I promise I searched some threads for this but much of the info was posted back in 2011 early 2012.
So anyhows--------How low do you let your gas gauge get. Today I heard a loud ding (scared the bejeeses outta me) and I was showing 2 ticks/candy corns left. Showed I had 64 miles to empty. Was on the highway and decided to stop at the next gas station.
This was my first fill-up and put in 89 oct petro.
Any thoughts or experiences running super low...down to 1 tick.

 

I be had my countryman S since last October and only use premium 93 octane fuel! I drive 150 miles per day and get between 300 and 330 miles per tank! All highway driving!

 

As I understand it, the fuel pump in the gas tank depends on fuel being present for cooling, so it's a bad idea to run it very near dry. Having said that, you probably had at least a couple of gallons of fuel in the tank and
could have continued on to find some premium gas for your S. You want to use premium gas in your turbo-equipped engine.

 

on my car, the "miles til empty" display seems to be quite accurate, i got caught out on the highway late at night, closed stations, on to the next exit, showing no ticks on the fuel gauge and 6 miles til empty, put 12.2 gallons in

i generally do not run the tank that low, but nice to know it seems accurate

scott

 

bmwr606- u live dangerously man- no ticks. Whoa!!!!! I will probably fill when there are 2 ticks left- but at some point I will get the urge to test it out I might let it go to 1 tick.....also definitely premium fuel- eh. My sales dude said 89 was fine.

 

You haven't lived until the miles to go reads -1

 

A couple of excerpts from the Countryman manual:





YMMV,

 

@Koopah- very very interesting! I could have swore the dealer said MUST use premium.... But then again he's the same one that told me $500 for brake job..... Ill have to read my manual tonight!!!!

 

I usually let it get to 2 clicks then refill. I also have an ultragauge and it shows gallons left, when I'm down to 2 clicks there's 1.8 gals left.

 

I tested it once to see if i was in a pinch and it rolled all the way to 0 miles left and i had a couple left before i made it to the pump. Won't be doing that again but always test the limits early on just to know what i can do if i am ever required to do so.

 

Before my last fill up I was in an an area with no gas stations, and it got to no lights and the miles to empty display read "---". When I filled up it only took 11.8 gallons. I should have gone farther!

 

You guys shouldn't be searching the 'how many miles to a tank' threads. You should be searching the 'replace fuel pump' threads. You'll really enjoy reading about how much they spend on that little experiment.

 

The connect tells me that I'm on fuel reserve when I hit the 2nd line prior to empty - gives me about 75 miles prior to empty.

 

i normally refill the fuel with 2-3 bars left, but caught myself out driving x-country at night and closed gas stations

the choice was wait or go on

but now i know on my cms all4 that the miles-til-empty seems to be very accurate

scott

 

It appears that those who gamble with the chance of running out gas in their MINIs are not licensed pilots.

 

We had a guy test the limits of his tank three years ago while cruising the back roads at the dragon. He didn't realize we were taking the long way home. needless to say on certain models the gauge goes from 0 to negative numbers. In my 07 R56 it went from 0 to ---- talk about nerve racking, only let that happen once.

 

LOL. Talk about nerve racking seeing --- from 0. Although I let it happen twice on my previous MINI.

 

So when is the next trip to the Dragon?

 

Look next to his car in his sig. Looks like May 1-5 to me......

 

First week in May. This will be my fourth time going and the first trip in my R59 that has yet to even make it stateside.

 

I've noticed my fuel just seems to go really fast once it's below the half tank mark.


My dad raised us kids to always have at least a quarter tank in case of an emergency. (He once found himself
having to go to the ER and no gas in his car)

Even though gas is expensive, it's still really good advice.

 

... then I looked it up and the Countryman tank is 1.1 gallons smaller than the Clubman/Coupe. I usually fill up 2-4 clicks before empty.

 

I recently got down to the dreaded _ _ _ _. I set the trip odometer to zero. I got 8.9 miles out of the tank. I'll try to post photos I have in my phone. I filled up w 12.12 gallons.

Typed with my thumbs on my iPhone using NAMotoring

 

Design fuel capacity is 12.4 gal (US). Seems pretty close!!

For OP, best bet is to trend your mileage for a tank till the reserve chimes, fill up to 2 clicks and see how much you put back in the tank. 12.4 - (your pumped gas volume) = close approximation to amount of fuel remaining in your tank. Do that a few times to get an average and you should have a decent idea of how accurate your miles to go gauge is.

 

Don't have my CMS yet but I always run by mileage with my clubman S. She is at two ticks at 320 miles with Ethanol gas and 350 with no Ethanol which unless I am on a trip is the only gas I use. I only run premium of either. I drive commute of 27 miles round trip on two lane state roads. Can't wait to see what I get with the CMS.