SE speed inaccuracy?

I have owned 5 MINIs. The speedo is always 2 mph faster than your actual speed. If you compare the speedo to your GPS speed there is always 2 mph difference. It's just something you know when you own MINIs.

 

This is common to almost any car, but especially European manufactures. It is illegal to have a speedometer that reads slow, so to account for tolerances and such they bias them to read fast. My Toyota reads about 2% fast.

 

Yea, I really dislike it, but my i3 always reads about 2-3% fast. It's annoying, but I just always run around 2-3MPH faster, and keep an eye on what Waze shows while driving.

 

If you really don't like it, the option is there in Bimmercode to show the accurate speed. I haven't checked to make sure it works, though. On my 2012 Countryman, it fixed the digital readout but not the analog gauge, and I didn't like the mismatch so I changed it back.

 

Welcome to the forum! The optimistic MINI speedometer won't save one from a speeding ticket, but it makes speeding a tiny bit more fun. MINI says the fastest the electronically limited SE can go is 93.2 mph (150 km/h), but I have seen 95 mph on a level road.

 

I've seen 96 a couple times. It's too easy to go fast in this car.

 

Ninety-six?!?! I didn't know the MINI Cooper JCWE had been released!

 

I live near a road with a radar sign, and all of the MINIs I've owned were off by 3 mph (so a speed of 43 mph would read on the radar sign as 40 mph). My 2021 SE is dead-on, so 40 mph reads as 40 mph. I also tested against other radar signs, so the sign is not out of calibration.

 

I think you are in the minority here on an accurate SE reading! You're lucky. Mine is dead-on 2 mph fast.

 

According to a GPS run over 77 miles the trip meter vs the GPS meter shows a difference of around 2% which would be down to speed inaccuracy so the speedometer does over-read about 2% making a displayed 51mph actually 50mph.

 

Radar speed signs are almost everywhere in the Ottawa region. They are all in km per hour.
Both my MINI and a Toyota Corolla when travelling at the indicated speed limit, would appear to be 2 kph slower and this is the case for every one of these signs. This 2kph delta occurs at 40; 50; 60; and 80 kph.
To register at the speed indicated, one needs to actually go 2 kph faster.

I suspect the city has calibrated them that way.

My big concern is that eventually, every one of theses radar signs will also be fitted with cameras to issue speeding tickets.


Mike Wazowski
& more ️️️ than &

 

That isn't normal behavior. Normally the speedometer and odometer are not in agreement. The speedometer reads 2% high, but the vehicle knows the actual speed (you can find it on bimmercode). Knowing the actual speed allows for accurate odometer readings.

 

My 2022 SE shows just a few km/h more than what I read using the GPS in my mobile phone. Compared to my 2014 Subaru BRZ this difference is much smaller (the BRZ differs by about 5 km/h). As the Mini has a GPS I am sure that this slight difference is intentional.

 

Owned 2 Minis and yes 2mph fast