What's up with the fuel gauge?
 

So I see a bunch of previous posts where people complain about the fuel gauge not being linear. I drove about 120 miles before the first bar went black. Put another 40 miles on since and I'm still showing 9 bars.

Does this get better at all as the car learns the mileage, or will it always suck like this? :sly:

Mine hasn't...and I just turned 20k on the clock. The OBC is still dead on with the range calculation on a fill though:nod:

Mine is like this too. But it's not only MINIs that do this. My last vehicle (S10 truck) was the same way. According to the gauge I'd get about 225 miles on the first half tank and only 125 on the second half. I agree with mrweasel, pay more attention to the OBC Range. It is pretty accurate.

I've never had a car that didn't do something similar (take a while to come off "Full"), so I don't find anything strange about the way it is in the Mini, except that the fact that it isn't linear is more noticeable because it uses lights instead of a needle.

No, it will not change - you're the one who will learn how to read it! I just filled up right after it changed to red (the last two bars) and the low fuel warning came on. It took 47.5 litres at that point.

No, the gauge isn't linear...just like every other car on the road. Over time you'll get the hang of how many approximate miles each "slice" is and how that converts to actual fuel used. It's not tough, just give yourself some time to acclimate.

Oh yeah, I've had GM's with bad gauges. But I expect this of GM :razz:.

My Audi's, Bimmer's and Honda's haven't had this problem. I wouldn't expect the Mini to be so severely off either. I mean... slightly off, who cares. But such a massive difference, that's just wrong!

every vehicle I have driven has been like this.

True, they're all the same, but it may be more noticeable on the Mini because of having "flower petals" instead of a needle.

yep, the MINI guage isn't very accurate (neither is the MPG readout...)... I have noticed that if there are 3 bars left, you have used up about 11 gallons....

It may vary with driving style, but some people have reported running out of gas with as much as 60 miles remaining. With gas prices going up almost daily, it is more cost-effective to fill it up frequently. :lol:

My wife didn't pay attention to the gauge at all until I told her they were candy corns. Now she'll say there are so many "corns" lit up.
Overall a highly ambiguous readout.

FYI: If you plug a scan-tool into the OBDII port, the car will tell you in percentage points exactly how much fuel you have left. No more pie wedges or candy corns for the OCD'ers that don't mind having a scan-tool plugged in 24/7.

I have the same problem. With only about 4 candy corns out, it takes 9.5 gallons to fill the tank.

has anyone tried to get Mini to fix this on their car?

yeah i was a bit perturbed the inaccuracy of the fuel gauge after my first fill up the other day. It took 70 miles before the first "corn" turned to black, and that trait obviously did not continue. I filled up when the gauge said it was half full, but it took 10.7 gallons. Guess I got the MINI with the endurance sized fuel tank.

The reason why you can travel more miles before the first indicator on the fuel gauge turns black is because the filler pipe holds about a gallon more gas in it.The MC hold approx. 10.6 gallons and the MCS hold approx. 13.2 gallons but those numbers seem to be conservative because many have put in more gallons then listed including myself.

Actually the 08 MC have the 13.2 gallon tank as well.

Sure enough I just checked miniusa.com I must have gotten the 2007 MINI Cooper and S brochure when I got my '08 MCSa in April instead.

I don't think Mini updated the brochure for the 08 MC/MCS. It wasn't until I got my car and read the owner's manual that I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my MC had the larger tank. While it costs more to fill up, my range is almost 460 miles on one tank of gas. My Subaru had a 17 gallon tank and I was barely getting 300 miles on a tank of gas.:thumbsup:

Just letting you know that on my 06 R50, the fuel gauge isn't linear either. It takes forever to get half way, then the last half drops right off a lot faster.

Yeah, every vehicle I have driven does this. I haven't driven too many in my four years driving experience, but these are the vehicles I have driven through at least a whole tank:

2006 Mustang & 2008 Mustang GT
2007 Mercedes-Benz ML350
2005 Mercedes-Benz C55 AMG
2003 Ford Focus Station Wagon & 2005 Ford Focus Hatchback
1996 Mercedes-Benz C280
1992 Mazda Protege
2001 Toyota Echo

They've all experienced odd fuel levels. The last half of the tank always drains quicker than the first half. I'm suspecting an odd shape of the gas tank or something... but I'm not sure how they're measured in the first place.

I guess I'll check this out on my 2008 MCSa coming in a few weeks! I'm not placing high hopes on an accurate gauge, but this has never been a concern to me! As long as it is fun!

Alright, alright, I'm convinced that it's normal. I had this issue in my 320i, but I'd say it was about 60% the first half and 40% the second. My Audi A4's gauge is actually perfect, pretty much dead on. Yes, my past cars have not been linear, but certainly not to this degree... this just seems extreme to me.

Anyway, thanks for clarifying. It still boggles my mind that with all the engineering that goes into cars they can't put a couple extra sensors into the fuel tank and do some algebra to get the gauge to provide a proper reading!

I'm with you on that one! Goodness, it is irritating sometimes (on long drives) when you think you have half a tank when you actually only have a quarter. Yikes! Hope you're not stuck in the middle of nowhere...

I confess I don't even treat it as a gauge, per se...just a friendly reminder that the car does, in fact, need gas to run. I'm not one to run it down to the last drop either...so when those last two red light come on (I hate red lights) I just gas up.

I'd have to agree with many of the other posters as well. I've driven a *lot* of different vehicles and I can't think of even one that appeared to have a linear fuel gauge reading. It takes forever to get them to budge off "F" and when near empty they drop like a stone.

With respect to the perceived "inaccuracy": I've always figured that fuel gauges were intentionally non-linear -- it gives you a more "sensitive" reading the lower you get on fuel. Does it really matter whether your tank is 15/16, 7/8, 3/4? Not really - it is essentially full. When it gets down around 1/4 it *does* matter. That is when you really want to know when you have 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 left. It would be absolutely trivial for the car's ECM to linearize the reading before it is displayed. The simple fact that it is not done makes me think that it is meant to be this way.

Of course if the above is true then auto manufacturers could do a better job of communicating what their gauges are truly displaying.