X1 Speedo off?

[quiksilverdad]

My 2013 X1 Xdrvie28I speedo is off by about 2.5%. When speedo says 63, i'm really driving 60. Pretty sure its because there are 17" tires on them, but went to service department and guy there told me: "Yup, BMW considers this normal and there is a bulletin about this I could show you". Unfortunately I did not ask to see it but might go back for it.

Questions:
Is this "normal"? (Not on any of my other cars).
Why cant they just adjust the computer the 2.5% (I have a scangauge tool that can do that easily).
Anyone else with this issue?

Thanks

[BeEmVe]

This is normal for BMW to read low. One can recode and show the digital speed and recode so it is displayed accurately.

[Lucky13]

Been that way on my BMW's and Mini Clubman S, about 2 mph off at 40 and 3 at 70. I think they are calibrated based on stock tires and if you upgrade it's always off. My Mini had 17" vs 15-16 stock and the 335 has 18 vs 17 stock and our X1 has 18 vs 17 stock.

[Sean@PSI]

All newer BMWs are like that. You can have that coded out and the speedo will then read accurately.

[HBWT]

Normal.
My X1 with 18s reads 5mph high at 60.

[halfmoonclip]

I checked mine against a Garmin nav, with similar results; about a 3 mph error in the 60-70 range.
Our daughter's boyfriend was driving her Focus on a road trip west; I had checked the speedo in that with the nav as well, and it was dead nuts on.
He may not have been aware of that, and it may have been a factor in him getting a fat ticket.
Moon

ETA- Presumably, the error in our BMWs will get worse with tread wear. I asked about some reprogramming at the dealer (I wanted engine temp and some other things on the lefthand toggle switch); the dealer knew nothing about it.
M

[FLX1]

My 2014 X1 XDrive 28i is about 4 mph off at 70- speedo will read 74, GPS will say 70. Stock x-line wheels and run flats.

[mscottc]

I read an article online several weeks ago. The speedometer difference is intentional on pretty much all cars. It tends to be worse on high end European cars as the Europeans have rules/regulations stating that the speedometers must provide nothing less than equal, or must err on the high end, no matter what is going on with the car or the manufacturers can be fined. So they build in an error that results in higher speed readings even if wheels are the wrong size etc. The higher the performance car, the more error they build in.

[halfmoonclip]

I haven't checked the odometer; a similar error there would have a substantial effect on warranties....
Moon

[Naambezet]

230 on my speedo is about 217 on nav. Also it's a little bit off at 100/120 km/h

[mikeo]

The fix is pretty simple, just replace the first set of worn out tires with one size larger. 235/50-17 or 235/40-18 F and 265/35-18 R for much more accurate speed readings.

[mscottc]

Originally Posted by halfmoonclip

I haven't checked the odometer; a similar error there would have a substantial effect on warranties....
Moon

My read from the article, and the fact that that the digital display (which can be coded on) is correct, along with the fact that you can have the analog display also coded to be correct, would lead me to believe that the Odometer would be correct.

[halfmoonclip]

Originally Posted by mscottc

My read from the article, and the fact that that the digital display (which can be coded on) is correct, along with the fact that you can have the analog display also coded to be correct, would lead me to believe that the Odometer would be correct.

That makes perfect sense; hope it's so.
Moon

[ScottMZ3]

Originally Posted by halfmoonclip

That makes perfect sense; hope it's so.
Moon

I had the digital speed enabled via coding on my X1 and it does in fact show the actual speed of the vehicle. We also disabled the "correction" for the speedo, but unfortunately it didn't correct the analog speedo (at least on the X1). It is still nice to have the digital speedo available! When I set cruise to 80mph the digital speed shows 76mph...so analog is off by ~4mph at 80 on my stock 2014 X1 xLine with 18" wheels.

[quiksilverdad]

Originally Posted by ScottMZ3

I had the digital speed enabled via coding on my X1 and it does in fact show the actual speed of the vehicle.

And I assume by "coding" you mean having someone reprogram certain values within your ECU.(not the dealer)

[ScottMZ3]

Originally Posted by quiksilverdad

And I assume by "coding" you mean having someone reprogram certain values within your ECU.(not the dealer)

Correct. You can probably find someone in your area that is able to make the changes for you...most charge a small fee ($50-100) which is worth it IMHO considering all the fun/functional/cool things you can do with coding.