A finite element model is first used to calculate the modal pressure difference for a box model of the cochlea, which shows that the number of fluid elements across the width of the cochlea determines the accuracy with which the near field, or short wavenumber, component of the fluid coupling is reproduced. Then results are compared with the analytic results to validate the accuracy of the FE model. It is, however, the far field, or long wavelength, component of the fluid coupling that is most affected by the geometry. A finite element model of the coiled cochlea is then used to calculate fluid coupling in this case, which has similar characteristics to the uncoiled model.