Are you saying your MINI dealer encoded yours after you installed it and there was still some sort of issue ?

 

No. I bought a used chrono pack that has 31k clocked on it to replace my broken nav. When I installed it into my mini, that has 81k, my mini showed that I had 31k on the odometer. Had Way, of WMW, hook his computer up to try and program it. The chrono pack is coded to my VIN but the mileage still reads off. It is my understanding that my local stealership, Mini of Nashville, no longer has the programming/computer to do coding work to 1st gens. And even if they did I wouldn't take it in as they would try and charge an outrageous price for a five min job.

Now if you know something that I do not please enlighten me, but everywhere I look, every thread I have read, if a used center pack is purchased, be it a speedo,chrono, or nav, whatever the mileage reads is unchangable.

With the exception of a marketplace thread in which SVTWeb indicated that a CAS3/9S12X programmer could do the trick but he never responded to my PM's to inquire about it. mmmmm I love it when people get onto a forum to try and sell something but ignore everything else.

 

Take it to your dealer.

Typical (1hr) labor for encoding should only be from $100.00 to $130.00 on average depending on the flat rate for the shop unless your in MIAMI where the flat rate there is $175.00.

 

Well that ended not too well.

Here's the scoop...I forgot to take pictures, but it doesn't matter because it has to be redone anyways. The unit I purchased was from a gent in Portugal. Portugal measures distance in kph, and not mph. They also measure temps in Celsius, not in Fahrenheit.

After I got past the dashboard, removed the front cover, unplugged the NAV, and plugged in the Chrono unit, I fired up the Mini. No programming was needed, the dials came to life right away, and even the seatbelt light was on (since I was just sitting in my driveway with both doors open), so I knew that part was good.

But....every measurement that should've been in either Fahrenheit or MPH, was now in Celsius and KPH. I didn't even have to replace the dual cluster either to make that happen, it was pushing all that data to my original dual cluster, not the European one that was shipped to me with the center Chrono unit. So that leads me to believe that the center unit controls that kind of programming. I was instantly bummed out, but it only means I need to purchase the US version. Which means I now have a European version for sale. lol

 

Going to sell my European Chrono unit either on here, or on Mini2's site.
A gent here on NAM was kind enough to sell me his US version, so when it arrives, I'm going to visit my local Mini dealership in RI to see if the programming can be taken care of to get the mileage correct.

To explain that last bit, it looks as if the car's mileage is stored inside the center dash unit, whatever it may be. If it's a NAV, it's located there, if it's a Chrono center unit, it's located there as well. It seems the center unit is the "container" for that kind of data.
Certainly wasn't expecting that. lol

 

Is there an echo in here?

Good job scoring the US pack and good luck with the mileage. Let us know what the dealer does/says.

 

haha, thanks.
About the echo in here, I didn't understand what you meant in your previous responses, which is why I posted my findings. No harm, no foul. I'm still learning, and it's helping me understand my car more and more as time goes on.

 

No doubt. I was just bustin *****. I was confused as hell when I dove into all this head first as well.

 

Why didn't you consider doing that to change the setting from km to miles?

 

Gray Raven and I have been discussing it offline, and we both feel it's best if I just sell the Euro version, and have a US version Chrono reprogrammed.

That's the main reason, but another reason is that I'd be a test case at my dealership (because they've never done that kind of thing before, and there's the chance it may not work), so rather than risk it with a Euro version, I'd make it a little bit more fool proof by snagging the US version.

 

US Version Chrono unit in hand, and I decided to give it one more shot to see if what happens to the mileage data. Sure enough again, the data seems to be stored inside the center unit, as I have over 105,000 on my Mini, but when I installed the US Chrono unit, it came up with 21,000+.

Got in touch with my local Mini service advisor (Jaymes @ Warwick Mini), and am locked in to get some programming done on it, to hopefully transfer my mileage data over from my NAV unit, to this US Chrono unit. They've never done this before on an 04 Mini before, because they've only been around since 2007, so I'll be a test case for them.
Appointment is in a couple of weeks. I'll post back around then.

 

I ave a question. When you guys talk about programming the used chrono, is it just to match your car's vin and hopefully miles or does it need this programming to actually work? Do the gauges work without the programming ?

Aslo did you guys have to buy the harness, or is it plug and play from the NAV harness.

 

Programming VIN and mileage.
It works just fine when hooked up, the gauges came up, everything looked to read correctly on the center unit. It was the data it was pushing to my dual cluster behind the wheel that was the problem, and that's directly fed from the center unit. That data was the mileage, instead reading as kilometers (the Euro version I still have and need to sell), and temps reading in Celsius.

And yes, it was plug and play. The NAV has one more data connection than the Chrono unit, I assumed this to be the GPS signal that it needs from the receiver.

 

Thank you for clarifying..My NAV still works, but I have always liked the chrono best. I'm thinking about it.

 

I call dibs on that **** if you swap. lol

 

UPDATE:

Rated R was absolutely correct when mentioning that once it's programmed to a specific VIN, it cannot be changed. Kevin @ Warwick Mini did everything he could think of to get it to work, but to no avail. So now I have a US and Euro version Chrono kits that are now for sale.

This sucks. The only way to get the data moved over to a Chrono unit, is to purchase a brand new one direct from Mini. That's the conclusion we all ultimately came too. I may have wasted an hour's worth of labor, but it's still cheaper than replacing the NAV unit ($120 vs $3,000). So that's it, thanks for coming, please tip your wait-staff and drive home safely!


(Unless someone knows of a way to crack that code in the center unit to get the mileage to be moved over? I imagine that would require some specialized Mini tools.)

 

According to a certain member here, it can be done with a special programmer. But every site I find this programmer on appears shady. And its always priced between 150 and 400 dollars. And is only lists compatible with 02 and 03 mini coopers. There are to many variables to take a chance on wasting the money.

Now, according to Way, my chrono is vin matched but the mileage will not update.