All,
Picked up my 2007 Mini in March. Named him Jagr. Pure fun to drive.

I know it's not wise running near empty. In a situation the other day I ran it down until the OBC said I could go 20 miles more before I found a place to fill up. It was scary but answered my question of how low can I go on gas. Mind you , I did not do it on purpose.
I just thought I'd let you know that in an emergency it can go that low.

Finally took a few pics.

 

That is a really nice interior.
But somebody stole your clutch pedal!

 

That's funny. I wanted stick .... wife wanted auto so we settled on the auto cause I have the paddle shift. I had problem posting 2nd pic .... got it now.

 

I don't think it really matters other than the inconvenience of running out of fuel.

There's a fuel filter, after all. And the inlet to the fuel pump is at the bottom of the tank where all the sediment supposedly resides!

 

Once or twice is probably no big deal. I sure wouldn't do it regularly. The pump is immersed in the fuel, and the fuel cools the pump when it's running. If you start running too low, the pump will get warm then hot. That's bad for longevity. Do it often enough and the pump will fail early. That's an expensive repair.

 

Thanks for letting us know!!! The lowest I've gone is 36 miles left b/c of being too scared of the possibility of running out of gas

BTW - that is a great looking car!

 

Either of you two remember how many gallons it took to fill it?

 

About 13.2 here.

 

True, but once the pump is no longer pumping, the car is no longer running! So it's a bit of a moot point.

 

It would depend on whether the pump is cooled by the fuel being pumped through it, or by the fuel in the tank surrounding it.

If it's the fuel passing through the pump that cools it, then there's no need for concern - as 911Fan pointed out, as soon as the cooling flow of fuel stops, so does the pump.

 

13 miles left!?! That's nothing!

I had mine down to 3 miles... and it was reading --- miles as I pulled into the gas station (with no hint of sputtering or stalling).

I seem to remember it took somthing like 14.6 gallons to fill back up!

 

Though I obviously wouldn't recommend anyone else push it like that...

 

I don't agree.

The "fuel pump" is an assembly-motor and pump. The actual liquid pump part of the assembly may have fuel going through it, but the electrical motor wouldn't. The motor would have to be cooled externally. I've had several go bad and had them apart on different vehicles (I fix them myself so see them firsthand). The motor is lightweight, and there's no where else for the heat to go. It's not designed to get enough cooling dumping to ambient atmosphere if it's not in liquid. No cooling fins or anything, lightweight metal motor body, won't transfer heat across to the actual pump part. Looks a lot like a motor in a toy.

(a few quick google results)
http://www.carx.com/AutoRepairandSer...1/Default.aspx
http://www.athomemechanic.com/archiv...your_fuel.html
http://www.popularmechanics.com/how_...36.html?page=2
http://www.donsautomotive.com/urbanlegends.html

If you continually run low tanks, you'll also have more condensation inside the tank. More water in the fuel isn't good either.

 

Down to 3 miles .... wow. Talk about being nervous? Good to know in an emergency.

 

The first time I filled Romi, I was not sure when would be a good time to fill her, so when she complained at 2 candy corns, I immedaitely pulled into a station and refuled. She took 12.1 gallons U.S. I recall the compture saying she had 80 miles left to go before being empty.

Assuming this was based on the AVG CON, which was 26.2, she had about 3 gallons left. So she carries just over 15 gallons of fuel, if the computer is correct.

I will let this second tank run down to the same point and refill at the same pump to see if it is consistent.

 

Please report the gallons, would you, Skuzzy?

 

No, no! The reading dropped BELOW 3 miles!

It flashed 2 for about 10-seconds, then actually displayed "--- miles" for the last 1/2 mile or so rolling into the station.

 

So when should we fill up regularly? Mine is down to the two red bars, and says I have 60 some miles left. This would be my second fill up, my last I did with about 25 miles left in the tank. This normal?

 

Heck, that is nothing. . . I've had it display the --- and then start counting back up for a few miles. . .

 

On several occasions I have driven several miles with the 'range' (i.e., miles to empty) reading "---". Never took more than 13.2 to fill, as I recall.

 

When I test drove the MCS, the OBC shows 3 miles left, but the salesman wasn't worry. I think it was still 3 miles after we drove for least 1.5 to 2 miles.

 

jrebel,
What interior fabric is that? Looks like the Leatherette, but what colors? Standard black or something else....?

 

Need--one of the MA's test drives ended in embarrassment around the time we were shopping...

 

I drove (a 06 MINI ... loaner) with ZERO Miles range for... 4 miles until I found a gas station.

But frequently dipped in the single digits. The fun part starts when teh car sputters a bit at less than 5 miles range.

Just have your roadside assistance number handy.

MMM

 

Quite a risktaker huh? I could not do that. Chickened out.