My R56 died tonight on me tonight on lovely Rte. 3 in NJ. Thankfully I was able to pull to safety into a construction area. The car just quit with no shudder or warning. I had read about bad fuel pumps on the R56 so initially thought this was my problem. Especially due to the fact that there was 5-6 carrots of fuel left on the gauge.

After taking 15 minutes to explain my situation to Mini Roadside they determined I was on a restricted road and would have to call 911. While waiting for the police to arrive I realised my mileage counter was up to 505 miles. I have only had the car about a month, but have usually filled up shortly after 400 miles. Now I almost always reset the counter, but I guess it is possible I forgot hence the high readout.

When the tow driver arrived I had to convince him to try giving me gas. He would not believe a car as new as my 08 would have a faulty gauge. But sure enough it fired right up after he put 2 gallons of tow truck special unleaded in. Now being stranded is partly my fault for not realising how many miles I had driven, but I make a weekly trek back and forth to NYC so it is easy to lose track. Hopefully Mini will reimburse my $69 for emergency service because they couldn't get a driver to me.

I know the crap gauge is not accurate, but has anyone had the problem on the low end? The gauge still had lots of little candy corns even though the tank was bone dry.

 

Same exact thing happened to me on the GSP! Got the same restricted road excuse and had to call AAA. So what roads are covered in NJ by Mini Roadside??? Mini Roadside should reimburse you.

I had two faulty fuel sensors.

Read about it here
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...gas-again.html

 

This is from my Owner's Manual:

Cruising range
Displays the estimated cruising range available
with the remaining fuel. The range is calculated
on the basis of the way the car has been driven
over the last 18 miles/30 km and the amount of
fuel currently in the tank.
If the range displayed is less than
30 miles/50 km, be sure to refuel; otherwise
engine functions are not guaranteed and
damage could occur.

(emphasis added)

Sorry. I see that you say you had 5 or 6 markers left. So I guess my post is not appropriate in this situation. I think I was still thinking about the 2nd poster's issue. My bad.

 

The OP stated he had 4-5 carrots left on his gauge. There is no reason to expect to run out of gas with that much showing left on the gauge.

 

Yeah, I realized that and edited my post already.

 

That's crazy and I think you're the only one who has ever had 5 carrots showing and running out of gas.

 

Stuck float? Or is the mini's fuel level capacitive?

 

Never heard it called "carrots", candy corn but not carrots, I like that...

 

Yea I heard the same restricted area BS excuse. You would think there would be reimbursement - nooot really...

At least it was an easy fix.

 

Wow, your gauge is messed up. My gauge apparently is right on the money. I drove it to the point that it said I had 0.0 miles left on the miles remaining. I pulled into the gas station (more like coasted) and the car shut off.

(it was 1am and exits were few and far between otherwise I'd NEVER let my car get that low)

Mark

PS. And oh, btw, the car took 14.3 gallons at that point...lol.

 

Agreed above I have squeezed 13.2 gallons in on a couple of occasions due to limited exits also. Sounds like one of the two sensors is bad, I knew of a car that did the opposite it would show empty until the car was half then it would show the correct reading and sure enough it was one of the sensors. I would watch your gauge however I would talk to your SA about having the resistance checked on the sensors at a minimum better yet see if they will change the faulty one out.

 

Since I get over 100 miles on the first carrot, which should equate to 1000 miles on a tank, I don't count on the gauge being accurate at the lower end. So I do two things to avoid running out of gas.

1. I reset the trip odometer and fill up at the appropriate mileage
2. I avoid New Jersey

 

There have been many discussions about the gas guage and how it relates to actual fuel in the tank. But either way what happened to me (going from 3 ticks to dead on the road in 4 miles) and you warrants a dealer visit to have them check your fuel sensors.

 

Mine is working fine so far. Last tick is slightly more than 1 gallon.

 

My ScanGauge has a "FILLUP" soft/key that displays gas used since last fill up.

It is always within 1/10 of a gallon of what it takes to fill and you can easily calibrate to the exact tenth before pressing "Done".

The ScanGauge has confirmed what others have posted; if you look at the MINI 'Gas Gauge' as a clock face, 3 O'Clock = three gallons, 1 & 2 O'Clock = two gallons each and from 12 down to 6 are one gallon each.

So, looking at 12 O'Clock as ½ full and 9 O'Clock as ¼ full is the best way interpet the MINI's Gas Gauge.

Reset of trip meter on fill up gives a good backup and when you are passing 300 miles and still showing much more than ¼ tank (9 O'Clock), you can expect to run out before the gauge does.

 

personnel best is 124 miles before the first carrot/candy corn fuel indicator light went out.
New Jersey is the garden state. I don't avoid it, it is just <--------> that far away on the map.


*Drawing not to scale

 

Wow, that's nuts... I did notice the first 'carrot' lasted a lot longer than the others (and had actually been concerned it may have been a problem), but I guess it's normal?

Terribly sorry to hear that happened to you... guess that 3 years of free roadside assistance isn't very... helpful, is it? Lame. =(

 

Wow, the MINI gas gauge isn't very reliable, but that is definitely wrong.

You drive an MCS 400 miles between fill-ups?
What kind of mpg do you get? For me, that would be cutting it very close. I tend to refill with at least 1/4 tank remaining. You never know when something will come up to make it difficult or inconvenient to get gas.

 

400 miles - no problem even with my new tires that are not getting quite the gas mileage of the original tires.

 

I guess they are all different. I have twice ran mine down to the last red 'carrot' and even 8~10 miles after it is displaying '--' on the Distance to Empty display. I know, it's a dumb game I play when I am trying to make the tank last until cheap-premium Friday. It does make me nervous until I get to the pump, though.

 

There is a very expensive "side effect" of running out of gas in any direct injection vehicle. You might fry the fuel pump! Just ask any big rig driver.

 

Yup, the MINI fuel pump is actually cooled by gasoline. There have been quite a few fuel pump failures reported on NAM.

 

I ran the next tank to about 350 miles and it was still showing better than half a tank on the guage and range was still ~330 miles left. Fill up took 11.5 gallons, so I think it is a bad/stuck sensor. Will post up after I get it in to the dealer.

 

They would probably appreciate it if you did not go in on a full tank

 

[quote=Tsar;2901795]Yea I heard the same restricted area BS excuse. You would think there would be reimbursement - nooot really... quote]

A similar thing happened to me, but with 1 "carrot" (i love that) and the car just shut off with 30 miles left on the distance estimator. I was on a restricted road, had to use a private company and pay out of pocket.

However MINI DID reimburse me, I literally cashed the check this morning.

All you have to do is call MINI roadside, they give you an address and you mail in the receipt with a note stating your name address & vin#. As long as your zero-maintenance warranty is still valid you're golden.

Here is the address for anyone interested:

MINI Roadside Assistance
ATTN: Claims Dept.
PO Box 5039
Carol Stream, IL 60199