I think the tachometer on the Mini looks like an afterthought and is also difficult to read through the steering wheel. I'm curious if anyone has experience with what it takes to remove it and whether or not that creates any negative electrical impacts?

 

welcome to MCO!
1st post!
i think you may get flamed for this one!

 

There's always one in every crowd. OK what are we going to put there instead?

 

crome, welcome to MCO!

Your perception of the tachometer being an afterthought is almost spot-on. The reason for putting the tach on the column stems from early hot-rodding days when draggers needed to be able to see the tach easier, rather than looking over at the dash (kinda like the speedo position in the MINI today), so they put the tach on the steering column! It really was an afterthought, by definition.

My question is, why mess with hot-rodding heritage? MINI Motorers tend to be free-spirited and enthusiastically accept artistic impressions (of course I'm generalizing here, narf). I love the MINI's column-mounted Tach; I think it's way cool stuff. I wouldn't want to move it for the World! (hmmm, did Dr. Evil say something? hmm.....)

Cheers,
Ryan

 

Welcome to MCO, crome!

Along the lines of what Ryephile explained, I got some really incredulous compliments about the tach (and speedo, since I have the NAV) being mounted on the column. Basically they said, "Wow, did it really come from the factory like that?!" pointing at the gauges.

Although I actually like it, I really find the tach information too useful to think about getting rid of it for aesthetics. I'm also curious whether you have the CVT or a stick? Even with the CVT I am looking at the tach at least as much as the speedo - maybe more!

Sorry this doesn't answer your actual question.

 

I do have the CVT and wasn't actually planning on replacing it with anything. I'm contemplating what it might look like with no obstruction between the steering wheel and dash.

 

I kind of regret my earlier post because it probably came across too harsh. Here's where I'm really coming from. I drove a hotted up Mini 850 in the 60's and the speedo is exactly where it is today. The only place to put a tach was where BMW put ours. This car that we both/all have is an almost perfect recreation of those early days. The focus is on the tach and, if we leave our radios off, the result can be heard under the bonnet and felt in the seat of the pants!

 

Pardon me if I'm being too nebby, but I'm still curious about a couple things... (it stems from my trying to understand why you would want to sacrifice the information that you can get from the tach)

Have you put many miles on your MINI yet? Have you been enjoying the "Sport" and "Steptronic" modes of the CVT? Do you like to go fast in your MINI?

I ask these questions because the CVT redline can easily be reached when going full throttle. That's one reasone I like to keep an eye on it. Others are that I like to see what's going on if I feel a burble or any hesitation. I like to know what is happening when I'm idling at a red light. I like to see what the CVT is doing with the RPMs as I accelerate and decelerate.

I guess I just like to keep a close eye on my RPMs. Maybe I'm just an information junkie. (...I do monitor computer networks.)

Anyhow, I'm sure someone else can answer your question about the electonics. My suspicion is that it won't hurt anything, but wouldn't say I'm an authoritative source.

_________________

 

here's your imagination, materialized!


Cheers,
Ryan

btw, none of the warning lights would be active, and I'm not sure if that would screw up the computer or not (probley!)

 

Good point about the warning lights, Ry! Those slipped my mind.

 

Wow that was quick with the photoshop. Now all you need to do is go find a classic mini dash and superimpose it. We'd have a full width "parcel shelf" starting where the passenger airbag is and extending over to the drivers side. C'mon someone can do this!

 

That just looks.... naked. Ugh. I could never live without a tach... its the most important guage, in my opinion. Besides, I like having the Temp/Projected distance/consumption/ave. mph right there in front of me.

 

I love my tach, but if you are driving a CVT, i can see how you would think it wouldn't be needed... I just wish it was a tad smaller, The top part is cut off when I'm in a comfortable position...

Rocketboy_X

 

One reason you may be having trouble seeing the tach through the wheel is that you may have your "tilt" adjusted wrong. Just a thought.
Cheers

 

>>One reason you may be having trouble seeing the tach through the wheel is that you may have your "tilt" adjusted wrong. Just a thought.


It's tilted as high as it'll go... but apparentally i'm not the only one who felt this is a slight annoyance, the woman at MINI who asked me what i'd change said she's heard it from quite a few people...

Rocketboy_X

 

What it seems has helped for me is lowering the seat. I'm 6' tall and have relatively little problem seeing either the tach or speedo (I have the NAV).

I would imagine that since placing both gauges offsets them from the apex of the steering wheel, that it they should theoretically be even more obstructed than a centered tach. But, then again, maybe the offset helps because of the the angle that you view them.... Dunno.

I guess that someone with a relatively long torso might still have more trouble seeing even with the lower seat position.

Hope this helps, but it sounds like you've already battled with this on your own for a while, so maybe not.

 

>>Hope this helps, but it sounds like you've already battled with this on your own for a while, so maybe not.

Ya, i've been around the block a few times ... But I like my seat cranked up, because it adds a little tilt to the whole seat assembly, and when it's tilted all the way up/foward, the seat really hugs my back...

Rocketboy_X

 

the tach or tach/speedo cluster comes off with a simple bolt connection to the top of the column. If the harness is re-routed, you might be able to re-locate the tach.

 

My interest is related to this thread, so I'm adding it here rather than starting a new one.

I'm 6'1", have the seat all the way down, and the steering wheel tilted down to be comfortable for my arm position. In this setup, I have a hard time reading the top forth of the tachometer (no nav system).

I believe the nav cluster would help alleviate this issue as the pods sits closer to the centerline of the steering wheel, off the top of the arc. I haven't been able to verify this yet. If this is the case ...

Does anyone know if one could unplug the standalone tach., and plug in the nav tach/speedo cluster? I'd be interested in running BOTH the center speedomter and the nav steering wheel pod speedo at the same time? They are electronic, so it is possible. I just can't tell for sure without seeing a schematic.

I suppose another option would be to somehow lower the mounting of the standalone tach to get it more into my line of site.

 

>>I think the tachometer on the Mini looks like an afterthought and is also difficult to read through the steering wheel. I'm curious if anyone has experience with what it takes to remove it and whether or not that creates any negative electrical impacts?


yes i have removed mine twice and here is how you do it.

1) tilt the steering wheel down in the lowest of settings..

2) take a T tool and take the two screws out at the base rear of the tachometer

3)unplug the green harness on the bottom

if you need more help, PM me and i will give you more details, but thats the jist of it.

here is my finished product

 

hope the info helped :smile: