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'89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 8:52 pm
by Podge72
For some reason have noticed that speedo is showing wrong mph. I think it's about 9-10% out...any ideas and how can this be sorted as it's really annoying.
Cheers

Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 8:59 pm
by daimlerman
Tyre size?
Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 9:31 pm
by Podge72
Good point..thery're 15" diameter but not standard alloys. Is that enough or would you need the full rundown. If so I'll have to check in the daylight. Sorry know sweet fa about this sort of stuff, can you tell?!
Cheers
Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 9:37 pm
by Captain_Birdseye
I don't either, looking forward to find out as my new wheels+tyres together are a bit smaller than standard.
Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 9:39 pm
by Sanchez
Has it got the correct clocks? with the correct coding plug.
Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 10:11 pm
by Podge72
How would I know if it had or not? Is there any way to tell?
Cheers
Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:30 am
by Grrrmachine
All the info you need on Wheels:
http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/Wheels
and Tyres:
http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/Tyres
I'd have a look at those numbers first before you start exploring the clocks and coding plug. Remember that the gauge will never be 100% accurate; it overreads slightly.
Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:40 am
by capri_rob
With 15" wheels you need 55 profile tyres. If they are something other than that the speedo reading will be wrong.
Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:14 am
by Brianmoooore
Coding plug does not affect the speedo in any way.
Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:24 am
by Rav335uk
To work out your rolling radius for different size wheels and tyres use this.
www.willtheyfit.com
Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:23 pm
by Podge72
Cheers guys. I'll let you know how I get on...
Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:39 pm
by Grrrmachine
Rav335uk wrote:To work out your rolling radius for different size wheels and tyres use this.
www.willtheyfit.com
There are two separate tyre calculators in the Wiki link I posted, as well as a table of correct sizes

Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 3:20 pm
by Rav335uk
Grrrmachine wrote:Rav335uk wrote:To work out your rolling radius for different size wheels and tyres use this.
www.willtheyfit.com
There are two separate tyre calculators in the Wiki link I posted, as well as a table of correct sizes

I didn't know now did I

Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:28 pm
by Podge72
Tyre size is 195/45....
Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:31 pm
by Brianmoooore
Podge72 wrote:Tyre size is 195/45....
Well, there's the problem, then!
560mm diameter, when it should be 610mm = approx. 9% error.
Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:36 pm
by Podge72
So then, lower profile tyre + wheel = smaller diameter overall size therefore 1 revolution = 9% less than standard hence the increased mph reading....I get it now..it's like being back at school only learning about something you're actually interested in!
So in other words live with it or go back to standard...
Cheers Brian.
Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:29 pm
by Brianmoooore
The tyres you have account for most, but not all of the error. The speedo will still read less than actual speed, even with the correct tyres.
This is because the speedo is not like the other instruments - those are all provided by BMW for your convenience and information, whereas the speedo is there by law, and it's purpose is not to inform you how fast you are travelling, but rather to enable you to conform with whatever speed limit is applied to the road you are on.
To ensure that you do not unknowingly break a speed limit, all speedometers intentionally indicate a higher speed than you are really travelling at.
Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 8:53 am
by Jos
Hence the reason why you can be done for 31 in a 30, if you're doing 31 on radar then your speedo probably reads 35!
Re: '89 325 Touring speedo reading inaccurate
Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 9:40 am
by Suki_BiH
you have a tire size problem in combination with manufacture default higher speed readings.
earlier models have a calibration option inside the cluster, i'm not sure for later models :/