So, how many times does a person need to run out of gas before they figure out that this isn't true for the MINI? My assertion is that the number is zero. One should be able to figure this out after one or two fill ups.

I don't know why MINI builds them this way, but how much intelligence does it take to adapt to the reality of the situation.

I think the chances of MINI starting a recall on this are pretty slim. They haven't even called for a recall on the cold-start timing chain tensioner problem, or vacuum pump issue, yet.

 

I re-traced my steps from the day i ran out of gas. The point from work to my stop was 5 miles. 5 miles to go from 3 ticks to out of gas? Something has to be off.

If these cars are mass produced than how come my 07 gauge was more accurate? 2 ticks left and i would go get gas and put in about 12 gallons. On the 09 and i am out of gas way before that. My commute hasn't changed that much...if anything it is more highway w/ cruise control on.

 

Mine is the same, 2 ticks left w/ 75 to 80 miles left.

 

There are levels of tolerance in any manufactured part. If a series of parts all are at one end of the tolerance range, it can add up to a significant difference from ideal.

Have you heard about engines being blueprinted for racing? This means they go over all the critical parts in an engine and make sure they are as close to the ideal (blueprint) specs as possible. The result is usually a significant improvement in performance. However, engine tolerances have probably gotten much tighter in recent years, so this may be an outdated process. It seems that gas gauge tolerances have not improved much.

 

There are some possibilities here:

The pump might be provided by multiple suppliers, calibrated slightly differently. An eight of an inch variation in the height of the float can easily mean a gallon or two difference in the measurement.

The fuel tank (plastic, right?) could be slightly malformed and a hair high at the top ... leading to the some issue as above.

A different thickness locking ring that holds the pump in would do this too.

(Last year I replaced the fuel pump in my old Saturn. The low fuel light went from indicating when I had about 2 gallons left to just half a gallon left. Yes, I learned that the hard way... by running out unexpectedly, 60mi shy of when I should have based on what the fuel gauge read!)

 

Looking at your MINI fuel gauge as a 'Clock-Face' ; 12 O'Clock = ½ Tank and 9 O'Clock = ¼ Tank (from 12 O'Clock down to 6 O'Clock each "Candy-Corn" = about one gallon).

The 'Scan-Gauge' (link in my sig) has a "fill-Up" mode than can be calibrated at fill and give accurate constant information on fuel remaining.

Aircraft fueling is further complicated by the fact of needing to consider the weight of the fuel in your trip calculation. You rarely fill the tanks, but assure that you must remain within weight limitations while having enough fuel to arrive at your destination with a minimum (never less than :30 minutes and often :45 to 2 hours, depending on expected weather and distance to alternate airports.

Aircraft fuel gauges are only required to be accurate at full and empty, when mine (and 225 others of the 235 of that model built) show 800#, there are only 600# actual fuel on board. You never believe the fuel gauge, except when it shows less than it should be at that moment of the flight.

 

Some have wildly inaccurate fuel gauges and accept it as "normal".

Others (myself included) actually have reasonably accurate fuel gauges. Consider from our viewpoint -- we will naturally think something is wrong with yours if it is so far off.

My gauge is not linear and goes down faster (but not rapidly so) after the halfway mark. The manual says when it gets down to one tick and turns red, there are approximately 2 gallons left. If I fill up at that point, it seems about right. There is no way I'll make a habit of filling up at half tank. The fill-ups are too frequent and the range is too low.

 

So far from the reading I have done plus the comments, it looks like when you hit 2 bars thats like other cars gas light coming on. I don't know if it is like this in other cars but mine the bell chimes everytime it starts up the bell chimes, the car will continue to notify you by the fact that it shows you on the tach cpu. I understand you had 3 bars when you started up and ran out of gas about 5 miles later. Does that mean it is out of whack maybe, maybe not. You could have been at the bottom of the 3rd bar. Non-the-less the second it hit the 2 bar I would have not got on the highway. I would have looked for a gas station just to be safe(unless it was a bad neighborhood or something). In future cases I would be looking for a gas station at the 4 bar and no less then the 3 bar. There really is no need to wait any longer than that. Also it might have been a freak thing it might have been the fact that you were in traffic, maybe running the a/c, hell you might have been thinking it was Ralley at Monte Carlo, the thing is you ran out of gas which sucks but, it is a lesson learned. We can go to the ends of the earth debating whats wrong but the simple thing is that nothing could be wrong. Well I am done with my soap box I will sit back and just read on to see where it goes.

 

I think I would say that some of us accept that nothing is going to change it.

How many candy corns are dark when a fill up would take 7-8 gallons?

My 2007 manual says:
When they say "indicator lamps" I take it to mean there could be more than one lit when it is down to the reserve.

How long does it take you to put 200 miles on your car? The average driver would take about a week (10,000 miles per year). For someone who drives more, I can see where they would want to extend the interval.

I can think of several reasons for filling up when you are 7-8 gal. down, rather than 11-12.

1. If gas is going up in price, as it usually is, you spend more $$ on gas by waiting longer to fill up. The longer it takes you to put miles on the car, the more pronounced this would be.

2. You always have a safety range for situations where it becomes inconvenient or impossible to get gas.

3. Less chance of doing expensive damage to the car.

 

I have an 09 as well... I usually let it get down to 1 corn/tick before I fill up. From what I have seen when you get down to 3 to 2 to 1, there is an exponential drop in miles left. However, I would expect yours to behave similar to mine and not be so off.

 

I've had two R56 MCs, now. Both have gotten about 35-37mpg. I fill up when the last two petals turn red. Average about 12-13 gallons per fill. Maybe 420-450 miles +/-.

That is pretty acceptable calibration. And, it's been the same with both cars. Lose the first petal around 115 miles +/- a bit.

I think it's reasonable for the OP to expect reliable indications like this.

Sure, once you know your gage is off, there is no excuse for running out, but there is also no reason not to get it checked.

 

I chocked up the first time to the car being so new and not calibrated. The second time the gauge dropped so fast it caught me off guard. I left a voicemail for the dealer. Hopefully they can see me soon.

 

Going from three fuel indicator lights to an empty tank in 5 miles is a manufacturing defect. Have the dealer fix it.

It's a MINI, not a Lamborghini!

 

After over 80k of frequently running it to --(no lights at all) and have never run out of gas or had any pump failure I have total faith in my OBC. Now that's with total fill-ups and filling a few gallons here and there. I've even pulled the tank and filters and found over 2 liters left at -- with no dirt or debris at the bottom of the tank. I have ALWAYS dropped the first candycorn at 90-95 miles with 74 miles left when the last two light in red.

 

exactly... I don't understand the logic of the people that are blaming this on user error and not a defect on the car

 

As it says in the manual, the only calibration the computer does is with the last 18 miles driven. We are not dealing with artificial intelligence. Human intelligence is still required.

The user error is not learning from the first time he ran out of gas. Pushing it to the edge when it had been unreliable before--that is user error.

 

I could not have put it any better!!!

 

precisely... its unreliable. whats the point of a gas gauge when its unreliable? Its obviously a defect. and he is not really "pushing it to the edge" when the car is displaying that it has gas remaining.

Yes, you are right in one thing... if he knows thats when it tank is empty, he should refill it... but that doesn't fix the problem with the car.

No matter what the owner manual says (you are treating it as if its the bible) your car should not completely run out of gas if this is what it is showing you:

 

Doctor, doctor, everytime I move like this, it hurts!

Well, then,......

 

i've driven my car to zero petals before

the Trip counter showed --- instead of a number

and it still drove fine... (i was $hitting myself tho)

when I fill it to the brim from that point it gives me about 52-53 liters of gas..

and I get 600 and change km's out the tank with mixed driving and alot of stop and go..


I have also driven my E39 M5 to the point of --- on the trip meter and still didnt face any problems


my vote goes for his gauge being innacurate...

if anything logical dictates BMW would put a Buffer in to the OBC to prevent such occurances..

 

Car is fixed. dealer found that both fuel level sensors (left and right) were sending bad data. Car was reporting 1/2 tank and actual was 1/4 tank! Replaced both sensors and sent me on my way.

Another bonus i got a brand new dark silver cooper S convertible to drive around today and the weather was wonderful.

 

Bet you're glad to know you that you are niether nuts nor a wimp, as some here were trying to make you feel.

 

Yup, glad everything is fixed. Apparently to fix to sensors they had to remove the entire back seat. What a PITA.

 

Congratulations! Maybe it pays to not simply accept and adapt to things as they are, and try to do something about the problem! Sometimes we take this "quirky" theme a touch too far.

 

Wow, well don't I feel like an *** now! Will/Flyinace2000, I owe you an apology.

I was wrong, made erroneous assumptions, and did not give the benefit of assuming you knew what you were doing. I'm sorry, and I'll try not to repeat that mistake.

I'm glad you found the real problem -- and didn't listen to people like me! -- and that it is resolved now!