I have installed boost and volt gauges in my mini today. They sit to the left and right of the centered tach. The look great in the day they match the light gray of the OEM dials perfect. The only problem I have is at night the new dials are very hard to see. I removed the light and found that it is a four sided LED attached to a very small circut board.
My main question is "How can I make them BRIGHTER"? Not sure what to do.
M

 

depending on how much room you got, i would wire up a new bulb holder
and run a different bulb. time to go to radioshack.

 

Are they hooked up to the dash dimmer?


My gauge light is less than the rest of the dash but with the dimmer control I found an acceptable compromise.

 

Not sure how they are hooked up. My dimmer is on full bright. Is there a better way to hook them up?
M

 

Here is a pic of my new gauges I took during lunch.
M

 

hell all you need is the pointer anyhow. once you know what's normal for your car. mine are too bright and the dimmer barely knocks any off ; wanna borrow some volts?

 

OK. The aux. gauges backlight sucks. I tried different solutions and ended up using orange bulbs (I think they are the same as side repeaters) with red gel caps. Both sold at Pep Boys. Someone gave me red painted bulbs before I placed those, but I regret using them without knowing. The one inside the voltmeter blow up and melted the black plastic holder of the aux. gouges.

The ones I have right now match very well to the MINI illumination color and haven't noticed any overheating.

 

Can you post a photo? A brighter LED replacement may be available.

If you are using bulbs like the side repeaters, they are 194 size and there are bright LED versions that will generate very little heat.

 

Thank you for the great info. Do you know the exact model of light bulb you used? Was it plug and play or did you have to cut wires? Also how much brighter...10%, 20% ?
Thank you
M

 

You're welcome. There is nothing to modify. You just need to replace the LEDs with the new ones. The orange bulb with red gel cap will give you the closest possible illumination color. It will take you 2 minutes. Unfortunately I don't remember any model number, I just bought the one that has the same type end connector. You won't have problem finding it. Good luck!

 

My lights on my boost and voltmeter are also not very bright. The boost seems to be darker than the voltmeter. I'm going to have my dealer look at this when I take it in for service.

 

Cool, how much brighter did it get? Where you able to see it at night with out straining your eyes?
M

 

I would guess that your gauges are the same as mine and there is nothing wrong with them. That is just the way they are made, the dealer won't be able to help you. My goal and with the help of MINIyegor I'm hoping to fix the low light issue.

 

Hi im from the UK and would love a set of these gauges,anyone selling a used set ? as i cant afford a new set before xmas.

 

They are almost as bright as tachometer or speedometer. The Voltmeter gauge is a little brighter than the Boost. I think it's due to smaller type size on the Boost gauge.

Considering myself as a person who pays attention to any insignificant detail, I am happy with the result. However, I think MINI must provide better quality gauges as a factory option. It's not only having their logotype printed inside. It has to look a part of the interior, but not an add on.

I don't have a good quality image right now. Will post later.

 

I might sell mine. I had them wrapped in premium black leather and red stitching that matches JCW dash and downtubes I have. I am thinking to change the styling of the stitches, so if someone buys mine I will get a new set and have rewrapped. As I mentioned in my previous post the light bulb blew inside the Voltmeter and I cleaned it. I will post high res photos so you can see all the detail. I'll send along matching bulbs and gel caps as well.

 

Ok, I did the 194 ornage bulb swap with red hats. They look a bit brighter but I won't know until the sun goes down. Also the Pep Boys where I live sell the 194 bulb in RED. Do you think that would work better since I won't need to put a red cover over it? I would guess guess the red hat makes the orange bulb not as brights.
thank you for all your help. I will let you know more tonight of my results
M

 

I think the red only bulb has cooler color, which doesn't match well with MINI's aber/red. The red cap over orange compensates the bulb's yellowish spectrum and makes the light warmer red. The red only bulb will be brighter, but cooler.

 

I took all your advice and went to PepBoys and got the amber 194s and the red gel caps. I tried every combo I could muster and finally quit with red gel caps over clear 194s. When you stretch the red gel cap over the lamp, it turns sort of orange.

They match really well until you go darker than about five clicks down from full bright, then they darken much faster than all the rest of the instrument lights. When you are fully darkened, the stock instrument lights are still visible, and the gauges are almost totally dark. Still working on a solution.

Anyone know of a source for the same type of LED bulb that came with the gauges but only brighter?

YD

 

I think it'll be really hard to find something that works the same way as OEM LEDs since the gauges' design is not as good as the MINI's instruments. I even thought of replacing with diferent manufacturers gauges, hoping they will have better reflection structure inside.

Here are two pictures of my solution. Hope it helps.

 

Very nice custom leather trim rings! Did you do the work yourself?

 

The concept is mine. It's done at an upholstery shop in Glendale, CA. The guy does great job.

 

That's damnd hot... looks amazing

 

As with most of us, I don't like the gauges turned all the way up bright at night. As we all also know, the aux SW voltmeter and boost gauges go darker when turning down the brightness much faster than all the rest of the factory gauge lights. I finally have a fix that I'm very happy with.

I just hard wired my voltmeter and boost gauge LEDs into a full 12V source. Then I wired the ground of these LEDs into the same circuit that supplies a ground to turn on the lights. Now when I turn on my lights, my voltmeter and boost gauge are full bright all the time and they match the factory color and intensity when the factory gauges are turned down. I personally couldn't ask for a better color and brightness match. Wish I had thought of this a long time ago.

Anyone interested, let me know and I'll bore you with which wires to tap into.

YD