Im the type of guy who tends to wait until the last minute to put gas in my car. I have been doing this for years and have never been stuck on the side of the road so its just good timing with a bit of luck I suppose.

Yesterday I pulled into my neighborhood with "18 miles" and one candy corn left on my gas gauge. There is a gas station 20 seconds away from my house so I wasnt worried. But when I went to start it up later, it would die immediately. I held down the clutch, and pressed the button and it would kind of sputter and die.

It still read "18 miles" on the computer so I was confused and was wondering what else it could be? My car is 2 weeks old and doesnt even have 1000 miles so im kind of worried but I dont think theres much I can do. Anyway, after the third or fourth time it started up and drove to the gas station normally which kind of worried me too because if there was so little gas that it wouldnt start, how could it make it to the gas station no problem like nothing happened? Maybe it wasnt because of the gas? Does anyone know what could have happened???

 

I would say you definitely starved your car for Fuel, these cars are not as "typical" as an American POS and as such have quite a few quirks you will find as you become more experienced in driving your MINI. Lessoned learned don't rely on your MTE or the "Candy Corn" icon to tell you when to fuel, I personally fuel when Molly is @ 1/2 Tank, but then she is a Garage Queen and not driven daily.

 

How much gas did it take to fill it up?

 

Oh man thats gonna be difficult. Its such a habit lol

I dont remember....what conclusion could you draw from that?

 

If you want to keep your car "spirited"and running right I wouldn't continue to let it almost run dry.It's not good for the fuel pump or fuel filter...Lessoned learned.Get in a better habit if you want this car to last.........

 

Unlike almost all of the "American POS" Jeeps, etc that I have owned and actually CAN rely on the gages and don't have quite so many "quirks". I don't buy cars based on quality ratings, but more of the design and fun-to-drive factor. I knew the Mini was a roll-of-the-dice going in. As my first Euro car I expected it to be worse than my car turned out to be, so I got lucky compared to several on this forum. I did find out as I got more experience with the car that BMW/Mini doesn't give a crap about poor mechanical/electronics design and reliability, at least in their entry level segments. I compare my MINI to my 91 Jeep Grand Wagoneer... another iconic design. The Wagoneer was a great design, got lots of looks and compliments, went like a tank off-road, and was really fun to drive. But it was an AMC product and had lots of "quirks" including an inaccurate fuel gage. The reliability was ??, the electronics sucked, and it was built by a parent company that cared more about image than quality... just like current BMW/Mini. Funny thing is, I'd buy another '91 Grand Wagoneer.

 

Alot of the problems forementioned in this forum has alot to do with taking care of your MINI and doing the prevetative maintenance before its too late.Like this guy/gal letting his fuel almost run empty...He/she is just asking for problems.

 

Since Minikins has lived with me, she's never been below 3/4 tank. She loves me.

 

Was the car setting level when you tried to start it?

 

If you know how many gallons your take holds, and how much it took to fill, then you know just how empty you are/were.

 

I agree with you, but remember the OP is a New MINI Owner and as such will have to learn the Limits of his/her MINI!! I fuel Molly when she's 1/2 tank low, and she is at the Dealership every 6mo. for "preventative" Maintenance.

 

well thank you all for your responses and I guess I learned my lesson. Gotta start changing my driving habits as well. The car was sitting level when I tried to start it btw.

 

I agree to an extent. Some problems are PM related, many are not. This forum is filled with incidences of cold start rattle, HPFP failures, vacuum pump failures/engine destruction, stuck sunroofs, windows not dipping properly, crappy clutches, tc tensioners backing out, carbon build up on valves, etc. These things have nothing to do with PM. Inaccurate gages have nothing to do with preventative maintenance. They just show poor attention to detail in design and quality. If an "American POS" car or truck can have a gage that is accurate (or at least skewed) enough to not let you run out of gas, surely BMW/MINI can.

I never suggested it makes the Mini a bad car... mine has been mostly reliable for 75,000 miles discounting some of the "quirks" like cold start rattle, leaking sunroof, noisy a/c, 4 clutch pedal assemblies, etc. I understand why people like them. Compared to 95% of small cars, they are more fun and more interesting. I am only saying BMW and MINI need to step up and fix their issues in terms of design, quality and customer support. We shouldn't have to accept sub-par quality, or "quirks", for an over-priced, sporty compact car.

 

My Mini Clubman is about 3 months old. I haven't had any problems at all. I'm wondering what you ask the dealership to do on these 6-month visits?
Thanks.

 

A car with w/ 18 miles DTE on a significant angle is pretty much doomed. We are talking less than 64oz in a gas tank. I'd get very nervous if my lifted Wrangler was at less than 6 miles left on the tank....

 

Caught unprepared once, I drove over 5 miles with "0" miles DTE. It was uphill.

 

Yes,I understand what your driving at,but I have read posts on here where people are asking can I put reg. gas in my tank.There again with the ethanol content in lower grade gas associated with the long MINI oil change intervals WILL potentially create carbon build up.I myself have never followed MINI's maintenance program as it is far too long to neglect the vitals.It must have paid off because I have'nt' experienced any of the HPFP.COLD START,or CARBON BUILD UP.I am not saying it can't happen on a flawed engine,just you can prevent it to some degree .Additionally,I have read posts on here where there are some that are modding theres to the limit.Dah, your just asking for problems.Yeah I believe you can mod these cars but not to the extreme.I know I will probably get negative feedback on this,but all said here is take precautionary measures on these,as you stated "quicky cars".

 

If were are talking about an R56 "S" . The reason you don't run them out of fuel, or nearly out is simple you will burn up the High Pressure Fuel Pump. The HPFP operates at 1700 psi and relies on the fuel flowing through it for cooling.

 

So I kind of had the same problem this morning (it seems to happen after not driving the car for a while). I am getting worried because I dont like having problems with such a new car.

Im hoping that I am just doing something wrong and it isnt the car. Now I know how to drive stick but this is my first manual car so there are things that I am still learning so please excuse the dumb/embarrassing questions and comments.

When starting a manual MINI, does the clutch have to be depressed all the way to the floor, or should the point where you would normally shift do? I dont think I have had this problem in the past but maybe the mini is different? or maybe I am doing something different recently? again the car is lower on gas but it did it one quick time when there was half a tank.

But before I get flamed, when I say lower on gas I dont mean as low as before. 2 candy corns and about 60 miles till empty. I went to put gas this morning however. It shouldnt give me problems then right?

Could there be something wrong with the clutch? I really hope not :(

Thanks again for any input

 

It's best to just push the pedal to the limit of its travel, just to be certain the lock-out switch (which prevents the starter from engaging when the clutch is not depressed) gets tripped.

It's possible, but not likely. If there's anything wrong with the clutch assembly related to starting, it would probably be the lock-out switch. But going back to read your original post, I'm thinking more along the lines of a problem with the high-pressure fuel pump. If that's the failing component (and it is a weak point on the turbocharged MINI's), you're almost certainly under warranty for that item, regardless of the model year.

 

Thanks timfitz,

So just to follow up, I have been depressing the pedal all the way when starting and have not had it do the same thing since monday night. however this morning it did stutter a bit and drop in rpms as if it might want to stall out. so paranoid about these things! Ill update if there is any major changes or persistence.

 

Just as a matter of reference, the clutch should be depressed all the way to the floor EVERY time you put your foot on it. Don't sit still with the clutch pedal depressed (take it out of gear and hold with the brake) and NEVER rest your foot on the pedal especially when stopped at intersections. All that causes unnecessary clutch plate and throw-out bearing wear. You'll read in here about folk complaining about 10 to 20K mile or less clutch failure and others with 70K to 100K+ miles on their clutches. There's gotta be a clutch management pattern in there somewhere.

Ha, good, you posted that while I was deep in composition.

 

For starters Molly gets a "present" every 6mo., not always installed at the Dealer, like for her 3rd Birthday she got a new set of shoes. I still want to add Driving Lights, a Roof Rack, and Chrome Mirror Caps, the Driving Lights will be Dealer installed, not sure about the others, we'll have to wait and see.
Every 6mo. she is at the Dealership for an Oil change, Cabin Filter R&R, Wiper Blades R&R, and anything else I can think of between visits.

 

Yea I definitely dont rest my foot on the clutch. Im actually kind of paranoid of that lol.

well it hasnt stalled out again but sometimes in the mornings it will drop in rpms 2 seconds after ignition below 1k like it wants to stall but I just hold the clutch in until it jumps back up. Still not sure if this is normal....

Im also having another problem but I started a new thread on it, it has to do with an oil light I have been getting on the dash

 

Just as a quick update this has become something that occurs every morning, because of not driving for awhile. Throughout the day with only a few hours of rest it does not occur. I will be taking it to the dealership asap. Not happy about this problem so soon after me buying the car however