they look awesome !!!
Thats the first set in red I've seen. BTW, mine look incredible (black jack) and I've had nothing but great reviews of them. Glad to see the install went well. They are the ones from Cockpit Specialties, not OM. I don't think they have them yet.

 

By "Black Jack" do they mean black tach with UJ speedo? Or a black UJ?

 

These are NOT the Outmotoring ones I believe... Thise are still not for general sale as far as I know. Hopefully, we'll have day and nighttime pics of the Outmotoring ones very soon (like maybe as early as this weekend).

 

Everybody is different, but I love the orange. Other colors seem to cause too much haze in my field of vision with my soft contact lenses. I can go full-bright with the orange and it doesn't bother me at all.

 

Exactly. Ihave a hardtime with Red/Orange, so I /had/ to change my dash.

 

I'd love to go blue... But so much of the cabin accent lighting is ALSO orange... Maybe one day.

 

Well, I'm doing a car right now, and I'm 95% sure I found a source for the LEDs for the MFSW and Radio, so.. it'll be ALL blue. We'll see.

 

The Black jack set is a black tach face with the Union Jack speedo. From Cockpit Specialties.

 

I have not bought these yet but just to let you know this may help in the install. I did my mustang with powered overlays and was very scared of taking off the needles. So scared, in fact, that I didnt. Im pretty sure it will be the same for the mini - the hole is big enough that you should be able to bend the overlay slightly and actually slip it over the needles.

You can literally hold your needles aligned with your fingertips so, for instance, they are all pointing straight up. It sounds fiddly but I found it remarkably easy.

I'll tell you if it works once I get mine.

Cheers.

 

I can tell you right now it won't - the silver caps of the needles are FAR bigger than the holes in the overlay.

Aligning them is NOT that big of a deal, honestly. I can do mine now without worrying about having a full tank of gas, or with the car at 'normal' operating temp. And on top of that, if you DO forget where one goes, plug it into the car with the cover off, turn the car on, and verify its placement.

On mine - meaning that yours may vary - the Temp and Fuel Guage needles sit center on the border between the change between silver and black on the overlay. My Tach & Speedo needle rest right on "0" when off. Now a car that was sent me had the Speedo needle sitting below "0" when it was off, so to verify I have it properly aligned, I will connect it up to my car, and adjust until its aligned on "0".

Mike.

 

As above, you can't just slip it over the needle for a few reasons, the main one being that the center gauge is held in place BY the gas and temp needles, in that there are 2 small holes that the needles go through to keep it aligned.

Also, to anyone doing this install, the silver part of the needle does come off and once it does allows for better grip on the base of the needle for removal. You'll probably end up pulling one off by accident (I did on both). They then just snap back on when you're done.

As for alignment, just look at your gas gauge before you start, and for the temp just remember where the needle sits when the car is warm. Do the install, start the car to make sure everything is kosher, and just let it run until warm. Then center your needle and you're done.

 

jeff...are the center silver pieces just plastic? Could they be painted?

 

yeah, they actually are black plastic already painted silver. Quick hit of a spray bomb and they'd all set up.

 

Order is on its way. Pics with before and after with blue will soon be up

 

Painted OEM.


It is fairly easy to pull apart. PM me for instructions.

 

Just ordered me some blues I will also do before and after pics....along with my other new interior pieces....custom leather dash, steering wheel, shift boot, doors, etc. These will be a perfect addition to the process that I am just about to start in a week or 2.

 

Will you be doing a black or anthracite version?

 

first set is Antracite but we will most likely do Black, Antracite, Red, Indy Blue, BRG and maybe one or two other colors....they have to be dark in order to allow for proper contrast...

 

Oooh, I'm all for a BRG version, yes please. :>

Me.

 

Awesome! Count me in!

 

Well, I just got 1nf3rn0's set in, and here's a quick review. This is just from me handling them. The LEDs aren't ready yet, so this isn't a review of them actually installed.. yet.

Good:

• They're heavy - almost the same thickness/weight as the originals.
• The cutting job on them are superb.
• The numerals and ticks are white when off (not backlit), very easy to see.
• It seems that some of the numerals are 'shaded' correctly so that LEDs directly behind them don't give an uneven lit appearance. However, since the LEDs aren't finished, I haven't been able to verify this 100% yet.
• The icons - Seat Belt, Airbag, etc seem an exact copy of the originals.

Bad (Or other things I noticed that may be issues, that may not be 'bad', but are differences and could have an impact):

• RED! The unnecessary red ticks for 'low gas' and 'overheat' are colored RED. It's unnecessary, and for anyone that WANTS a custom colored dash makes them stand out. (Yeah, it's a small gripe, but.. I'm a perfectionist, d@mmit.)
• They're based off of a 2002 model. This means that the 'Low Brake Pad' light has nothing in it. This is probably the biggest issue, only because if these are installed, and you have a low brake pad, you'll just have a bright round red circle there. No symbol. Also, on '02 models, the last light said 'FILLER'. '03 and on, it said 'GAS'. (For 'Check Filler Cap', 'Check Gas Cap'.) That's not really an issue, tho.
• They're smooth. The faces are extremely /smooth/. The original faces are textured. This could lead to an issue of reflecting lights off of it or something. Also, because of that, when installing, it's really easy to get and see fingerprints on it.
• No white mask on the back. I think this will have an impact on brightness and evenness of the light. The originals are white on the back - to get as much of the LED light spread as possible. The new ones are black, and we all know that black sucks up light.
• No stickiness on the back. The originals had sticky-stuff everywhere they sat against the white bezel. This was to prevent light from the face leaking into the indicator lights. (It made the face stick to the bezel where it mattered.) I didn't know this, and washed my Tach, and now my tach face leaks light. Worried that this would be rather noticeable.
• Not really a bad thing, but something else I'd like to see.. A model number or release version or something printed on the back. That way, if the faces were 'upgraded' in the future for whatever reason, one could look at the back and say, 'Oh, it's BK-1" or some sort.

Despite numerous 'bad' things I mentioned, they're very well done. If I had the money, I would get a set. Many of the 'bad' things are me nitpicking, just because I pay that much attention to detail.

Personally, I need a dark grey/dark silver. Black would stand out too much on my dash. Or BRG would be good, of course.

 

I'm so excited

 

Think about this for a minute. The face is BEHIND a clear plastic cover. Even with texture, and a dark color, the thing that will produce high amounts of reflection is the plastic cover....not the face. I think you should take that off your list as anything with a dark color, blue, black, dark grey, red, will reflect the same amount due to the clear cover over it. Think about a printed picture in a frame. Glossy or matte paper behind a clear glass, standard, frame will reflect the same amount of objects, I have them in my living room for family pictures, and the issue is the same. Lighter color pictures reflect less, show less, so to speak. Matte glass, or non-glare glass is the only thing that will reduce reflections, not the surface of the object behind the clear glass. Just my observations and real world experiences...

I just received my blue ones in the mail today. I am comparing them to the ABD, Autobahn Design, ones I put in both my 2003 Passat and my 2001 Allroad. I put in Silver faces over the OEM black....Passat was blue lit, the allroad was red lit. The overall quality of these faces is far above what ABD made....and far less money for 2 pieces....as the size is not the issues in cost, but the actual part. So, ABD for Audi and VW were one piece, cost about $60-80 more depending on the car, and less quality.

I can see where someone would nit pick the small things, but overall, these are HIGH quality. After having dinner with the wife, watching Grey's, I will snap some shots of my blue plates, front and back, for everyone and uploat them in high res.

 

Here is a scan of the tac that foxtrot sent me.



And the spedo:

 

Oh, all very good points - however, keep in mind that the speedo and tach crystals are all curved inwardly. (Concave?) This makes a difference, get in your MINI and shine a flashlight at the speedo. You;ll see that there's a smaller area in which you'll get a reflection from. The FACES are flat, so you'll get more reflection off the face than you would - and there's no argument here, because the faces are shiny and flat, instead of textured. (Obviously because ANYTHING shiny and flat would give more reflection than textured..)
Also, I'm pretty sure the GP ones - which ARE a much darker grey don't reflect anything - I'm willing to bet they're textured too. So not EVERYTHING dark will reflect more.

Not having any of those cars mentioned, I can't comment. But I'm sure you make good points.

Oh, like I said, I'm nitpicking. And I also said they were wery well done. The nitpicking side of it comes from someone who designes UI's for a living, so little things like that catch my eye. (And yeah, a couple of those issues are ON the OEM ones as well, and yes - I'm so **** I wrote a letter to MINIUSA about it!)

I'd like to see big scans of the blue ones.. and any of the other ones so far.

Cheers,
Mike.