So I took the speedo out tonight to change the faces and this is what I found!
It looks like a "channel" has been cut out of the back of the speedo housing to make room for what looks like an amp (lots of heat sink)it is a bit of a hack job and all the plastic sawdust(???) was all over the place.
Without this channel the speedo would not fit, any ideas?

It is a 2003 MINI cooper S, Build date 11/02, I am the second owner and it was dealer maintained from new. It did not look like the original owner done anything to the car, it was completely stock.

I spent the last hour searching every section for any clues and checked real oem, I am going to thumb thru the Bentley manual to try and get to the bottom of this.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Andy

 

New owner definitely did something, is there a brand name or part number on the black box? Did the previous owner mention upgrading the audio?

 

You could pull the radio and see if/how it's connected in back. It seems small to be an external amp, but still possible.

 

The radio is stock as were the speakers. I checked the Bentley book and found nothing. I will maybe have another look and see if there is any info on it, I could not see anything last night. It seems like an odd place to put an amp, all I could find out was that space is normally taken up by the Nav system which I do not have.

Andy

 

See if you can get in touch with the previous owner. Whenever I trade in a car with mods, I always leave wiring diagrams or info on what's been done to the car so the new owner isn't lost. That's a weird set up. Keep us posted.

 

Good grief, sure went to alot of trouble if it is a small amp... Could have just put it under the seat or something.

 

That's what I was thinking. I do not think it is an amp as all the wiring looks stock, but am not sure what it would be.
I am with Fatherdeth, I keep records of every mod, just in case I want to reverse them.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

I actually think this was cleverly done, and it went completely unnoticed until the speedo was removed. Under the seat (or in the boot) is usually necessary for the size of the component, and requires a lot of additional cabling.

 

Aftermarket security system?

 

Not that I know of. I could maybe try and get some contact info for the previous owner.

 

Okay, it's a slow day at work as you can tell.
I have done some googling and may have come up with an answer.
Could it be a retrofitted factory "sound modal" with the amp installed in the wrong place? As I look closer at my low quality picture, I think I see a heavy gauge red and brown wire, maybe amp power.
How come it still sounded terrible if this is the upgrade?

 

Wow - that *is* strange.

See if you can find any markings at all on the mystery box. Manufacturer name, model number, anything. Even an FCC ID# would be enough to figure out what it is and who made it.

 

The original Sound Module does have an amplifier installed behind the speedo:
http://www.motoringfile.com/howto/So...odule%20NG.PDF
The later DPSM (Digital Power Sound Modul) moved the amplifier to the boot.

If if is indeed the Sound Module, you should have upgraded speakers, but you said they were stock. Also it should have been a very clean installation not requiring cutting out the back of the speedo.

 

Maybe that's why they discontinued it

 

..and everyone I know that got the sound module had nothing but trouble with it. Don't think the dealers even offer it anymore, do they?

 

Thanks for all the help.
I am going with the idea of the amplifier from the sound modal system.

I have since upgraded the sound system and it sounds a lot better now.

Andy