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One of my biggest complaints of the mini is the lack of critical engine info. What are some reasonable Oil pressure and H2O temp gauges that can be easily installed and where did you install them? I saw one guy used the air vents
I installed oil pressure, water temperature, oil temperature, and a boost/vacuum gauge.
I made my own 4 gauge mount out of aluminum sheet and 2" ABS drain pipe.
I did something similar, made my own brackets but bought the pods. I have thought about adding two more but IMO the upper pods would not be visible. The scan gauge is a good alternative although not very snazzy looking.
For oil you need to either tap the oil filter housing or install a special tee at the oil sensor outlet in order to connect a oil tube to a sending unit.
This is on my list of things to do latter this year.
I can see all four of my gauges, looking through the steering wheel as pictured. It took me four tries making cardboard templates to get it right. It is attached to the back of the tachometer in existing screw holes using longer than stock screws. The gauges fit perfectly inside the 2" ABS pipe sections and attach with the mounting studs and nuts that came with the gauges.
I used a Cravenspeed adaptor in the head, where the oil pressure light sender goes. I was able to mount an oil pressure sender that sends the variable electric signal to the gauge by remotely mounting the sender and attaching it to the pressure port through a two foot length of 1/8" hydraulic hose, it works great.
They changed the head in the N18 engine, so the later engine doesn't have that oil port in the head. I have heard that there is a oil pressure port on the oil filter base, but I'm not sure.
Thinking the Gen2 is a little different than the Gen1. I can lower the gauges by 3/4" but the upper pod will still be cut off from my view. Currently sitting in the car, I cannot see anything above the number "4".
I need to play around with a sender to see what voltage/ohms it sends back and then find a small digital gauge that can function.
Above is my digital water temp gauge. It also reads DTC codes, fuel trim, vehicle speed and a few other things. This helped me correct my DTC codes. Now that I have a better idea of how the cooling system works, I think it's scary as hell driving around without a coolant temperature gauge on these cars. I had a bad ECT sensor connector. I ordered one from an as yet unnamed reputable OEM parts distributor. The wires I was sent did not fit inside the plug. I soldered in a junkyard connector from a GM car. I had to modify it to get it to fit the socket. Now my gauge reads constantly and my CEL went off after a long drive. I am very happy with this little $36 gauge. I was able to mount it with one of the Tach screws, using one of a longer length. It turns on and shuts off automatically when I use the car (most of the time!) This is what I believe to be the case about how the system works:
The thermostat opens at around 105 or 106 degrees Celsius, and will stay open for a while after climbing a hill (I just did an 80 mile trip with 8000 total feet of elevation change). At those times the ECT will drop into the mid 80s. In traffic the temp will stay right around 104 to 106. The cooling fan will not come on until about 106 or maybe even 107. In the absence of a valid signal from the ECT sensor, the ECU will run the cooling fan constantly, and will run for several minutes after shut down, even if you've only run the car for a few seconds. I believe there is only one ECT sensor and that a Mini will let you cook it's engine with no warning. A car will run with a bad or no ECT sensor. The ECU will hold open the thermostat and run the fan, but you could keep right on driving until the engine siezes. Correct me if I'm wrong on this but my car ran great for a week and a half with a bad connector sending no signal at all to the ECU. The cylinder head temps were around 170 farenheit according to a laser temp gun, aka the thermostat was held open.
Last edited by carwhisperer; Apr 14, 2018 at 06:10 PM.
I am 3D printing a 42mm gauge pod and Ultra gauge “pod” for my R56. Both attach to back of tach like the JCW pods.
I just wish I could change the Ukra Guage display to amber so it wound blend with factory color. Not sure I care enough to see about swapping factory over to blue.
I permanently installed a scangauge on the far left side of the dash, and an oil pressure and a boost gauge beside the tach head. I can monitor up to a total of six functions at the same time.
