I'm having a problem with my Cooper S JCW, the centre dash display (speedo) is not coming on straight away any more.

It can take 2 to 5 minutes before coming on before I have radio or satnav, it has on occasion come on with the ignition but it's getting less and less now.

The local garage told me it's a new display screen at around £1000, I'm hoping for a cheaper fix if anyone can help.

 

You can buy used Speedo units all day long on eBay for less than $100 US. But fair warning, swapping out the old unit and installing the new unit isn't for the faint of heart when you're doing it for the first time. YouTube videos were essentail. I'm a pretty good mechanic, but it too me 5 hours to get the old one out. A whole bunch of front dash has to unclipped, unscrewed or otherwise loosened to get to then easily removed Speedo. Re-assembly in revere order not so bad, but still time consuming. If I have to do it again, it'll be quicker.

The £1000 quote is no doubt mostly labor.