Hi, new here...reading your posts, everyine seems to know so much, hope you can help me:
buying an MCS, but don't want orange dash lights......hate to say it to y'all, but the orange lights would keep me from buying my MCS...

Does anyone know how to fix / change this? Please be specific, not too much of a gearhead.

Thanx much
Melis

 

I think that this will help you. A number of people have done this, I've just been too scared to do it myself. Good luck.

 

It's a shame that a thing as insignificant as dash lights would keep you from buying a car as great as a Mini. But if you must, search around- it has been done. Get out your soldering gun...

 

Seriously?

 

amazing, but it is the little things that matter to some people.

 

I find that the orange (or amber) LCD displays on the tach are very, very hard to read in direct sunlight with sunglasses on so I can understand Melis's concern. We have two R53s so obviously this didn't stop me but IMHO it is a dumb design oversight.

 

cover the rear of the gauge faces with red tail light repair tape...that is...if red is acceptable

 

See this thread and contact member Foxtrot_Xray to ask about having it done for you:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=94118




I think you meant LED displays (yeah, I'm a tech nerd). I'm guessing that your sunglasses have polarized lenses. In that case a different color won't make a difference; just the same problem in a different color. You can see the effect of polarization if you rotate the lens and see the display change between light and dark. Try a different pair of sunglasses which may be unpolarized or have a different angle of polarization.

 

Seems I have upset everyone with my nitpicky dash light color and keeping me from my mini (07, pepper white, MCS works, dual sunroof etc...)
but I look at a screen all day and get wicked eye strain, the orange lights irritate me, and I would hate to get all googly and crash my baby... ..as long as you say it can be changed, then I'm in..
Thanx, just contacted foxtrot xray...y'all are great!

 

The point is that it is a stupid design - polarized sunglasses have been in use for years and are very common. As my sunglasses are prescription, changing is not really an option. The problem is more related to sun glare and reflection that washes out the LED (guess they should have used an LCD ).

As far as changing the dash light color from orange to blue, keep in mind that you are talking about removing and soldering more than 25 small LEDs. Not for the faint of heart and certainly not good for your warranty.

I don't think anybody is upset, everyone is just expressing their opinions.

 

Wait a sec..... You say '07 PW MCS? Don't they have the ability to change colors? I swore you can change them between 7 or 8 colors?

Also, this is in the 1st gen forum, not the 2nd gen forum, where this should be. You will probably get a better answer there.

 

In the R56, at least, the readings change to a gray color in direct sunlight - very easy to read.

 

You can't change the color of the gauge display, only the ambient lighting.

 

If polarized lenses are holding you back, do what I did... Get new glasses~

As for daytime, I did'nt really see any issues, I only have problems with the audio, the center was the polarized part, so I could not see what track I was on out of the corner of my eye (oh no!)

 

The fundamental problem is that MINI gauges are out in the open and very exposed to ambient light. Most other cars don't have the problem because their gauges are recessed in the dash and shaded with a hood. I discuss a related issue here. Anyway, this is an R56 thread and as LynnEl pointed out they did address the issue in the R56.