I am trying to figure out where to tap into to for my gauge but struggling to identify what wires I should connect to
I am assuming the purple and red can be tapped into red and blue below.


Then the black ground on the brown/black wire. I can't figure out which wire is for the gauge lights.

 

signal - that's the source of your water temp. that'll go to your gauge.
for ground - just find a screw/bolt near where you're mounting your gauge. run your ground wire into that.
power - buy an "add a circuit" and pick a fuse that's switched, like your radio.
and for your backlight in the gauge, they want you to tie it into your power. it'll be backlit when your turn on your ignition & your gauge.

this is the add a circuit. you plug these into your fuse panel.

 

Thanks.
The add a circuit would that go to the red or purple? Where would the other of those two go?

 

Looks like the Marshall gauge instructions. What gen / model of MINI? Lots of great information for Gen2 cars here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...r-dummies.html

The newer Marshall gauges don't need the module to convert the PWM signal for gauge lighting in the Gen2 cars to a steady voltage so ignore that part, just need to find the grey/red wire and connect to that.

 

It is a Marshall gauge I got recently. It is going in an 03 R53.

 

the add a circuit is so you can run power w/o splicing into anything. so you would connect the red wire to the add a circuit. then you go to your fuse panel and choose a switched circuit like your radio fuse. pull the fuse from the panel and install into the add a circuit. then plug the add a circuit into the fuse position for the radio.


where do you plan to install your temp sender?

 

Thanks. So orange and red would go to the same add a circuit? Where does purple go?

I got the Cravenspeed water temp sender adapter for the temp sensor.

 

If you're going to learn to install a gauge it's good to know what you're doing, not just following colors.

Your backlight can go with your power (positive) wire on the add a circuit.

For your ground (negative) can just tied to an existing nearby bolt or scratch off a little paint and use a self tapping screw to get a good ground.