I tried to have mine calibrated to help with a speeding ticket, only to find it's amost "impossible" since it's FWD and the speedo reads the rear wheels.

A rare (rare because of incredible expense) double roller calibration machine is needed, and there are none anywhere close to me in VA.

 

 

+1 for my speedometer being 2mph over, according to "Ms. Garmin."

 

Yea on my 06 MC i am off about 4mph at 70mph. If my speed reads 75 i really am only doing 71. And both the digital and the other. I think i may ask the dealer if they can fix. What RPM is anyone running at 70 in a MC???

 

my CVT runs about 2700 at 70, when in manual mode, about 3300, when in sport drive i really dont know (i tend to only use that when in need of a burse of power)

 

I will look at mine tonight and see what it runs on my way home form college.

Let you know

 

GPS is not accurate when measuring speed. I wouldn't trust that any more than I would a speedometer, which by the way can be noticeably off depending on the size of the tire and the tire pressure.

Try this. Set the car at a given speed (60 is the easiest...1 mile/minute) and time yourself with an accurate stopwatch between several mile markers (they aren't that accurate either but average out pretty good over say 10 miles or so). Then convert the (time)/(# of miles) into mph. Then you'll have an idea. Of course, it's only good at the speed you did the test at because at higher speeds the downforce on the car can change (weight changes the diameter of the tire), higher speeds tend to increase the diameter of the tire due to the higher centripetal force, etc...

 

Yeah... and don't forget that the Earth is moving as well, and then so is the solar system and then the galxy that the solar system is contained within.. So in reality, you're going a lot faster than your speedo states!

 

Yea i run right at 3300 in 5th in my MC at 70mph (manual) I will use a stop watch this wee to check the odo.

 

I have just decided to sell my MC because of the ridiculous answer that I have gotten from them in regards to the speedometer/odometer being off. I have calculated mine to be between 8% and 10% fast. This means that at 76 MPH, I am actually only going like 68 MPH so therefore the MPG is also overstated by that same amount.

I contacted my dealer and there answer was immediately 10% is within tolerance . So, I contacted MINI USA and they said the same thing and that there was nothing they could do about it.

This means that I am only getting 30MPH out of this car and since I have to run 91 octane this becomes more expensive to drive than many other cars in the same price range.

Is anyone else as frustrated by this problem as I am?

 

I would confirm your mileage by hand (fill up the tank, reset trip odometer, drive, fill up again, then divide the trip by the number of gallons to fill) before getting too worked up. The OBC mileage can be optimistic but I'm not sure that you can directly apply the 10% error to the mpg it reports.

 

I appreciate the advice and have done eactly that adn it shows that the OBD are incorrect by nearly 9% also. MINI confirmed that this also means that the odometer could be off too which means that my warranty is up sooner than it should be. It appears that MINI is using the inaccuracy to their advantage.

I have had multiple problems with this car, more than any that I have owned and it is a struggle to get the issues corrected.

It was sold to me as a fuel efficient vehicle that got 34MPG plus so I was okay with having to run 91 octane fuel with no ethanol but this is ridiculous.
It now costs more to drive this underpowered car than it does to drive say a V6 Mustang with 210 horsepower.

 

I can understand your disappointment. I would be very concerned about the odometer being inaccurate. From what I remember the speedometer is allowed to read higher than your actual speed but the tolerance for reading low is much smaller. The odometer is expected to be very accurate, independent of the speedometer.

As for the mileage... EPA estimates did not accurately reflect people's driving styles, hence the new estimates that have been implemented. Doesn't help much, I know, but unfortunately that's the way it is.

 

My Dec 06 build R50 has the +3 discrepancy according to those speed boards and my BT GPS unit.

 

You are talking about two different issues.
1. The OBC in my car also estimated the MPG high by about 10% but I still get 27 MPG is mixed driving (MCS).
2. The speed in my car is over estimated by about 3%, which is pretty good.


The two are not related. The OBC over estimation of MPG does not mean your odo is over measuring the miles.

 

My GPS, as well as those miles per hour signs I have in the neighborhood, shows my speed about 2-3 mph lower than the speedo. I just adjust for that when I drive, and add a few to the suggested limit.... around Minneapolis you will have a hard life trying to stay UNDER!

I figure about 3100 RPM when I'm up to 70 according to the speedometer.

My best highway mileage has been with the RPM's just below the 3K mark- 65 mph states do wonders for fuel economy.

But you all know this already.

 

A MINI Tech had told me that there is a 7% difference in the speedometer reading. ie - if your speedometer says you are doing 100, you are really doing 93.

 

Well, my service writer and Darlene from MINI USA both told me that the speedometer tolerance is 10% and that they cannot calibrate it any closer than that.

I really find that hard to belive because this is the only vehicle that I have encountered that with and believe me, we have owned a lot of vehicles .

I do love the car but do not trust the dealership as far as I can throw it.

 

+1 for my speedometer being 2mph over as well. Confirmed by multiple GPS units and the MPs . 2005 MCS

 

On every BMW I've owned the speedo reads about 7% high. MY '05 MCS (with 215/45 17 tires) is spot-on compared to GPS.

 

How did you calculate the speedo/odo error? GPS? Roadside mile markers?

FWIW, my speedo is within 1-2mph, but my OBC reads 11% high on average.

A cheaper alternative to selling the car (around here we pay 8+% sales tax) would be to get a wider/larger tire. This would offset the OEM calibration.

Assuming you have a Cooper with the 15" wheels
i.e.
175/65/15 = OEM
185/65/15 = +2.1%
195/65/15 = +4.3%
205/65/15 = +6.5%

 

mine says 62 when my GPS indicates 60...so about 3% off. My Mazdaspeed3 is right on the money

 

I think the dealer will/can do nothing. Most manufacturers will declare as much as +/-10% is within spec. One would think that a GPS based speedo might be the easiest solution to a problem that affects everyone to some degree

 

After much research, I have found out that the speedo and odometer are interconnected and no one can prove to me that the odometer is accurate, including MINI.

Also, as a side note there are a number of class action lawsuits in process against manufacturers for speedometer/odometer accuracy. Most are off by only 5% not the 10% that MINI claims is within tolerance.

There is simply no excuse for this except to manipulate percieved gas milage and reduce the time the car is under warranty.

MINI will do nothing to help.

 

Most people who have posted on the various speedometer inaccuracy threads here have done GPS tests against the speedometer and odometer and have found that the odometer is pretty accurate while the speedometer is pretty optimistic.

The speedometer test typically involves setting cruise control to maintain speed and comparing the instantaneous readout of the speedometer and the GPS. Here, the speedometer in the MINI usually reads pretty high.

The odometer test involves traveling a certain distance and comparing the GPS trip odometer to the odometer. My personal experience is that the two agree to less than 1% error after 10 miles of driving.

While I do agree that MINI's tolerance specs on the speedometer is high, I disagree that the odometer is likewise inaccurate, based on my own observations.