What "color" are the gauge faces in the pics?

If Outmotoring makes a true anthracite version, I'd be interested (even with the logo).

 

I think it's unanimous, given a choice everybody would prefer no logo. Charge $10 more for no logo and most people will gladly pay it.

Which settings? The regular dealer programmable options or anything interesting we may not know about?

 

That does depend.. I mean.. I can't afford a $500 set of art. (Unless it's an animation cel, but..)

Nah, nothing special. Just the dealer-programmable ones. If I had more time, I woulda snuck around, see what I could have found.

 

Are you gona post pics of mine yet, or what?

 

Heh! I won't have 'em until I do the Speedo too. Once I get that finished, you'll have pics! Even night ones!

 

Grrrr. I cant wait

 

As a side note, ImagoX - please tell me - are the red ticks on the Gas/Temp guage still red? Or are they simply white, like everything else? Please, please tell me that they're white.

 

Yes, the red ticks are still red. That's controlled by the LEDs in the housing and not the face plate. Everyhting is still exactly the same color - again because the LEDs control the color and not the plate. There IS an issue with the 2 "extra" red-line LEDs not being illuminated however (on a stock car, the red-line glows at 6.5k but there are hash marks and disabled LEDs at 5.5k - a dealer can activate them at your request). On the OEM faceplate, you almost can't notice that those "extra" hash marks do not light up (I never noticed, anyway), but with the replacement faces the "missing" LEDS are very obvious, due to the Outmotoring gauges' brighter lighting scheme. Unless Aaron makes some edits to the hash marks, you will notice the "missing" glow, but it in no way affects the functionality of the gauges. I thought about having the dealership activate the extra red-line LEDs, but I'm not sure of that has any performance implacations as far as the rev limiter or in inlg-term error reporting (I know the ECU records the number of times you hit the red line for example).

Sorry to not shoot night shots yet - it gets down to like 9 degrees at night in Ohio lately, and I'm too cold to set up the tripod, get everything metered, shoot multiple angles, etc. I promise just as soon as it warms up even a LITTLE bit I'll shooot them. I will say that the gauges look AWESOME in the dark.


The faces I were given to test install are a flat (non-metallic) dark gray with white numerals - looks inspired by the instruments in the GP to me, but as I've never actually SEEN a GP in person I can't say how they compare to that product (keep in mind though that you cannot order a OEM dark gray face fro MINI unless you have a GP VIN number.).

The numbers feature a font that's really crisp and clean and that *I* think looks wonderfully "retro". Since the gauges do not have kph indicators, the manufacturer could put in mph numbers at every 10-mph interval (OEM uses numerals every 20 mph with a plain hash mark between), which I like MUCH better than the OEM gauge. The tach and speedo also have more hash marks than the OEM gauges, which makes them more impressive when illuminated, I think.

The logo is a lighter gray - I think it's very subtle and actually looks much more obvious in the photos. Installed, you stop seeing it almost immediately. The logo does NOT illuminate. I know that Outmotoring always planned to do multiple colors, but I do not know what those colors were. I don't know if they plan to do a true anthracite (which IIRC is a metallic color), but I agree that would be very cool.

 

Sorry, this is actually incorrect - while there ARE red LEDs behind them, on the STOCK faces, they are also FILTERED red. If you look at the back of the face you took off, you'll see them colored red. (You can NOT tell by looking at the front of the stock OEM gauge face.) These two hash marks are the *ONLY* 'colored' markes on BOTH guages. (And yes - you make a point in the fact that there ARE red LEDs behind them, which makes you wonder why they were colored in in the first place.)

I don't have a scan of my stock faces, but will snap a shot tonight to show the red coloring.

Interesting. Many people have an issue with this. I don't, personally.. For those that don't like them, they are easy to get to light up like the rest of the dash - use a small dremel and tear out the light wall on the white facia behind the faceplate. That'd let the dash color in. (Not between the other red tic marks tho, then you'll get red bleeding into it as well..!)

Sorry to not shoot night shots yet - it gets down to like 9 degrees at night in Ohio lately, and I'm too cold to set up the tripod, get everything metered, shoot multiple angles, etc. I promise just as soon as it warms up even a LITTLE bit I'll shooot them. I will say that the gauges look AWESOME in the dark.




The faces I were given to test install are a flat (non-metallic) dark gray with white numerals - looks inspired by the instruments in the GP to me, but as I've never actually SEEN a GP in person I can't say how they compare to that product (keep in mind though that you cannot order a OEM dark gray face fro MINI unless you have a GP VIN number.).

No rush on the night shots - I know others here will wanna see them as well. I wasn't even sure if you were allowed to, being test pieces. I LIKE the retro look, considering I'm going to be getting a classi this spring, and thing it'd match the classic's gauges better.

Cheers!
Me.

 

I agree that the font is incredible. Only problem is that I drive into Canada alot. I need to know kph.

 

Iiiiiinteresting... I did not notice that. I checked the LEDs with the face off and saw that they did not light up at all, so I figured that they were also red.

So... are you saying that the "non illuminating" LEDs are orange and get filtered to red, or are they, in fact, red LEDs?

Either way, the mising LED illumination does show up at night (as the photos will show), but I personally think that it's worth it given how nice they look in the daytime. For ME, it would not be worth Dremelling out the white surface of the tach just to get a bit more light (at least, I don't THINK so)... Others may disagree.

 

On the Tach, actually, they ARE red. (So are the Red ticks for Gas and Temp.)

On the "6" hash mark, you'll see that it's orange like the rest of the dash. However, when that RED light is on, it overpowers the orange, so it appears red(*). The tick marks below (<6k) are lit up by red as well, they just don't have an orange to light them up when the reds aren't on. (Which is why I mentioned that if you used a knife or dremel to take off the light walls on the facia to let the orange light in, that would fix your issue..)

Now what's odd is that the red ticks for Gas and Temp are set up the same way - so they show orange until the red LED goes on behind it. What's different on that is that the ticks are also colored red. (Why? Again, I have no idea. It was a waste of ink, and makes it hard to someone like me, who has a green dash, to have green ticks there. Or blue, etc. If you look in my gallery at the lit pictures of my dash, on the speedo you can see the 'dim green' Low Fuel and High Temp hashes.)

I've spent way too much time with my dash apart, it appears. I'm REALLY jealous of the newer models, that have dual-color FTM and Oil lights!

(*) - You can run the gauge test in the maintenance menu - when you do, you'll see it light up ALL of your hash marks. Even if they're not normally lit!

Again, I don't mind the black ticks, so I won't and haven't done any of that.

 

Here's some teaser shots - they should suffice until I can get my tripod out...

 

Looks empty, different. Cool.

 

Nice pictures Matt. How about one with the warning lights on?

 

wow...looks empty, like something is really missing. I guess I just like things that are busy, not simple. Either way, looks decent. Still not a fan of the OutMotoring logo, that is what really kills it for me.

 

here are the 2 different face plates side by side....totally different styles, retro and modern. Both seem to be done well, just comes down to perference and personal style.

 

I just ordered the CS ones in black from Helix today.

 

Hmm it does look kinda empty. Personally I like it with all the "idiot lights" inversed. Doesn't look as busy as OEM but not as empty as OutMotoring. I also HIGHLY dislike the OutMotoring logo and prefer the OEM font. Quality seems great though, on quality.

Also, @ Outmotoring: you should work on the diffusement patterns, some light leaks out to the "idiot lights" on the bottom and it seems theres a couple hashmarks unlit at the top (between 70-80)

 

Woo Hoo, I know you would jump on board soon enough Too bad I am not there to lend a hand with your install, haha.

 

lend a hand? I'd sit back and watch the master work

 

 

MAN it's cold outside... Sorry about the slightly blurred tach shot, but I was bent like a contortionist in the back seat with the tripod literally between my thighs - I think the shivering moved the camera.

A little extra mood lighting...



Speedo and tach...



Speedo and tach no extra cabin lighting...



Just the tach... I assure you that the hash marks at the red line are indeed RED. Also, note that even though the "extra" red-line hash marks are not directly back-lit, a small bit of extra glow does seep into them. This is the only drawback to the brighter lighting scheme the faces offer - the more holes they have, the brighter they can be, but the extra "windows" are in front of a few places where there's solid plastic behind them, not LEDs.

 

your temp and fuel needles are not lighting up, the lower tabs are blocking the LEDs behind them that illuminate the needle bases. I had the same issue with my CD face plates...I cut the tabs at the middle of the holes, now they light up like OEM, and the plate stays in place like it should....no issues.

Otherwise, they look nice illuminated...illumination is pretty much the same as the CD versions....which is also close to OEM.

thanks for getting the shots up despite the cold.

 

I too thought they looked kinda boring, but they look awesome when lit up must be all those extra dash marks