Hi all. I was out motoring in my MINI today with my GPS stuck to the windshield, when I punched up my GPS indicated speed. I was shocked to find the speedo reading quite a bit higher than what the GPS said. Thinking MAYBE my GPS was off, I hooked up a 2nd GPS in my MINI. Motoring down the road, feeling like quite the nerd with 2 GPS units going, I realized that my speedo is quite a bit off. Below is the data I collected; Indicated------------GPS ----30----------------26 ----35----------------32 ----40----------------37 ----45----------------41 ----50----------------46 ----55----------------50 ----60----------------55 ----70----------------65 ----75----------------70 Anybody else come up with anything close to this? My MINI is basically stock, with the original size 175/65R15 tires on the 15" Spooler rims.
Yepper, mine gives the same numbers. I just went to 195/60R15 tires and it corrected one MPH. I have the scan guage above my rev counter and it will allow you to adjust the mph read out up or down to get a true reading. I use that and don't put the speed in the window anymore. Jim
Thanks, you just answered another question for me. I wanted to put a little bit bigger tire on my MINI next year, and now I know what size to go with! I'll have to borrow my brother's scan gauge and try it out. HA!! I usually drive 5 over the posted limit, and now I know why everyone has been running up behind me so quick!
It works very well for me. I keep RPM & MPH on the left side and water temp and intake air on the right. Easy to glance at without taking your eyes to far off the road. I do the five over thing too and thought the same thing until I learned it was the speedo. Jim
They get in real trouble if the error is the wrong way.... But when I was having OBC problems with gas mileage calculations, the SA at Mini of Mountain View gave me a copy of speedo error stuff. They can correct it but it's corporate policy to not do it if the error is relatively small, like less than 7 MPH or 10% whichever is smaller. Matt
Sure. I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it with how I did it. Made my own mount for a total of about $4.50. Matt, I just adjust the scan guage mph read out to match the GPS. The speedo can do what ever it wants. I know it is a silly thing, but I really like to see the correct speed and this works well for me. Jim Jim
Mine is in the same place. I like the Craven Speed mount and think their stuff is well made and well thought out, but the price tag on the mount for the scan guage was a bit high for me. Jim
I think I will stop in and see if I can get the dealer to adjust it, if that is possible. I would think it has to be, being electronic. I know you can use a SpeedHealer on my bike to adjust the speedo on it (Honda ST1300). the price of $4.50 is a lot more enticing! I agree - I really want the speedo to be accurate.
Mine reads in kilometers, so by the time I convert to MPH, then make the adjustment for the tires, and the % the speedo is off, I'm in a different speed zone:lol: I think it is a Euro law that speedos read highut: Mark
Now that I have the scan guage in place, I don't care anymore. It can say what ever it wants to and make it feel better about its self. I'm not sure what that would be a law in Europe. I did not think any drivers over there even looked at the speedo. :lol: Jim
Hey Jim...... Don't let opportunities go to waste. You can now use that big spedo face as a picture frame for you favorite horse.
Whats even weirder is that diff GPS's will give you diff results. I just upgraded from a Garmin 1260 to a 1490. The 1260 had me about 1-2 MPH faster than the speedometer and the 1490 has me 2-3Mph
Hummm, might be something to think about. Actually, as big as that thing is, I found it hard to really use. The angle and how far I have to turn my head from the road did not work well for me. The gas guage and idiot lights is all I look at. One would think, but there must be a slight delay, depending on where you are. I know there are some odd places where the XM drops the signal for a short time. Jim
I noticed this when I bought my first Garmin, since mine is now "hard" mounted, I just look at the Garmin to check my speed.... Don't bother taking it to the dealer to have it corrected, unless it's wildly off, they won't touch it, and even if they do all they'll do is change the speedo head, the new one could be worse! And even tho it's been written about many times, I still find it hard to believe that they can't/won't make it more accurate. None of my Audis, Porsches or VW's had this much speedo error, in fact my Audis have always been dead on. So I call BS excuse on BMW here...... Tim, my 1490T reads slightly different than my old 660, but only 1 mph - and it may even be less than that as sometimes it matches what the 660 used to say...IOW, the 660 used to read 70 at the MINIs indicated 73, the new one reads 70 at indicated 72, but sometimes it reads 70 at 73 too.