Doesn't feel like 100mph

[jaba]

Going home from school at around 1pm. The freeway is pretty much clear of cars so I travel faster than usual. The thing is, when I'm travelling 100-110 ish, it feel like I'm going 75-85 mph (I admit. I love driving fast, but I make every effort not to be reckless whatsoever). Seriously, I scratch my head and start to wonder, is this speedometer playing visual tricks on me or what? Has there been any speedo problem or anything that needs to be recalibrated or do my driving habits need to be recalibrated.

[SANguru]

standard difference is 8-10%. BMW speedos are known to be somewhat optimistic.

Originally Posted by jaba

Going home from school at around 1pm. The freeway is pretty much clear of cars so I travel faster than usual. The thing is, when I'm travelling 100-110 ish, it feel like I'm going 75-85 mph (I admit. I love driving fast, but I make every effort not to be reckless whatsoever). Seriously, I scratch my head and start to wonder, is this speedometer playing visual tricks on me or what? Has there been any speedo problem or anything that needs to be recalibrated or do my driving habits need to be recalibrated.

[Mindfull]

Yep. the several times I've gone over 100 in the X5 (yes, several, but they were remote), I learned 3 things:
1) The speedometer is off by about 5-7% (another symptom appears to be a difference in actual & OBC mileage of the same percentage), which I tracked on a long road trip.
2) The Valentine 1 Rocks!!. Plenty of warning before any... problems.
3) Even when actually doing 100 (say 107 on the speedo), it still feels like it's doing 80-85! The ride is just that Nice!

Enjoy.
M

[jaba]

Originally Posted by SANguru

standard difference is 8-10%. BMW speedos are known to be somewhat optimistic.

curious, what other car companies are off when it comes to the speedos? or what car companies provide near accurate speedo readings?

[marc.hickman]

Since you like fast driving, you need to come to Germany. The Autobahn is crazy.

[X5Flyboy]

Enjoying the wide open spaces (and lack of population ), I've had mine cruising at 130 (123 actual@4500rpm). My speedometer checks out at -5%, which I first noticed driving past those roadside 'check your speed' radar signs. I have found the X5 to be the safest car I've ever driven. At 5000lbs, she may not be as nimble as a M3, but she will still out perform all but true high performance sports cars. It's made for 100+mph driving on the Autobahn. With the speed limit at 65-75 out here, I'm always over 100 by the time I pass an eighteen-wheeler.

[Wagner]

Question, how do you guys know these percentages? Did you have yourselves clocked like a trap speed? Seems like a lot of "estimation" work here. No offense. I am very aware, from my law enforcement buddies, that speedometers over 75 mph can sometimes be off a few notches. However, my track friends (those who love to run the 1320) have checked before and the speedometer seems to be right where their trap speeds were....so again, how are we getting this percentage of deviation?

[ncx]

When I fist got my X I asked my dealer to check the speedo as I suspected it to be optimistic. They checked it but also gave me a print out that explains BMW speedo tolerances and it actually had '10% + 2.4mph' printed on it as the allowed speedo 'advance'.

[X5Flyboy]

Originally Posted by WagnerX5

Question, how do you guys know these percentages? Did you have yourselves clocked like a trap speed? Seems like a lot of "estimation" work here. No offense. I am very aware, from my law enforcement buddies, that speedometers over 75 mph can sometimes be off a few notches. However, my track friends (those who love to run the 1320) have checked before and the speedometer seems to be right where their trap speeds were....so again, how are we getting this percentage of deviation?

You may have a right-on speedometer. Have you checked what your OBC says vs your speedo?

I went thru 3 different radar speed signs at 60 and was puzzled when they showed up as me doing 56-57. That's when I started double checking what I actually was doing at different speeds. It was a consistent -5%.

[jbviper4]

Definitely optimistic on the speedo. Stopped last week and the trooper said I was doing 88 and I looked down right when the detector went off and it was about 92-93.