possible error is then 350 feet plus or minus or .000189% error.
4. drove car in left lane only and started in light traffic so i slowed down to 10 MPH to try and get as accurate as possible with the start point.
5. checked odometer at one mile mark seemed to be right on.
6. checked it at 10 miles and it was very close.
7. checked it at 20 mile off by about 1/10 mile
8. checked at 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 miles. At 70 miles i was off by 3.6 miles low

So my conclusion is that the Mini odometer in my car runs low miles by about 5.14% lower than the actual.

Calculate this out and i can drive actually 52570 miles before my warranty runs out.

Now of course this is not a highly accurate way of doing it but i would have thought that it would be closer than it is.

So it seems that the accuracy of the odometer is also not as good as it could be.

But then again in thought on this, it could be a way for the dealer to say well you really have more miles on the car than odometer shows so that when your warranty runs out the are not actually getting shorted on the mileage.

But then againthis will all change when i put different tires on the car any way.

[Apple]

Originally Posted by corningjeff

Well, speedometer module has to be replaced. Apparently this is a very infrequent problem, so the spare may need to be shipped from across the pond. Thank goodness for the digital speedometer!

Is there a way to display both the digital speed and the instantaneous mpg? I know you can display avg. mpg on the center console, but it seems instantaneous only appears on the tach, and I can't figure out a way to display both.

see you have a 12 week wait anyways Karma baby!
j/k

[corningjeff]

Originally Posted by Cybergypsy

see you have a 12 week wait anyways Karma baby!
j/k

You nailed it - The speedo is finally getting fixed next week! No worries, however as the dealer is picking it up/dropping it off for me (they're 2 hrs. away). And, at least I have had several weeks of fun w/ the purchase.

[MINIdave]

This doesn't seem to be a German car thing, but just a BMW/MINI thing. I have a 2004 Audi and it's speedo (as compared to my Garmin GPS) is spot on, as it is in every other car I own - 98 Lexus, 05 Tundra........

[UKSUV]

My BMW and MINI are 5 mph off...it's a normalcy for these two....