Yes! Light a cig, that would be pretty James Bond if you ask me.

 

The speedo is flat. A reflection off a flat surface cannot focus the light enough to do this. The chrome trim around the speedo is also flat, at an angle but flat. This also cannot focus enough light on a single spot to do this, you need a concave mirrored surface in exactly the right shape. Please post a picture of your dash in a continuous video shot from a shot of the focused light spot, or I'm afraid I'm going to have to call BS too...

 

When the sun returns to San Francisco I will shoot a new video. However if you look at your own reflection in the speedometer, you will notice that your face appears larger that actual size. This would only happen if the surface was concave, and the fact that you can even see your reflection shows that it is a reflective surface.

Looking forward to the next sunny day.

 

From the Internet (which is never wrong ) the radius of curvature of a spherical mirror is twice the focal length.

Lets assume that:
- the place that catches fire is at the focal point, and is about arm's length from the speedo (lets say 100cm/39" for easy sums)
- the diameter of the speedo is 20cm (~8" for the metrically challenged)

This means that the radius of curvature is 200cm. The amount of dish required in the speedo is therefore around 200cm - (square root of (200*200-10*10)) = 0.25cm, or 2.5mm. I thought the speedo face was flatter than that, but 2.5mm is about the thickness of a tabloid like National Inquirer, so I suppose it's just about possible that the centre of the speedo is dished in from the edge by that amount.

Of course, it's really not a very good mirror so I'm still skeptical, but geometrically it might just be possible.

 

I am now having conversations with MINI customer service. The dealerships did not know what to do about it, but MINI/BMW seem to be quite helpful.

 

I have a hardtop and this almost happened to me. I had my sunroof fully open, driving west, early in the morning with the sun rising in the east (duh). I had my right arm resting on the arm rest as I drove countryside. After a couple minutes my arm started to feel really hot. And a second after noticing the heat, it got even hotter. I pulled my arm away as though something bit me. Looked around and didn't see anything. I looked behind my to the rear seat. There was a dim reflection of the sun on my rear seats. I put my hand in front of it and found there was a focal point just a tad in front of the two seats dead center between them. I followed the beam and sure enough it was the speedo lens.

I thought to myself, 'Well f*** me, that guy on NAM wasn't full of s***'. I intended to post this right after it happend, but I was on my way to go paintball, and after a day of battle I had forgotten about it until this post was resurrected.

If it can happen with a Hard Top in the right conditions, then I'm positive it can happen with either of the convertable models. Believe the OP. I do now.

 

I wonder if it would get hot enough to pop a package of popcorn or fry an egg?

 

One of the vendors does or used to sell a tinted/matte vinyl cover for some of the gauges to prevent glare in trying to read them.. Maybe they need to contact MINI USA and be their supplier!!

 

I knew that the USA were responsible for the warming up of our climate.It is not the industry but the Mini drivers that are guilty.

 

Grizld700, Thanks for confirmation. My whole point of posting on the forum was to see if anyone else had experienced this. Mini says it is not a known issue, and this forum is proving it certainly is not a very common one.

Best solution so far is "Never Stop Moving!"

Motor on.

 

Certainly! Since I have a hard top I have the advantage of sliding the black mesh screen to filter the sunlight some, which I promptly slid closed after I just about got a roasted arm hair special.

 

I did notice that Mini redesigned ALL speedometers for the 2015 models. So at least they have resolved the issue for the future.

 

Only the 3rd generation models. Some 2nd gen models remain in production for 2015, with the same speedometer.

 

Anyone know when 2nd gen models are getting the new speedometer?

 

Probably not going to with the 3rd Gen coming out..They'll wait for the new model..

 

They will not get a new speedometer. All 2nd gen models still in production will be terminated in the near future.

 

At best, they might apply a coating or spray to existing cars at the owners request to prevent the issue.....
Something that has happened maybe 3 times in a production run (and then MINI themselves might have been unable to duplicate) as long as a gen2 MINI...I doubt many $ would be spent....

 

I agree. This forum has supported Mini's claims that this is not a known issue. It may be a defective part, not a defective design, but a bit scary nonetheless. I hope to have an opportunity to duplicate the issue at the Mini Service Center soon.

 

I have to take credit (fault?) for the title of Roy's video. The title was kind of an inside joke - some of the posters here clearly got the Upworthy reference.

Having known Roy for many years, I can assure you that he's not to kind of person looking to create a fake video just to go "viral". It's an actual (albeit strange) phenomenon that he's experienced multiple times.