Has anyone changed the faceplate for their speedometer & tach? If so what tips can you provide? Indicator needle removal??
It may help if you tell people what model car you have...... I have done both on my r53 and it is easy if you pay attention.
Sorry, I thought by looking at my Gallery it would be obvious. Both are R-56's. One an '09 Cooper and one a '11 Cooper "S".
If you do plan to switch out the faceplates.... You might also consider replacing the plastic lenses with InvisiLens from Fes Auto..... InvisiLens - Anti-Reflective Lens Kits for the Mini Cooper
I have looked and many Forums and suppliers and the needles are different in as much as the stem that goes into their respective units. If I can just slit the new face (assuming it is a thick vinyl) then it should not to tough to do. Removing the face could be a whole new can of snakes! Stay tuned
I happen to have a spare set of R56 tach and speedo (purchased off eBay), which I used for developing the InvisiLens product. The R56 speedo needle is more firmly attached than on the R50/R53 instruments, but otherwise it came off without a problem when I pulled up with enough force, using just my fingers. However the R56 tach needle (I don't know if it's just the one I have) is very firmly attached and wouldn't budge even when I tried to pry it up with a screwdriver. I eventually gave up because I was afraid that it would break if I applied more force.
Could you see the tach needle shaft? Did it look like the speedo needle that you managed to get off? Did you pull straight off to get the speedo needle off or did you wiggle it a bit? Do you think the factory puts some sort of adhesive on the needle stems or are they a taper fit?
Not to worry, some folks have nothing but dead air in their "Galleries" and it would be an easy mistake. I should have posted the model numbers. It appears that these guys offer a speedo face is correct for the R-55 and that has the same numbering as the 2011+ R-56's. Their R56 only goes to 150mph. http://www.heiler-tachodesign.de/Speedometer-Disc-Mini-R55-MPH-to-KMH
I took some photos. The speedo pointer pulled straight off. No adhesive. This is opposite of my experience with R50/R53 gauges, where the pin stays attached to the motor, and the pointer hub slides off. Here, the pin remains attached to the pointer and slides out at the motor end. I tried the same with the tach, but it wouldn't budge at all, even when prying up with a screw driver. I popped off the cap and needle, and still couldn't get the hub piece off. It seems to be the same design and construction as the speedo, but something must be different at the motor end. I've seen others post about having having difficulty with it. On the NAM forum, you were interested in reducing the illumination brightness. Here you can see that the gauge face is thin and flexible, and it would be easy to insert tinted film behind the face, even without removing the needle.
Excellent explanation and photos!! Do you think that there is enough room under the needle, between the needle base and the speedo face, to slip another face on and not have interference?? Did removing the needle from its base require tools or did it just pull straight up? In the photos, is the R-56 on top set and the R-53 is the bottom set of photos? Thanks again!!
There is 1 to 2 mm space, but it wouldn't work well unless the cutouts for lighting on the two faces match exactly. No tools, just fingers as shown. All photos are R56. The first 4 are speedo. the others are tach.
RKW: Thanks so much for all the info It would be great to find a junk tach to try to dismantle for maybe $20, but I am not going to hold my breath. Once I get this job done I will Post photos. Stephen
Keep a watch on eBay (where I got a good price on mine). Make a $20 offer on this currently for sale: 07-10 08 09 Mini Cooper Tach Tachometer Instrument Cluster 2007 2008 2009 #2726 | eBay
Terrible background! I made a few offers but judging by the immediate response the seller wants full price. I put a bid on another one and the response was "Considering" so we will see:fingerscrossed:
I assume you aren't going to actually use the eBay R56 tachometer, just to pry on the needle??? If it helps out, I would give you $20.00 for the plastic housing if it's the one that includes the red light bar (anti-thief) and it's not cracked and in good shape???