Has anyone tried this gauge? http://www.aeroforcetech.com/products_interceptor.html Will it work in our Mini's? Thanks.

Update:
Anyone living in the NE Ohio area want to be a beta tester for the Aeroforce Interceptor? PM me for details...

 

I dont think is going to work properly in our cars, if you go to where it says order yours today they will ask you for the vehicle manufacturer.

 

Well since it plugs into the OBDII port and all cars are required to be OBD complient sure you shouldn't have a problem. Ask them and if anything go to there homeport and see if it is close.

 

So I talked with the folks over at Aeroforce and they are looking for a volunteer in the NE Ohio area to test out their gauge. If the testing goes well then they'll start making it available for the MINI community . BTW, apparently they will give the lucky tester a free gauge for their troubles. PM me if you are interested and in the NE Ohio area. Thanks.

 

WOW, I'm interested in these. Reason I haven't gone Scangauge is I want oil pressure too. This looks like you can add a sending unit and wire it to the analog input on the back of the gauge to have it display. That way, with 2 of these I could have coolant temp, oil pressure, boost and battery volts all at one time.
Keep us posted, please
Fig

 

I hear you... now we just need to find some one from Ohio that is willing to volunteer as a beta tester

 

You're looking at $250 for a single, $400 for a dual! That's a lot of green for what's basically an OBD-II display... Then add the gauge mounts, and if you want it, the oil pressure stuff, and your looking at some real nose-bleed pricing.

Matt

 

Cost is quite a bit compared to a SCII, but as far as aesthetics go, the aeroforce (plx for that matter) goes better with the Mini interior... The price we pay to make our Mini's look good

 

no testing should be needed. It uses the OBD-II protocol, and that's pretty much standard. The only issue I've come across is that my wife's 08 Clubbie doesn't like having things plugged into the diagnostic port for long times when the car is off....

The electronics in her car don't like being asked stuff over and over (like "are you running?) and it forgets the clock settings and some of the on board computer stuff. I'm hoping that this is just bad programming on Minis part for the 08 model year, as it's really inexcusable...

I haven't been hacking on lots of other CAN based Minis, so I don't know how universal this problem is. If this is a problem for other Minis. FES has developed OBD-II connectors that have a power button integrated into them, but this is really a solution to a problem that shouldn't exist.

Matt

 

Yikes... I have a 08 model. I wonder if this is the case for all the 08's as well??? Has this been discussed before in this forum?

 

I was on a DashHawk forum and there are some scary problems with CAN based diagnostics on the port. At least BMW/MINI is smart enough to have the diagnostic CAN bus be separate than a lot of important car functions. On some Audis, stuff like this screw with auto transmission shifts!

I also haven't tried a lot of diagnostic stuff on the OBD-II port of the wife's clubbie. Both the DashHawk and a CAN version of the ProShift FES makes (coming out soon!) showed the issue.

There is always power on pin 9 of the OBD connector. So you can't look for voltage there to see if the engine is running. The diagnostic CAN bus is always alive, even if the car is off, so looking for traffic doesn't work either. The only way to know if the car is running is to ask for RPMs or something. And the wife's car doesn't like it. Takes 3-4 hours I think.

I'd love to know if all CAN based Minis had this issue, or if I'm just lucky! While we do have an OBD-II connector with a power button in it, like I said before, it's a solution to a problem that shouldn't be there.

Matt

 

Agreed

 

So I was finally able to get an Aeroforce Interceptor installed on my MINI. Todd over at Aeroforce sent me a gauge (not the ISO one they have). It works great and looks good too

The issue that Matt identified with 08 MINI's not liking some gauges does exist with the Interceptor, but is easily resolved by using a "switched" power source. Since I already had a vacuum/boost gauge, it took a matter of minutes tapping into that power source. I'm currently waiting for my white gauge face and will post some pictures to share.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the aeroforce interceptor...

 

4 years later. i'm interested if the aeroforce interceptor is a good guage for the mini. Curious what different about your guage and a "ISO" one?

 

Wow it's 2017 and no one answered you still.

 

Before I owned my Mini Cooper I owned a Pontiac Grand Prix. I had an Aeroforce guage in that and it was able to monitor all sorts of things as well as give alerts using red lights if a certain threshold was met. It is quite the guage! You can also install it in an air vent if you so desire. Way beyond the standard OBDII reader.

 

I just installed one on my 2008 Cooper S. Its really just plug and play. Youll need a gauge holder is all.

You can get coolant temp etc etc from the Interceptor and alarms for anything out of a pre-set range. The only parameter the OBDII port doesnt supply is oil pressure so if you want that youll need an overpriced Cravenspeed oil pressure tap and an electric pressure sensor (aeroforce sells one) as well as a 5volt power supply (Aeroforce sells a 12 to 5 volt power supply if you cannot find 5 volts of switched power). I opted for the 5 volt power supply since 12 volts is easier to find.

If you need help routing wires for the oil pressure sending unit or finding a 12 volt power and ground source, see attached instructions provided on other threads for OTHER guage kits. You can use the cigarette lighter or the OBDII port for switched 12 volt power.

 

I finally installed the Aeroforce Interceptor. It plugs into the OBDII port. They dont have a Mini matching color scheme, so I opted for green because I think it reads easier. I dont like red gauges which is an option as well blue and black/white.

It displays quite a few parameters such as coolant temp, voltage, HP, lateral Gs, timing, MPG etc etc etc etc. It does allow you to pull SOME error codes and cancel SOME error codes. You can also set low and high alarms if you exceed any parameter. It also has shift lights built in.

It can display graphs and multiple parameters at once or can rotate parameters. I only care about coolant temp and oil pressure (you can set alarms for these two). I think it can show oil temp, but who cares. That is always right behind coolant temp. Voltage alarms are good too, to let you know when the alternator is dying.

I added the pressure sending from Aeroforce unit for oil pressure and connected it using Cravenspeed's overpriced adaptor and a 5volt volage regulator from Aeroforce. I used an Alta Perin over priced guage which honestly, barely fits on the right side (Im gonna move to the left side) and it wont even stay at the 3 o'clock position. It flops down to the 5 oclock position. Overpriced plastic.


Cravenspeed adaptor which allow you to add a second sensor for oil pressure for your gauge.

You'll need to use a t-tap to grab ignition-dependent 12 volts (same as for the pressure guage) otherwise the gauge wont shut off when you turn the car off. Its super easy to grab ignition-dependent 12 volts using the green wire going into the OBDII port. See picture below.

The Aeroforce kit comes with18-22 gauge t-taps, and some male-insulated spade wire crimp quick disconnects. Youll need 4 feet each of 22 guage wire in two colors (one wire for switched power to the gauge, one for power to the pressure transducer), a dozen butt connectors (the kits comes with 4 I think) if you dont know how to solder and 2 mini in-line fuse holders, one for the transducer with a 250 milli-amp fuse and a one with a 3 amp fuse for the gauge itself. Like these:

(Check for continuity before you install. One of mine had a bad wire).

The pressure transducer from Aeroforce comes with clear instructions on how to wire it up. It also has a small resistor which you need to connect in-line to protect the gauge from voltage spikes.

You also need some torx allen-keys to get the OBDII connector off and the tachometer off to install the Perin Alta gauge pod.

My phone's camera is quite poor but here are some pics. The gauge is crystal clear, but the photos show otherwise.





Green wire is 12volts, ignition dependent.

I ran the pressure transducer wire this way into the cabin:


Pressure transducer (brass color) screwed into the Cravenspeed adaptor (cannot be seen in this pic).

Pressure transducer and its cable....

Feed into this hole next to the hard line which leads into the compartment under the windshielf wiper cowl (you need to remove the wipers and cowl...very easy) .

Under the cowl is the brake booster. There a rubber plug which leads into the driver's side footwell, to the left of the brake pedal. Pull the plug out and drill a small hole in it to push the cable through.

Here is the plug.