KPH to MPH dash or sticker?

[BMCWP]

So I went for my first MOT today with my imported LS430 and while I passed I was told by the MOT bloke that I needed to have a MPH speedo either by a sticker or change of clock. It's an odd situation as the car was imported into County Offaly (Southern Ireland) as new and then was brought up here to Northern Ireland last year and registered but I don't understand why this was not mentioned when it was MOT'd then (a legal requirement) 
all that aside can anyone recommend the best way? I really do not like the idea of a cheap looking sticker however the very thought of pulling the dash out to replace the module is also not very appealing (and the cost no doubt) 
Oh, and other than that it passed with no issues at all 🙂

[The-Acre]

8 hours ago, BMCWP said:

So I went for my first MOT today with my imported LS430 and while I passed I was told by the MOT bloke that I needed to have a MPH speedo either by a sticker or change of clock. It's an odd situation as the car was imported into County Offaly (Southern Ireland) as new and then was brought up here to Northern Ireland last year and registered but I don't understand why this was not mentioned when it was MOT'd then (a legal requirement) 
all that aside can anyone recommend the best way? I really do not like the idea of a cheap looking sticker however the very thought of pulling the dash out to replace the module is also not very appealing (and the cost no doubt) 
Oh, and other than that it passed with no issues at all 🙂

That really is odd, there are imports running around with the clock in kilometres, are you sure you're given the correct info?  Failing that, give Paul Frost a call (lexussparesdirect) he'll tell you how easy/hard the job is, sell you a used unit and probably tell you how to change the readout so you have the correct mileage showing.  Mine was changed when it was imported with the mileage changed to correspond with the Japanese auction sheet.

[BMCWP]

I get conflicting info from different people, but 2 people in the test centre both said it (we have a slightly different system to England here) but being as the south of Ireland is in KPH and is but a stones throw from me it makes no sense - also I know off the top of my head the speed conversions so I don't see the issue - I  did a bit more research and it seems its a fairly straight forward swap (about 6 screws) and if I am right there is no changing of the readout needed as the miles are stored in the ECU? (probably not knowing my luck) I do want to keep the car as original as possible but if it means I fail the MOT next year I'll have to do something. No point in me asking my local government ministers as they are asleep at the wheel. Oh as an aside, just to clarify my car is not a Japanese import but an Irish market model "imported" into the North 🙂

[The-Acre]

I would contact Paul Frost and ask him, he's so knowledgeable with these cars. I once took the speedo out of my LS400 and it wasn't difficult so I can't imagine the 430 is much different. This is PF's number. 07590072646

[genius149]

If I end up getting a Celsior I'll probably contact Mr Frost as well but here's my two penn'th on kmh.

A few years ago I had a Honda PC800 Pacific Coast motorbike. It was a relatively rare Japanese market model and when I bought it, I met the seller at the bike shop so that I could get it MOT'd as he'd spent the day there freeing off a brake caliper so that it would pass.  The speedo was in KPH and I thought nothing of it and neither did the MOT tester. Luckily, a previous owner had the speedo and odometer calibrated to read as miles (which I didn't realise until I thought 50kph was a bit too fast to be the equivalent of 30MPH).  The annoying thing was that being a Japanese market bike and more specifically, built for the 'merkins, the front indicators were permanently on like dtr lights and flashed when you were actually indicating.  Annoyingly he failed it for that and we had to quickly disconnect the permanent wires so that it would pass.  A couple of days later, I did some research to find out that the only permanent forward facing lights that could fail an MOT were red, blue or green.  Orange didn't count so the MOT tester was wrong.

I did look at an imported bike a few years ago that had three clear stickers similar to if you buy a coffee at your favourite clown sponsored fast food outlet on the 30, 50 and 70 positions.  Easily removable but did the job.

Sorry for going off tangent but it might be useful to some and an interesting anecdote [/Rowley Birkin]

[steve2006]

My 1994 JDM Celsior was already converted to MPH when I purchased it, done professionally the electronic gubbins was installed behind the dash and a simple MPH sticker was attached behind the cluster cover. On 2 occasions at the same MOT station I use every years the mileage on the certificate has been recorded as KMs and not miles. 

[rafarelli]

@steve2006 hey mate a question; i'm planning on having a look at an LS400 (asia import but 400 not celsior) which has the odometer reading in KM, but the MOT mileage come up in miles... although reading the same number (i.e. ODO currently reads 100km and MOT reads 100miles. Does this make any sense to you? My feeling is that the MOT is just reading the numbers but putting it in M instead of KM?

Second question too actually is it legal to drive with the speedo just in KM? Does it have to be changed (either physically removed or with stickers etc) to pass the MOT?

THANKS FOR THE WISDOM

 

[steve2006]

Hello Rafael and welcome to the LOC

According to the MOT requirements there is no specific check that the speedo is in miles or KMs so I would assume from that it is legal to drive a car with a KM only speedo in the UK.

MOT testers tend to assume the odometer is in miles but as I mentioned mine has been stated as KMs a couple of times.

[BMCWP]

If you are in Northern Ireland its been an MOT failure not to have MPH on your dash since 2013 (as I found out) I get the impression this is not the case over in the rest of the UK. 

 

[rafarelli]

Thanks for the reply @steve2006! Super helpful.