I'm a real stickler with the time... I set the MINI clock to the exact time on the hour according to CBS news ("at the tone, it's six o'clock")... I can time my commute and know almost exactly where I'll be at a particular time and whether I need to pick up the pace to keep my arrival at work prompt as usual - not to brag... after a 12 hour shift the out-going guys DO want to get the heck out of the fab, as do I when my shift is over.

Long story shortened: I've noticed the clock is slightly fast. Anyone else seen this? I wonder if the software upgrades I've read about here will correct it.

TIA,

Dave

 

Now that you mention it, my clock was set from the dealer one month ago. I looked today and it was 8 minutes fast.
I'm not sure it was not set that way in the first place, but will reset and let you know.

 

And strangely enough, I've noticed that mine is slow.... go figure.

A_Sr.

 

Mine has gained about 14 minutes since the end of April. Seems like a trend.


_Dave_

 

You know I hadn't noticed... I normally keep the clocks in my cars fast anyway... It's harder to be late for something that way...

 

Mine has stayed "dead on" since setting it to a similar "at the tone the time will be..." tone, about 4 months ago.

(cue the X-Files theme) - have you guys been having out-of-body experiences? Alien abductions? (If your alien captors screwed up their time-vortex calculations when trying to put you back, you could end up sitting in your MINI "before" the time that they grabbed you, and you would think your clock was slow.)

Seriously though I suspect "computer burps", whenever there is no UPS "power conditioning" system in place which would provide juice with no fluctuations up or down.

Wait, nevermind - we all have similar (flawless) electrics/electronics in our MINIs .

Tatt

 

I have found that mine drops about a minute a day. I set it off my mobile phone time (which they say is set off an atomic clock). At the end of a week I have to set it to the correct time because being 7 minutes late to work on monday is not a good thing. I was actually thinking of starting a thread to see if others had this problem. But seeing as its already been started and a few have had the same issue it might be time to see if the dealer can do anything about it. Another small issue for the books. If I didn't love the way the MINI drives these small issues would drive me nuts.

 

Aren't there European regulations governing this sort of thing? A fast clock could lead to speeding!

 

I am not surprised ... the clock now is part of the car computer system and not a separate "clock" module.
So time is now determined by the computer oscillators - which are simply not made to the same precision as those for clocks.
There should be some people with a fast clock, some with a slow clock, and a few with a quite accurate clock - but the spread from most fast to most slow is likely to be wider than a similar poll of pre-'05 clock checkers

For me, I have not looked at the clock in GBMINI#3; I leave it on trip all the time. I have a watch to tell the time - and it also gains, but maybe only a minute a month.

 

The clock in my '03 mini also runs fast and it is something that I think is simply inexcusable. I have trade show cheap digital watches that keep better time. Mine is off about 20 seconds a month.

Rich

 

I set my MINI's clock to UTC that's been coordinated via web, cell phone, and independent GPS-based IRIG B time code, back near the end of April. Just wanted to point out that the gain I reported is actual.


And by the way, wouldn't a fast clock help prevent speeding! A calculaed speed from distance over time would be higher than actual...

WAITAMINIT! Could our speedometer errors be related to our clock errors? I know my speedo reads about 5 to 10% high, and my clock is fast...

hmmm.

_Dave_

 

I really hope this post is a joke ... otherwise we will soon be complaining that alarm clocks don't corner properly

 

LOL That is so funny!

 

my clock just froze 2 weeks ago and stayed at the same time for a long while. I set it back correctly, and I found out that it is still slowing by the hours.

 

Besides, who cares, the clock is so small now that it's barely readable anyway... I don't feel as if the center speedo "takes my eyes away from the road" significantly, but hunting for that clock sure does.

 

And don't ya hate the 00:00 at midnight?

 

Nope, doesn't bother me in the slightest...

I agree with Chris, the location of the clock is truely it's worst "feature"

 

Seeing how I'm bored and all, I do have the time to post about the clock . I find myself wishing I had experienced the clock (location, location, location) in an older MINI. Then I would have standing to moan about the new location. They just did that to keep us buzzin' you know... (see several prior Tattman23 posts about our expectations being "managed" by MINI)...

Anyhow, they should have relocated the clock to where the current (2005) "SES" light is, and killed 2 birds with 1 stone - I would never risk looking away from the road to see if my "SES" was lit , and the (very useful) clock would be directly in my line-of-sight.

Oh well, I am an automotive interior decorator that got stuck being an I/T guy,
Tatt

 

Mine's pretty accurate but it has stopped twice. Just froze. I thought I was making REALLY good time before I realized! Restarting the car later put it back to the correct time. I just figgered...."British".

 

My clock (pick the worst pun):

runs like a clock

you could set your watch by it

is about time

is not why I bought a Mini

 

The clock on my '04 loses about a minute every two weeks...so not bad, but not exact - a little slow

 

I have rejected three MINIs due to this flaw. Hopefully my fourth one will keep better time.

 

Since I've not got my clock yet, my suggestion about time may be really off... but here goes:


If clock runs slow... drive faster.
If clock runs fast... not only did you get there on time, but you had a fun in the process!

I'll see if these ring true when I take delivery on Monday! :smile:

 

my clock runs really fast... it is supercharged afterall. i think it does 0-60 in about 6.5 seconds.

 

about 2 min fast per week. the dealership said to bring it in and they'll replace it. hopefully it'll be better.

as for the speedometer being off (up earlier in thread) I was told by the service dept that

"There is a 10% margin of difference between mechanical gauge and electronic display. This is built into the gauge to accomodate various tires/wheels that car can be outfitted with. This is normal."