Recently bought a 2010 Clubman and it ran out of gas when the fuel indicator showed 58 mi. Took it to the dealer who said it was a faulty wire and they "fixed it". Yesterday it ran out of gas again at 60 mi. on the indicator. The yellow low gas indicator did not come on either time. Any advice?

 

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What did the gauge with the "carrots" show? If it was only one, and it was red, I'm tempted to say to live with it. The Distance-To-Empty is more fiddly than just a report of how much fuel is in the tank, so it is best not to rely completely on it.

If there were three or more "carrots" lit, or the ones that were lit were orange rather than red, it's definitely time to go back to the dealer and ask them WTF is up with the fuel gauge.

Yes, I've gotten down to about 20 miles on the DTE gauge. I won't do that again if I have a choice. Now I try to fill when I get to two red carrots on the gauge, no matter what the DTE says. (It usually says about 100 miles at that point, but I think it's somewhat optimistic.)

 

Hi S t F, There were 2 "carrots" showing when it ran out. I talked to the dealer and he is talking about replacing the sending unit which sounds like a big job (although it is under warranty).

 

My fuel gauge and DTE are both optimistic. With 3 carrots and 100+ miles showing on the computer, I usually get gas and it takes 10-11 gallons. I believe the tank is 12.5 or so. Every other car I've had has been the opposite; fuel gauge errs on the low side. I've just learned to live with it. Every car has its quirks. Or, if you prefer, drive yourself nuts at the dealer, run out of gas a few more times, and sell the car at a loss. Make sure to make angry posts often on the forum as well.
(Not picking on you specifically, just pointing out a pattern that I see a lot).

Seriously, I'm guessing it's one of those things that isn't fixable, but the dealer will keep throwing parts at it. Good luck.

 

I've put over 14 gallons in my tank before, so it holds a little more than 12.5...

Running out with two carrots left is quite bad. I'm glad the dealer is trying to take care of you. Hopefully that fixes the problem.

I do know that my fuel gauge is rather non-linear. I can go almost 300 miles on the first two carrots, and then the next five carrots get me about 200 miles. The last two are supposedly about 100 miles, but I'm mostly too chicken to find out for certain.

 

Owners manual says the tank is 13.2 US gallons for the R56. Maybe you're talking about a different variant. If you're not, then you were probably close to running out of gas- or your gas station is ripping you off. Bad idea to rely on any fuel gauge anyway, and the computer is using a math formula to come up with a distance remaining estimate that can be way off.

 

My 2007 MCS R56's fuel gauge went RED and filled it up right away even though the computer estimated I could go 60 miles further. It took 12.7 gallons of fuel to fill it, that means I only had .5 gallons left! The computer estimates how far you can go before needing a refueling, do not trust the computer because you will fry your fuel pump!

 

Sorry, I have to ask....is there a reason why you are running the fuel gauge down to 01 miles left before refueling ?

Inquiring minds want to know....

 

When I was a kid, we had a Toyota Land Cruiser. Living in Lodi,Ca., we would have to drive I80 to Tahoe to ski at Squaw Valley. If it snowed , I drove the Cadillac( needed chains) and my parents drove the Toyota jeep. One clear day I drove the Toyota home and got home on fumes. My dad backed out of the driveway and ran out of gas. I rode my bike to the gas station and bought a gallon of gas. I put it in the Toyota and the Toyota's gas gauge showed 1/4 tank. So, there you have it. Gauges are not perfect.
With your Mini, if you figure your current mpg when the tank is more than half full, there's no way the gauge is accurate when the tank is close to empty.
Don C.

 

My 2010 ran out of gas with 2 carrots left and the mileage indicator showed I still had about 60mi to go. The dealer replaced the sending unit under warranty but I've lost confidnce in the gauge as a result. I drive by my trip meter and consider 400m my limit before I refuel. My justa gives me about 36mpg so I think I'm pretty safe.

 

I've put 14.52 gallons in a MINI before now. That was for an R56.

 

Thanks to everyone for the info. Since the vehicle is new to me I expected to see the yellow "time to fill up" indicator light come on before totally depleting the tank. I am still undecided whether to "live with it" or get it fixed at the dealer which will probably involve having them replace the sending unit. It is still under warranty so it won't cost me anything except time.

 

I would fix it under warranty and ask for a loaner. Good luck.

 

The "time to fill up" indicator should have come on when you got down to two "carrots" left. At that time, the two carrots should have turned red as well.



My car is a 2012 R56 Cooper Hardtop.

I would trust the pumps at the gas station over the owner's manual for the tank's capacity. Documentation can be wrong much more easily than a measuring device that is checked and certified periodically...

 

Great story Have seen a few MINI's last year or so with similar issues of false readings, but those were showing 1/2 tank or so when it was actually almost bone dry. I believe the fix was one of the sending units....

But in our cars it has been said there is some importance to keep from running around on a low tank all the time....The fuel pump is in the tank, which is cooled in part by the gasoline moving around inside....then there is some opinion about sucking up dirt particles which settle in the bottom of the tank. For same reason why I steer clear of any filling stations where I see a gas tanker making a delivery. I drive off and come back the next day or so that way I don't pump dirty fuel into my gas tank. Say what you will, but so far with this method of madness at 177K miles, I have adverted any fuel issues and on same fuel pump.....

 

Thanks for your reply. I am on my second Mini( '08 r56s, '12 r56s), and both have had a non-linear readout on the fuel gauge. On both cars, half full is probably at straight up on the gauge. I just live with it.
At 61yo, I have owned so many cars and learned to learn my car's habits. I guess I'm just "old school".

 

Then you filled it up to the gas cap because the gas tanks on most R56 has a 13.2 gallon tank, your gas station had incorrect metering.

 

I think it much more likely that the owner's manual has a misprint, or is out of date. Besides, there are at least two of us who have put over 14 gallons into an R56's gas tank. I know that in my case, at least, the level was not showing in the filler neck. I filled on the fast setting until the pump clicked off, then started adding on the slow setting until it clicked off again. Not much went in between those, BTW.

 

I've got a 2012 MCS, I keep records of all my fuel purchases. I always get fuel at the same station, minus a few trips I've been on. I've put more than 13.5 in the tank 4 times and more than 14 twice in the past 10 1/2 months since I purchased the vehicle new.

I think the manual is wrong due to the fact that if the pump meter was wrong, my MPG calculations would be way low. They are not, I'm averaging 33.8mpg over the life of the vehicle and frequently get over 35mpg on tanks where I'm using the expressway more often.

Furthermore, I can say that as of my morning commute, I have done 270 miles since my last fill up, my car's onboard trip calculator says 270-ish miles to empty, and my fuel gauge is at the 1/2 mark on the dashboard. It seems to be fairly accurate to me.

 

Amazing to me that anyone would run their tank this low on a regular basis. Hope you're not a pilot.
I'm sure there is a little extra capacity in the filler neck and I'm not sure if there is an expansion area in the tank also. If you're squeezing in extra after the pump cuts off, you may be wasting some fuel if it vents overboard.
Also, the capacity can vary slightly depending on temperature. I doubt the engineers in Germany mis-measured the tank.

 

I never squeeze more after the automatic shutoff stops the dispenser.

As far as the frequency of my running the tank that low, I've gotten fuel 86 times in the 10 months I've owned the car. The six times I've ran it low represent a very low percentage of total fuel fill-ups. I'm aware of the added stress it causes on my fuel pump.

I'm just trying to share my experiences to help people figure out how much fuel their tank really holds. I didn't come on here to be berated by anyone about what they speculate my profession to be based on some ill-assumed lack of intelligence they perceive me to have just because I ran the tank low a handful of times over the dozens of times I've gotten fuel.

Next time, instead of offering factual accounts to aid, maybe I should suggest to everyone that they're a moron for even caring how much it holds because only the dim-witted would ever run it that low anyway.

Oh wait, you already did that.

Thanks for being not only rude, but also for not offering up anything but pure speculation to the people in here trying to figure out the answer to a question.

 

Hey sorry Tony. The pilot comment was a attempt at lighthearted humor. I am one myself, which is where my inherent mistrust of fuel gauges originates.
For the record I did offer the OP my opinion which was that the R56 fuel gauges read a bit high when the tank is low and that he would be better off accepting it since it's not really fixable. Again- just my opinion.
As for you, I would say that running your tank almost empty 6 times in 10 months is a lot, but if you're comfortable with the risk, then that's your business. I wouldn't do it, but it doesn't matter to me if you run out of gas. I'm just surprised that anyone would take that risk. The fuel pump issue is secondary to the inconvenience of being stranded for myself.
Sorry you took such offense, and I never said and didn't mean to imply that you or anyone else is a moron.

 

bought a 2010 mini "cooper" feb 2010. Same issue. Your dealer lied to you. There is no fix. Its simply the way the gas guage works. When I first filled the tank with 2 lit bars left, it took 12.5 gallons. That meant I had only 7/10 of a gal left. I checked with my dealer and they said, do not let it go the the last bar as you'll be on fumes and not good for the engine. This is something you have to live with. The gas guage goes slowly at first and then drops more rapidly. I would fill the car at the with 3 lit bars left.

 

I have a 2010 Mini "cooper" and it works the same. Do not let the car go below 3 carrots (lit bars). This is not fixable per my dealer, its just the way the gas guage works in ALL minis. Just live with it. When I fill with 3 carrots, it takes about 11.5 gals = just under 2 gals left. At the last carrot, the car will be on fumes and not good for the engine.