My speedometer is weird

[Robert Kyle]

Putting white faces on my gauges. 

 

Noticed that the new white face markings are not lining up with the new face. 

 

But then I looked and all other gauges I see on the internet has the "60" offset to the left (like the white face gauge). 

 

Mine is right at 12 o'clock,  WTH! 

 

[Robert Kyle]

[adawil2002]

Your speedometer looks like it is cobbled together from 2.

['76mintgrün'02]

27 minutes ago, Robert Kyle said:

Mine is right at 12 o'clock,  WTH! 

 

 

That's an overlay you've got there on your '76 speedometer.  Steve has described them, but I've never seen one before this. 

 

Apparently BMW did not change the gearing in the speedometers in '76, to work with the 3.90 differential, so they offset the numbers instead.  I'll bet it looks like mine, if you take out those two little screws and remove the 'adapter'.

 

Mine reads optimistically, without that overlay.  It thinks I have a 3.64 differential. 

 

Edited March 24, 2020 by '76mintgrün'02

['76mintgrün'02]

You've probably already searched the archives by now, but just in case you missed this one, Steve gives a great explanation

 

 

[Mike Self]

To verify mintgrun's comments, look at the stamping on the back side of your speedometer housing.  There's a "W" followed by a number.  If the number is 1.297, that's a speedo head for a 3.64 differential.  If it's 1.390, it's for a 3.90 diff.  

 

I've never seen one of those speedometers before, but I'll bet if you look underneath the outer "donut" ring, you'll find anoher set of numbers with the 60 mph at 12 o'clock.  

 

mike

PS--Robert, if you have the broken piece of your speedometer needle, PM me if you would like a little guidance on repairing it.  I did a column on that some years ago...

 

['76mintgrün'02]

30 minutes ago, mike said:

look at the stamping on the back side of your speedometer housing.  There's a "W" followed by a number.  If the number is 1.297, that's a speedo head for a 3.64 differential.  If it's 1.390, it's for a 3.90 diff.  

 

According to the post Steve made in the link above, they mis-marked the back; meaning it will say 1.393, but the guts are still from a 3.64 speedo.

 

Mine says 1.393 on the back and it is a fairly early '76, produced in 10-'75.

 

Tom

[visionaut]

I’ve never seen one of those overlay speedos either.  My ‘76 was built in mid-May and has a normal looking one. Original 49-state 3.90 open diff which I’ve swapped to the e21 320is limited slip  3.91 with no speedo change.

 

Tom

[Conserv]

Robert,

 

That overlay is worth money to me! So if you’d like to sell it, please PM me.

 

So... what’s the W marking and date on the back of your speedometer? What’s your car’s VIN and manufacturing date? Is it a 1976, 49-state version?

 

BMW deemed it easier — by which I mean cheaper for them — to have their dealers install overlay faceplates than to correct the gearing in the many improperly-geared speedometers they installed in 1976 49-state cars. My ‘76 was built on April 23, 1976, and I purchased it on July 30, 1976. When I asked my service advisor if my car might have the problem — after I saw the notes in the September and October 1976 Roundel — he said something like, “Of course not: they fixed that problem much earlier!” ? In retrospect, he had probably never heard of the problem before I confronted him.

 

BMW did not advertise this defect in any fashion. First, you had to know it was a problem. If you weren’t a member of the BMWCCA (no space after BMW in those days), you probably never knew there was a problem. Then you had to go to your dealer and ask about a fix. But then the dealer dutifully told you that your car, of course, did not have the problem. And you left, feeling relieved... until GPS! ? If you could prove your speedometer was affected by the defect, the dealership would install an overlay. I’m guessing they didn’t install many!
 

I thought my ‘76 had actually cruised between 112 and 118 mph from Rochester to Syracuse. Then someone invented GPS and I realized that my speedometer was almost 10% optimistic, most of that error relating to the speedometer gear defect. Boy, did that let the wind out of my sails! ☹️
 

For 35 years I thought I owned the world’s fastest stock ‘02. Seriously! ?

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by Conserv

[visionaut]

Huh, my speedo reads pretty accurately (less than 3% error). I’ve tested it with roadside mile markers.

 

Steve are you saying ALL ‘76 speedos had this mismatched speedo problem? I thought my whole cluster was original. Maybe my POs must’ve swapped speedos or changed gearing. I haven’t had my cluster apart to ever check.

 

118mph in an 02 is pretty amazing considering it’s aerodynamics!

 

Tom

 

[Conserv]

1 hour ago, visionaut said:

Huh, my speedo reads pretty accurately (less than 3% error). I’ve tested it with roadside mile markers.

 

Steve are you saying ALL ‘76 speedos had this mismatched speedo problem? I thought my whole cluster was original. Maybe my POs must’ve swapped speedos or changed gearing. I haven’t had my cluster apart to ever check.

 

118mph in an 02 is pretty amazing considering it’s aerodynamics!

 

Tom

 

Tom,

 

Since BMW mostly hid the defect, we have no idea how many ‘76’s were so-afflicted. It’s not all of them. There must have been a substantial number, however, for the problem to have been flagged by the Roundel during 1976, but it’s largely a mystery.

 

Hey, I was very young: if my speedo said I was doing 118 mph — I was running with a 911 and a best-buddy in a V-6 Capri — then, hell, I must have been doing 118 friggin’ mph! ? There was no room in my young brain for “aerodynamic considerations”! Or, obviously, public safety... ☹️

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited March 24, 2020 by Conserv

[Robert Kyle]

FYI, the BMW 2002 Automatic US VIN 2392597 was manufactured on May 11th, 1976 and delivered on May 13th, 1976

['76mintgrün'02]

2 hours ago, Conserv said:

118 friggin’ mph!

 

118 mph, or anything close to that, is impressive with the 3.9 differential.  was the tachometer pegged?

 

I feel like my speedometer is pretty accurate too... but don't have anything with GPS capabilities.

 

Are you saying that if my speedometer is in fact geared for a 3.64, I am not only going slower than I think, but also getting worse mileage?  That'd be a bummer.

[Conserv]

35 minutes ago, Robert Kyle said:

FYI, the BMW 2002 Automatic US VIN 2392597 was manufactured on May 11th, 1976 and delivered on May 13th, 1976

Thank you, Robert!

 

And, assuming your speedometer head is original to the car — probably dated March, April, or May 1976 — that indicates the defect occurred, or continued, very late into the 1976 ‘02 production year, which ended in June 1976! ?

 

My ‘76, again, was manufactured April 23, 1976 (VIN 2742541). Its speedometer, below, is marked W = 1,393 and is dated March 1976 (“3  76”), below.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

 

Edited March 24, 2020 by Conserv

[visionaut]

Robert - mine's got the same birthday!   How'd yours get delivered so quick - mine took 2.5 months!  lol

 

"The BMW 2002 US (Automatic) VIN 2392593 was manufactured on May 11th, 1976 and delivered on July 28th, 1976 to BMW of North America. The original colour was Polaris metallic, paint code 060."

 

You're 4 cars behind mine. The closest to mine that I know is Keith Kreeger's wife's 02 which is 3 numbers behind mine. A tight pack of 3 survivors.

I see you're in Seattle.  My 2002 was originally imported into New Orleans, LA, and the Kreeger's are in the midwest.  Scattershot distribution!

 

Now I know my speedo must've been swapped!

 

Tom

 

 

 

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by visionaut
Corrected KK VIN ref based on info from Les