Here is my experience with a set of aftermarket replacement black dial gauges from Cockpit Specialties.

I have Nav with the tach/speedo dual gauges over the steering column. I am not fond of the glittery silver gauge faces, and was very interested when Cockpit Specialities and Outmotoring started producing colored gauge faces. I was especially interested in black because it would look cool, match the black face of the Nav unit, and go well with my anthracite interior.

I like the design of the Outmotoring gauge dials, but it may be several months before they have a Nav/Chrono version available. Meanwhile, Cockpit Specialties have started shipping their Nav/Chrono version in several colors. goaljnky posted pictures of the yellow gauges and they looked good. Feeling impulsive and impatient, I went ahead and ordered the CS black gauge dials, with the thought that I may end up replacing them someday with the Outmotoring version depending on how they compare.

I'll skip to the bottom line. They look good but are not as readable as the stock dials during the day when not illuminated. The big issue is the reflections off the front lens of the gauges. This is already an issue with the stock dials, but becomes worse with black dials. In the end I decided to return them, and I will ponder what to do next.

Here are the black Cockpit Specialties dials next to the stock dials.


Cockpit Specialties did not provide installation instructions; however, it was straightforward to figure out. I posted pictures of the gauge disassembly in my gallery: https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=1847. Look in the photo details for a description of each step.

This is how the black dials look mounted. The dials are black but they look grayish in this photo because of reflections off the clear front lens. This is an important point that will be discussed below.


Here are my impressions. First, the big surprise. Driving around during the day (dials not illuminated), the black dials are significantly less readable than the stock dials. I had expected that white on black would be high contrast and more readable than stock. Instead, the white numbers and hash marks do not stand out particularly well from the black background. I believe there are several factors contributing to this.

MINI gauges are different from most other cars. Most cars have gauges set into the dash with a hood or visor to block out ambient light. This allows gauge lighting to be very controlled and consistent. Also, in most cars the clear lens in front of the gauges is tilted downward to minimize reflections and not collect dust. MINI gauges are more difficult to read than most other cars (at least during the day) because they are so exposed to random ambient light, and for gauges on the steering column, the front lenses are actually tilted up (with the gauge itself), which maximizes glare and reflections.

You need to look through the reflections to read the dial. While reflections from the lens is almost eliminated or a non-issue in most cars, it is a big issue in the MINI design. In the MINI gauges, the reflections cause lost of contrast and readibility in the dials. Depending on the ambient light, the black dials often took on a washed out look. It would have helped if there was anything Cockpit Specialties could have done to make the numbers and marks brighter white (they are more of an off-white). I now have gained a new appreciation for the stock silver dials. The glittery background is not just cosmetic, it is reflective to increase the contrast against the numbers and hash marks.

Even with the stock dials, I see my face, hands and shirt reflected in the lens. With black dials the lenses act like a mirror and the reflections become MUCH more annoying. It's like looking at a store window from a distance, and the difference between the store inside being lit up or not. If the store is dark inside, the window is like a mirror. But if the store is lit, theoretically the reflections are the same but you don't see them as well. There is that same effect with light and dark dials. Because of this, I'm now reconsidering whether I really want black.

I would love to try gauge lenses with an anti-reflective coating such as the type used in eyeglasses. This would be a big benefit even for stock dial faces. Does anybody have information about how to get it done? I know that an optometrist can send out eyeglass lenses to have anti-reflective coating applied for around $25-$50. If I get a chance I may try taking comparision pictures of my gauges (now back to stock) with the clear lens removed and in place. This would give an idea of the effect of an anti-reflective coating. Or if somebody has a camera with polarizing filter, it might work well enough for a comparison with and without the filter.

Here are a few other notes about the Cockpit Specialties black dials. Compare my photos above with goaljnky's yellow dials:

The numbers and hash marks on the yellow dials look bigger and more readable. Notice that the markings have black outlines for contrast and readibility. In the black dials, I believe that those outlines are still there, but blend into the background, and they only cause all the markings to have thinner lines and look smaller and become less readable. Look particularly at the km/h numbers in my first photo. For the black dials as a special case, the dials should have been done differently without those outlines to make the markings bigger and thicker.

I found some slight unevenness in the night illumination, not enough to be bothersome. The "6" on the tach and some of the digits in the "110" and "130" on the speedo look a bit dimmer than the surroundings. There is also some unevenness across the km/h numbers. Returning to the stock dials, the illumination was clearly more even. At the same dash brightness setting, overall illumination is brighter with the stock dials.

The subtle illumination differences were hard to photograph. Sorry but I only have a photo with the car off and just parking lights turned on, so not much is lit up in the dials.

 

Wow, Thanks for the write up and heads up on the reflection. I was thinking of a set of black ones for my Mini but think i'll pass up now. I already struggle with the glare most of the time. I guess silver ain't all that bad...

 

I'm quite happy with mine.....easy to read.

 

I haven't noticed any issues with reflectivity on my Outmotoring dark gray (almost black) gauges, and I have a cabrio - even with the top down the gauges are very readable. It might be because the Outmotoring faces are so very flat (totally non-reflective) and have a re-done font.

Here's my tach next to a carbon-fiber boost gauge, lights off at dusk with the top down - you can see a bit of reflection, but it does not affect the readability of the numerals (IMHO):



Good points in your review however - I can see why the black "outlining" would make the numerals stand out on the colored faces - in fact, I'd think it would be mandatory.

 

PGT, how would you compare the readibility compared to the stock dials? I should emphasize that I have Nav, with the small dual gauges over the steering column, and they are not easy to read even in stock form. The black dials reduced the readibility even further.

The Cockpit Specialties dials have a surface that is somewhere between satin and semi-gloss. A flat non-reflective finish would definitely enhance contrast and readibility.

 

ok, so what about the stock GP dials? they are a dark grey/black.

 

my only gripe is in partial light.....dark enough out to have the lights on, the CS dials look unevenly lit. Full daylight and full night, they are fine. This is more of an aesthetic thing and not legibility. As said above, I'm quite happy. Sure, a flat black would have been best, but you can't tell once installed.

 

The Outmotoring ones do that too just a little bit. For me it was more than worth it to deal with that unevenness for 30 minutes in the late afternoon to have the cool recolored gauges. I had no idea the CS ones did that too. The MINI OEM ones actually have little halftone dots silkscreened onto the back of the faces to tone down the "hot spots"...

 

ahh....I didn't bother to look at the back of the stock ones. I agree...not enough to bug me, but not 'perfect' either.

 

Looking back at my original post, I think I may have given a more negative impression of the Nav black dials than I intended. Compared to stock dials, I feel that the Nav black dials lose some readability/legibility but are still acceptable. I just wasn't willing to make the tradeoff in this case.

I'm still very interested in any information about having an anti-reflective coating applied to the front lens. I've Googled the topic but I am only seeing hits relating to manufacturers rather than where I can have an individual piece done.

 

Well, you could try artist's fixative spray - it's cheap and totally flat and UV resistant and won't turn acid-free drawing paper yellow so it must be pretty chemically inert... But it's certainly permanent.

What I'd do if I were you is stop by Home Depot and get a peice of cheap Lexan (they might even have a scap peice they'd give you for free). Have them cut it into 4" or so squares and use THAT as a test surface. You can put the speayed Lexan above a newspaper of something to see if the coating affects the legibility of what's beneath (remember that the lens does not rest against the gauge face but rather floats about half an inch off the numbers).

When you find something that works, remove the clear plastic lenses from the gauges and spray them seperate from the rest of the tach/speedo and the rings.

 

good call on fixative...if my wife would have had a can handy, I would have borrowed hers.

 

I have to say that I'm skeptical about using a fixative spray, but if you have a can handy it would be worth an experiment. I think they are intended for opaque surfaces and there will be loss of clarity if applied to something transparent. I am really thinking about the kind of anti-reflective coating used in optics such as eyeglasses and camera lenses (maybe also computer screens).

 

I like my Cockpit Specialties just fine.

 

a coating is a coating is a coating. anything you add has a chance to muck things up.

 

Well my thinking is that it's meant to be applied OVERTOP fine line drawings and/or colored pencil, so it must allow the fine marks to pass through.

But yeah, I highly doubt that it's 100% transparent, hence the suggestion to test it on a bit of scrap Lexan first.

 

Wagnbat posted photos and video of his black dials (not Nav/Chrono) in this thread. You can see some of the effect I described of the black background highlighting reflections off the front lens. It is not unacceptable but I think that daytime readability goes down a notch compared to stock.



Now think of how awesome it would be if there were no reflections. It would be a great enhancement for both stock and colored gauge faces. Below are examples of what anti-reflective coatings do for eyeglass lenses. I've been checking into some optical vendors but haven't found an appropriate place to apply an anti-reflective coating to our gauge lenses. I just don't know this industry and the right place to look.

 

I wish I could see a difference between the black gauges and the dark grey gauges.

 

ditto.

 

Yeah, I just installed my STRI smoke guages (from roquemini) and if I had know how difficult they are to see in the day time I would not have purchased them. I asked to return them to get the regular non-smoked once, but it seems returns are not accepted. I'm not sure what to do now since I'm stuck with these guages. I see two issues with these guages. One, there is too much reflection so an anti reflection coating would be nice. Second, they internal lights need to be WAY brighter in the daytime. I'm going to see if I can build a plastic covering to offer some shade. I'm hoping this will help cut down on the reflection and the dimness.

 

Try contacting the manufacturer to see if you can obtain clear replacement lenses.

 

Good idea. I just shot them an email.

I'm also toying with the idea of trying this stuff:
http://www.amazon.com/Glare-Buster-A.../dp/B0006FYKSW

 

Be careful with that stuff and test it on scrap pieces of plastic. In the case of MINI OEM gauges, replacement lenses are not available separately and a mistake means buying the entire gauge unit. The customer reviews on that page don't sound encouraging. The real deal on anti-reflective coatings is applied with vacuum deposition.

 

yeah, I figured it's a long shot....

 

And now all of you can be even happier. Here's a preview:



The left gauge lens is replaced with an anti-reflective acrylic. The right lens is stock.

Look here: moved to: http://www.motoringunderground.com/f...ad.php?t=15022