Hi there,

I'm searching for the best (functional/cosmetic) additional gauges on both tach sides.
In my case, the relevant info will be water temp gauge and oil pressure/temp gauge.
Boost gauge is not an option since my Cooper is not S

I could find only one brand and it seems it is the best on the market

2) ALTA MINI PERFORMANCE PROSPORT PREMIUM gauges




Experiences or comments?

 

After having a coolant problem that caused overheating, I would love to have a temp guage and maybe a volt meter as well.

 

http://www.cravenspeed.com/gauges-gauge-mounts/

 

Best? Yeah...

 

^What's that? It is awesome!

James

 

Totally agree with you and here the explanation!

I want just 2 gauges (no 1, no 3, just 2. Cosmetic reason)

I was thinking in:

Water Temp: Very important, you can detect a coolant leak.
Oil Pressure: Very important, you could detect an oil leak.
Volt Meter: Very important, you could detect an electrical issue.

I must choose two of these three gauges.

Any others are not critical for me (oil temp, fuel pressure, exhaust gas temp, air/fuel ratio, boost, etc).

Now, I'm searching for the hardware involved (signal senders) and I want to know how invasive it is, for the 3 cases (water, oil pressure, volt)

Why there is not a gauge company making OBDII adapters with ports (oil, water, volt, fuel, boost, etc) to take all the info and just plug and play my selected gauges?

Thank you for share your opinion !!!

 

If you want plug and play OBD2 then Cravenspeed Ngauge. There's a thread around here somewhere on that system.

If you want oil pressure then you'll need to install a sender and analog gauge. Craven has that too, plus the best mount system anywhere.

 

They do make the ScangaugeII that connects to the OBDII port. But it has its own display. A lot of people mount it just under the window switches, just in front of the cup holders. I know that not exactly what you want, but it does have the information you want, so I figured I'd let you know you have options.

 

Thanks for the info squawSkiBum.
I did not know about Cravenspeed Ngauge.
Maybe I was searching not only the oil, water, volt info, I'm impressed with the face plates and lights on the ProSport gauges hehe

 

Exactly Grizld700 maybe is not exactly what I want but it is very important to know that there is options.
Also I have not taken a decision yet.

Thank you very much for your comment!

 

AiM MXG.

Definitely not for everyone, but it will cost you at least close to $4k to run all the wires and sensors yourself. Easily more on top of $4k if you decide to have someone else do all the work for you.

 

Oil pressure and water temperature are super-handy. I'm a fan of the Scangauge II; there's a lot of great data and it fits perfectly on the dash trim to the left of the steering wheel.

 

This. Had mine there for 2 years now. Love it, packs a LOT of information into a tiny area. I have it set to read boost/vacuum, intake air temp, coolant temp, and oil temp. Its really easy to jump over to fuel rail pressure or voltage if you want to check that. I even managed to get the LCD to match the OEM lighting colors very well. Best part is, wiring is SO SIMPLE.

The aesthetics aren't the greatest, but having all the round gauges reading everything can get a little cluttered IMO.

 

This was made by opening the device and changing internal LEDs or another less invasive action?. Is there a button to change the LCD color to amber??
It would be great!

ProSport Premium gauges are the best in the cosmetic area, BUT invasive and many hardware and connections involved to get all working.
One of the reasons why it is not in my options is for the OEM LCD screen color (light green instead of amber).

 

Scangauge II has 64 different LCD color options that you can pick from in the menu. None of them perfectly match the interior lights, but some choices can get close enough to not be distracting. I'm usually looking at intake and coolant temp, boost, and horsepower (because it amuses me). Comparing the intake and outside air temps has been great for getting a good gauge on how hard that next dash is going to run.

All of it runs off of the OBDII port; I just ran the cable behind the steering column under the dash panel, so there's nothing particularly invasive. There are some great trip computer functions; the hyper milers swear by them for helping improve their mileage by coaching their driving style. You can also read and clear most engine fault codes and a bunch of other random functions. All in all, it has been a fantastic addition to the cabin.

 

Whatever happened to the stainless steel shifter **** Craven used to sell for $100?

 

krashlocke & blunderbird:

Guys, no comments for you. Just a big THANK YOU for you, so now I'm sure that Scangauge II is what I NEED over what I WANT.

Doing a deeper research, I could find information about the LED color option (really I did not know) and also I found that it can be programmed for 2007+ MINI additional functions!

This is not all, I could see pictures where I can cover my cosmetic problem:



As I said before, I think I have no doubts. I found what I NEED to take additional care for my MINI.

 

Instead of the Scangauge, consider an OBD2 - Bluetooth adapter and the Torque app on your phone. Does everything the Scangauge does and way more, for a fraction of the price.

 

squawSkiBum, that's a great info!

Thank you for sharing it, I will be checking for that too

 

glad to be of assistance. I originally wanted to go the full baller gauge route, but after seeing the price vs the Scangauge simply couldn't justify it. My car started throwing a thermostat code shortly after I bought it, and I needed to buy a code reader anyway.

Personally, I wouldn't mount it down low like that, its too far out of your line of sight. Next to the tach, its very easy to do a quick vital check on EVERYTHING.

 

Improved upon and replaced by our new **** design.

 

Yes, I was thinking on that yesterday. Additionally there is another problem, since I'm all the time updating the music in my flash drive (the usb port is there!).
There is no way, it can't be installed there.

I will be checking supports o something to be installed next to the tach.

Thank you again!

 

if adding dials ... look at what was on the Cooper and S of old



Oil pressure is a must add if you are going to add
(hmmmmmm does SCANG' report this??????)

and the other thing the classic had was water temp ......

if I was going to add another I'd go to AMPS .... one could argue VOLTS but either way you would want to see your electric's performance.

My current daily driver has water temp and oil temp and I find this redundant.

 

This is what I use daily. It's DashCommand ODB software running on my Samsung 5 phone with an OBDLink MX Bluetooth adapter.
What's showing is RPM, MPH, gear, water temp, volts, intake air temp, and fuel level.
There are 5 other gauge sets you don't see.
It's easy to see, comprehend and I can change screens with a simple touch without my hand coming off the wheel.
It will support an addon oil pressure gauge which is not available in the car's OBD.

-Mike
2014 MCSa 2 door

sorry - having trouble controlling text width :(

 

Thank you Mike!
I'm searching for a "dedicated" interface, since I'm using my cell all the time with others apps (GPS, etc).

But ... it would be great ... a wireless Scangauge (maybe "Scangauge3")