i'm cosndiering trading my s2000 for a cooper s.

im curious what the deal is with gauge setups.

from what i understand, there are 3 options.

1 gauge over the wheel, and the big speedo.
2 gauges over the wheel, and chrono pack?
2 gauges over the wheel, and navigation.


is it possible to get all your information in front of you, leaving the center gauge for a custom lcd computer setup?

 

no

 

the closest thing I could think of is get the car with NAV that way you have speedo and tach on the steering column and the center speedo bezel is molded in the shape of the rectangular screen so maybe you can take out the nav screen and replace with whatever lcd screen you are using for your computer setup?? Not sure if by removing the screen you could run the risk of other catastrophe's occuring. Other thing would be to get the chrono pack and buy a nav bezel, remove the gauges in the chrono pack, install the nav bezel and mount your lcd...again though not sure if you can just take out those gauges. But if you can you do have some options though.

Hope this helps,
Steve

 

where can i purchase the speedo/tach for the steering collumn?

 

The tach is always on top of the steering column, and the speedo is there if you have the nav system.

 

or the chrono pack

 

The speedo is always in the middle. If you get the nav the speedo needle is reversed to be pointing from the outside edge in. This does give you a 6" dia screen in the middle of the gauge. Nav demo link ---http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMveKNx99HQ notice the speedometer on the outside edge of the display.

 

With the factory navigation, there are aftermarket adapters that allow it to display video input, such as from a DVD player or computer. If you have a software gauge system for a computer, this might be a possibility.

From a dealer, or they come up occasionally on eBay (such as this). You'll need to have a dealer program the car for the gauges to work correctly.

 

That's the 2nd gen configuration (this is in the 1st gen forum). If the OP is considering a 2nd gen MINI, there are no factory options to get both speedo and tach on top of the steering column.