I am a long term Volvo user and travel in Europe extensively, ie quick trip to France also 5 Months of the year in Spain.

I have had Volvo’s for many years the Speedo on my Volvo V40 is in MPH and of course in Europe its in KPH.

Now I have tried to see how to change the Digital Speedo from Miles to Kilometres but I am told by Volvo this cannot be done. I see that there is a thumbwheel function that does show Kilometres but it is so small that to drive using this for long periods will be very difficult.

I cannot see that such a basic function as this has been forgotten but it has . I am also concerned that all the other functions such as signs and navigation are wrong; .

So my question to you all is. If you have a UK registered Car that only has a MPH speedo on its main speedo is it legal to drive in Spain. / Europe ???

If you are thinking of Purchasing a Volvo V40 Beware !!!!!!

Which V40 are you talking about? 96-04? Phase 1,1A,2? Or the latest version?

VOLVO are being a little disengenious to say it can't be done but as an economical excercise......... 

Most UK vehicles have had KPH as an alternative markings on their speedos. It is not a legal requirement for using in the EU (at your risk) but it IS a legal requirement on import.

There are "overlay sticker" suppliers but these tend to be for ExJap cars that have KPH only speedos.

Use a decent Sat Nav mate, switch units to KM and switch on the exceed speed limit alert. Alternatively there are smathphone apps that do this. We had a Fiat Doblo and you could not see anything in the instrument binacle. Solution worked for us.

Saludos

Hi Gazzerb, The Vehicle in question is the Volvo V40 sat nav  - 2013

The vehicle has NO Kilometres on its main speedo. So if you are using a UK registered vehicle it only shows in MPH, that includes the Cruise increments of 5mph also speed signs picked up from Radar which show the Signs in Spain 60kph as 60mph the sat nav is also in mph (in red on the speedo) any idea where you can get those stickers you mention, I of course will need to switch off the Sat Nav speed display and anything else that only shows mph. this is all very messy.

You can of course have it reprogramed but that would be each time. !!!! at a cost

From the VOLVO forum: you can change the "digital" display to KPH if your speedo reads MPH or vice versa. Read your hand book

 The instrument panel display changes to show
current speed in mph (miles per hour) if the
speedometer is graduated in km/h. If the
speedometer is graduated in mph then the dis-
play changes to km/h.

mIke: Further investigation says that if you have a TFT display, it is NOT possible and VOLVO know it.

SatNav seems to be the alternative.

No I cant suggest sticker suppliers.

Get used to 30=50, 50=80, 75=120! Put a sticker on your dash!

juansheetisplenty has the right idea.

There are many speed apps for mobile phones and as they run off gps, they are accurate. You just start the app, mount your mobile where it will get a strong gps signal and use that.

Perhaps you should not be driving if you cannot do a simple mental conversion of a speed limit sign 

Love Hugh xx

hughjardon,

You are missing the point ! its not me, I am quite capable of conversions but in this modernday digital car it is only equipped to drive in the UK. I have been driving in Spain for many years with my own car and also company cars,. my comment on this post is not personal you, its directed to Volvo themselves. I guess you are driving a car with both mph and kph. my previous cars ALL had the display shown on thier Analogue Speedos.

For your information this is what the EU regs say.

31975L0443

Council Directive 75/443/EEC of 26 June 1975 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the reverse and speedometer equipment of motor vehicles 

Official Journal L 196 , 26/07/1975 P. 0001 - 0005
Finnish special edition: Chapter 13 Volume 4 P. 0157 
Greek special edition: Chapter 13 Volume 3 P. 0125 
Swedish special edition: Chapter 13 Volume 4 P. 0157 
Spanish special edition: Chapter 13 Volume 4 P. 0152 
Portuguese special edition Chapter 13 Volume 4 P. 0152 

Article 5

Member States in which vehicle speed is, at the time of adoption of this Directive, measured in miles per hour, shall be permitted to require speedometer equipment fitted to vehicles sold in their countries to be marked both in kilometres per hour and in miles per hour, until such time as their national legislation is amended to require only the use of metric (SI) units of measurement in accordance with the provisions of Council Directive No 71/354/EEC (1) of 18 October 1971 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to units of measurement, as amended by the Treaty of Accession (2).

4.2.2. In the case of a speedometer manufactured for sale in any Member State where imperial units of measurement are used, and where transitional arrangements in accordance with Article 5 are in force, the speedometer shall be marked both in km/h and in mph (miles per hour) ; the graduations shall be of 1, 2, 5 or 10 km/h and also of 1, 2, 5 or 10 mph and the values of the speed indicated on the dial shall be multiples of 20 km/h and multiples of 20 mph.

Enjoy.