I have been asked by several fellow NAM’ers to describe the work involved in installing a V1 remote display into a gauge as I have done for my MINI V1 install. I’ve finally found the time to write it up for those who might have interest in trying this project themselves. My original install used an Autometer gauge installed in the E-pod column mount along with an Autometer boost gauge, and I only took a couple of pics of that work. Recently I re-did my gauge, installing it in a Stewart-Warner gauge as part of my work to install the factory column-mounted boost/electrical gauge accessory. I re-did it simply because I wanted the V1 gauge bezel to exactly match the “factory” S-W boost gauge bezel. I took a few more pics with that job since I knew there was interest in how this was done.

First, a few comments about this project. You will see that a V1 remote does not actually “fit” into a 2 1/16 inch gauge. I’m sure that people using 2 5/8 inch gauges will have an easier time with this job. With a 2 1/16” gauge you need to determine before you start if you will have enough clearance behind the panel that the gauge installs for the project to work. You may also have to assemble the gauge as you install it. On my E-pod I was able to assemble the gauge on the bench and then install it in the pod, but with the factory pod I had to assemble it as I installed it in the pod prior to installing the pod in the car. If you’re using any gauge bigger than 2 /16” this does not apply. Also, de-soldering and soldering on a surface-mount PC board, and filing a PC board to reduce it’s size, which is part of the project, risks damaging the V1 remote beyond repair, a risk assumed if you decide to take this on.

I’ll include pics to describe most of the work as I describe it, all of the pics plus some others are in my personal gallery.

Unscrew the two small Torx screws (#6 I think) and disassemble the V1 case. The back pops off. You won’t need the back any more once you’re finished. The PC board is held into the face of the remote with a few barbed latches and just pops out with a little pressure. Remove the PC board, and make sure that you don’t lose the little clear light diffuser that’s trapped between the board and the display face. The second time I took mine apart I glued this piece into the face so I wouldn’t lose it.

You have to trim the PC board to the smallest size you can get it down to for a clean install to work. From the display side of the PCB, trim the right side corners down to the circuit traces, rounding them off in the process. If you cut into the circuit traces, throw the PCB away and get another one. I used a Dremel with a sanding drum and a fine grade sandpaper. On the left hand side, it’s a little more complicated. First remove the rubber mute button cover by pulling it out of the 2 holes holding it on. De-solder the RJ11 connector from the back of the PCB. Now closely examine the PCB traces, you can find the traces going to the mute button pads that use of the most of the left side of the PCB. Also, you will (luckily) discover 2 holes in the PCB that can be followed to mute pads. These 2 holes will be used to connect new mute button wiring. You must make sure to leave all of the circuit traces intact, and remove only the edge of the board used for the on-board mute button. Use a razor saw or something similar to cut the PCB down and then round off the corners. A razor saw is basically a fine saw a little thicker than a hobby knife, and can be bought at a hobby shop. You’ll end up with a significantly smaller PCB than what you started with.

When done it looks like this compared to original:



Now that the PCB is cut down to size, you need to add back the mute button and RJ11 connections to the board. You don’t have to use the remote mute button, the V1 main unit mute button will still function. It’s your call. I originally had my remote connected to my Ian’s auto-up garage door switch, but I now use the MFSW buttons on the steering wheel. But that’s a whole different project! I terminated the button wiring with a small Molex connector, so changing the remote mute button does not involve any work with the installed gauge. I used some 2 conductor wire for the mute connection.

Take some small gauge stranded wire of your choice and solder it to the mute circuit holes. Strip back the loose ends to test it in a few minutes. Decide how much wire you need to run into the car to reach the V1 power module with a phone cord. Take a 4 conductor phone cord, cut off one of the RJ11 connectors and strip it back. Look closely at the phone cord before you start. Many phone cords today are only 2 conductor, and you will need a 4 conductor for the V1 interface. Take the RJ11 jack you removed from the PCB and match the phone cord wiring to the PCB solder pad connectors, and solder the RJ11 phone cord to the PCB. I made a judgment error here, and put an inline RJ11 connector on the end of my phone cord to match the female RJ11 jack in the V1 remote. Just make the phone cord long enough to reach the V1 power supply and it will plug right in, simplifying things a bit. Once the RJ11 cord is soldered to the PCB, you can plug it into your V1 setup and verify that everything’s wired up right. If the remote lights up, and the mute button functions when you touch the 2 stripped wires together (use it to change modes), you’re set to go on. If there’s a problem you’ll need to debug all of your work up to now. The second time I was doing this I decided to cover the RJ11 phone wire connections on the PCB with a little 5 minute epoxy to eliminate any possibility of wire movement breaking loose any of the solder connections because they’re pretty small and fragile. Once you do that, however, it can’t be undone. I also covered everything with some shrink tubing to create a single cable to snake through the steering column.

Here's the wiring soldered to the board:







Now the gauge work begins. You have to gut a gauge of your choice. Both times I used a voltmeter gauge because it’s the cheapest sacrificial gauge to buy. Most gauges now are units sealed from the bezel side, and aren’t really designed to be opened by the consumer. You have to open the gauge from the back, making sure that it will go back together. Autometer gauges are easier in this regard than the S-W gauges. The Autometer gauges leave the small installation studs attached to case when you remove the back, but the S-W gauge studs come off with the back. I used the studs to bolt the Autometer case back together, but I had to use zip ties to reassemble the S-W gauge case. Determine the thickness of the case back panel, and saw it off using a razor saw or the thinnest saw you can find. At this point on the S-W case I drilled two small holes in the case sides for the zip ties, lined up with the stud holes, since I knew I needed them to hold the back in place when reassembling the gauge.

Here's some gauge disassembly pics:





Once the back of the case is off, the insides of the gauge can be gutted. The guts may even have come out attached to the back piece if you didn’t need to take anything loose to use the saw. Just remove anything that comes out with the gauge workings and leave everything else intact. They’ll be lots of little plastic bits inside the case from your saw work. I blew mine out with air. Next you need to start getting the V1 case to fit into the gauge. This is when you learn that the V1 remote isn’t going to fit completely inside the 2 1/16” gauge case. Snap the PCB back into the face of the V1 remote. Remove a small section of the side of the case to let the V1 face sit inside. I cut out a piece just wide enough for the face to slide in, through a slow fitting and trimming process. Now trim the V1 face so that it’s the same size as your slimmed down PCB. I used the Dremel sanding drum again. Round off the right hand side of the face to fit inside the case centered in the case. You will not have a lot of room to allow everything in the display to appear through the face of the gauge. I trimmed the face to allow most of the directional arrows and all of the signal strength LEDS to show through the face. Keep slowing trimming, fitting, and looking till you like what you see. Since I have only done this with the smaller 2 1/16” gauge, I’m not sure exactly what you need to do for a larger gauge. I’ll guess you only need to get the face positioned in the gauge to look good before the next step.

Pics of these steps:









Now you have a round gauge opening and a somewhat rectangular V1 face. You need to build some kind of filler to match the two together. I used some black picture matte board to construct mine. It’s easy to cut and work with, is a pretty good match to the V1 plastic, fairly cheap, and fairly easy to find. I cut out several circles of material that would fit snugly inside the gauge case. Then, with an Xacto knife and a metal straight-edge, carefully cut out a rectangular opening for the V1 face to sit in. Again, it’s a fit and trim process, and I threw away a couple of my first tries until I was happy with the way it looked. You might also be able to cut some “half circle” pieces to fit on each side of the V1 remote. Once you’ve got one made you like, you’ll probably have to cut a few more. The V1 remote has a small curve to it’s surface, so it won’t fit flush against the glass with one layer of matte board. So you’ll need to make a “sandwich” of pieces to get a little assembly that will hold the V1 face inside the gauge case looking the way you want. With the Autometer mine was three layers thick, but for the S-W case I had to go five layers. The cut matte board has white edges, so I blacked the white out with a black Sharpie pen.

Here's what that looks like:





Now all of the pieces are ready to assemble. Insert the little sandwich into the case and slide the V1 face in. Line everything up so that it’s all looking good. On the S-W gauge I decided to put a few drops of glue down to hold the sandwich in position (I actually did this after spending a frustrating 30 minutes trying to put everything in place in the pod and nothing would stay in place). Let the glue set.

You can also see one of the holes I had to drill for the zip-tie reassembly:



If you decide you have to assemble the gauge as you install it, install the case at this point into the panel or pod. Next unsnap the face from the PCB, slip the face into position in the case, and put a few drops of glue in. Let the glue set. After the glue is set, snap the PCB in place. I routed the wires out through the lighting hole in the sawn-off back piece. Now cut a few pieces of foam (anything foamy will work, it just needs to be a little soft) to stuff inside the case to hold the sandwich/face/PCB assembly tight inside the case. Reattach the back and cinch/screw it down tight.

Now all you have to do it plug in the remote RJ11 into the power module, and connect the mute wires to the mute button of your choice. Again, here I terminated my wires with a Molex connector, and currently my mute is activated with the MFSW radio buttons. I can mute the V1 by tapping any of the "backside" buttons without taking my hands off of the wheel. I'm posting a second post on some of that info.

I hope that the combination of photos and text can help anyone trying this project for their MINI. It takes a lot of time and effort from start to finish, and it's not for the faint of heart, but if this style of remote V1 display is what you’re looking for, this is what it takes to get one installed.

I just realized I only have a pic of the original E-Pod install in my gallery:



I haven't taken any of my installed gauge in the factory column pod.. I'll take a pic today and add it to this post.

Good Luck!
Larry

 

Sweet setup man, I'd be scared as hell to cut that thing up.

 

Great job on the writeup! Definitely an involved project, but it looks trick! I look forward to the next writeup on how to use the MFSW to mute the V1!

 

Freakin' sweet!

I really like that set up.

 

Thats awsome set up. I just saw this deal on the VWVortex boards a guy did a similar set up in his A3, yours is even better though. Awsome work!

 

How to fit a square peg in a round hole ! DAM, your good. I congradulate you.

 

OctaneGuy, I wrote that up an another post here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=67097

It describes how to add extra switches to a 2-spoke wheel. It's a general deal for the steering wheel. In that post I didn't get into the details of what steering wheel switch I used. I have an '02 non-MFSW car. I've always liked that '03-'04 "thumbgrip" wheel, and I've always thought I could figure something out to get the mute switch installed on the wheel. But at MY dealer the wheel is $370, the MSFW buttons are over $100, and the MFSW slip ring is $150... Adds up to way too much money to swap it out. I was going to use a small transmitter/receiver setup, but never had the time to design something.

Anyway, about a month ago I stumbled across the newer steering wheel on Ebay, and it included the MSFW switches. Perfect condition, $175 shipped to my house. I considered it a smoking deal. When it arrived I noticed the horns used 2 pins on a 4-pin connector, so I decided to try & hack the non-MFSW slip ring in my car before buying a MFSW slip ring, and got 2 extra connections out of it (see the other post). Then I spent a lot of time figuring out how to use the MSFW "backside buttons" for my extra switch. And the MFSW back button blocks hook to my non-MFSW horn blocks, so from the front my wheel still looks non-MFSW! I spent another $12 getting the new connections hooked up. So now I can push ANY of the MSFW buttons and it mutes my V1....! My mod won't work on a factory MFSW car.. If you have a MFSW car, you can use my info to add a small pushbutton somewhere on the steering wheel for a mute button tho.

I love my V1 setup... I don't have to take my eyes off the road looking for the arrows & V1 info, and now I don't have to take my hands off the wheel to hit the mute buttons. The V1 unit is mounted up high, looks fairly stealthy, the remote is totally stealthy. All of the work is one-off custom, but there's a lot of that kind of stuff out there.