September 21, 1998
By: Robert Leidy

After waiting a long time, BMW finally delivers something to fill in the blank gauge location on the dash.

Thanks to persistent questioning and a fantastic dealership it is my understanding that you are looking at one of, if not the first, dealer installed volt meter gauge in the US.

Behind the dash an unused wiring harness was waiting for the simple volt meter to be plugged in. The BMW technician that installed it (Larry Nissen of Moritz BMW) tells me it was quite easy to install, getting behind the dash to find the wiring harness was the only time consuming part of the task.
I'm not claiming to really understand what is happening to make a volt meter read high or low. To me it's most important feature is the fact that it fills the once blank plate in the dash. However now that I've watched the needle move around for a couple weeks I've noticed where it usually resides. If I turn the key far enough to engage the electrical system but not far enough to start the engine the gauge usually reads just right of straight up (about 12.5 volts). Once I start the car the needle usually swings way right and climbs to 14 volts. After the car has been running awhile I notice the gauge slowly sneaking back towards 13 volts. So now that I notice a regular pattern, if I ever see the gauge breaking from this pattern I'll probably freak out and over-react (which might be the goal of a volt meter). But like I said before To me it's most important feature is the fact that it fills the once blank plate in the dash.