The fuel gauge in my 2009 R55s has been overly "optimistic." Two "Kandy Korns" dark would mean I'd used half a tank of gas. Two red "Kandy Korns" lit mean EMPTY, not "Reserve."

The dealer replaced the sender unit (because it ran out out of gas just as it hit reserve), but it's only marginally better. 150 miles til the first light goes dark, then about 50 miles more til the next lamp goes out. When it indicates I have 3/4 tank left, I really only have about 1/4 left.

Is this normal for everyone?

 

on my 2012 cms all4, the gas gauge is not linear, but it is not off near as bad as yours is

on the other hand, i mainly use the digital display in the tach to see miles until empty, it seems to be quite accurate

scott

 

I noticed that the 2012 MINI hardtop I had for a week as loaner has a "1/2 Tank" marking on the fuel gauge, but I didn't put enough miles on the car to see if that was accurate.

I was using the "Miles Until Empty" readout, too, but I ran out of gas with it telling me I had 56 miles to go.

 

i get fuel at a station that is 27 miles away, the nearest that has fuel with no ethanol

i usually wait until the miles until empty display is under 35 miles to make a fuel run, but have left with 28 miles until empty

my digital display is very accurrate

scott

 

The gauge in my car is also non-linear, but nowhere near as bad as the OP's. It takes over 150 miles for the first carrot to go dark, and then about 75 miles for the next few. The last couple seem to go faster, and I have about 100 miles of range left when I get to the two red carrots. I've driven probably 70 or 80 of that before, and have yet to run out of gas.

 

Just curious, as your readings are similar to mine, have you filled up your '12 when the gauge reaches the "1/2 Tank" marking? If so, how many gallons did it hold?

 

...and P.S.

I love that color combo on your MINI!

 

I have only filled when down to two carrots or lower, so I don't have solid info on how many gallons it takes to fill when at 1/2 tank.

Guessing from the miles traveled, it is more like 1/3 of a tank left at that point.

And thanks, I like the color combo too!

 

That is totally reading you fuel level wrong!


Using the OBDII readings, for me, the when the candy corn at the 12 o'clock position is lit, the tank is at 50%. When the reserve indication comes on at two corns, the fuel level is reportedly at 20% and shows I have 70+ miles remaining, and I have driven until zero miles (not running out).

 

Odd how many different gage behaviors are noted here between the different commenters? Mine is 1 corn = 130 miles. Seems to be rather linear after that. I habitually fill up before reserve although I've gone down into the reserve a few times and I was surprised to find how much fuel the car would take compared to the spec'd amount - don't remember the exact numbers but I know that I've put in the mid 15 gallon range into the car and the spec is for... 13.2, as I recall. Oh, BTW it's an '09 R56. Perhaps someone remembers the facts but I remember an issue that think was with Shell gas that was damaging fuel gages and they had to compensate some car owners. Just throwing that out... don't know... perhaps helpful? Best!

 

Either your gauge is oriented differently than the 2012, or your gauge is way more non-linear than mine! The 12 o'clock carrot in mine is the third one from the top, and it typically becomes the uppermost lit carrot when I have driven between 200 and 250 miles after filling the tank. (I get about 600 miles out of a typical tank.)

 

For me, the first candy corn is about 80 miles. I rarely let the tank get to two candy corns. I generally fill up at three corns and it takes about 10 gallons.

Dave

 

Here's the little graph I gave my Service Adviser. It was a "best case" report.

 

My previous old beater of a car had a broken gas gauge. I had to reset the trip meter every time I filled up, and refuel before about 380 miles. Even after getting this MINI with a gas gauge that seems to work, I still reset the trip meter and look at that more than the fuel gauge. I suggest ignoring your gas gauge and go by your trip meter instead (unless you can get it fixed under warranty).

 

Update:
Coming home from work the other day, I saw that the middle carrot was the uppermost one that is on. In other words, the gauge appears to be reading half-full. The trip odometer, which I reset when I fill up, was reading 398 miles. The distance-to-empty readout showed a bit over 300 miles to go, but I have doubts that I would get to 700 miles total. I do, however, anticipate making it to 600 miles when I get to two red carrots.

So there's another data point for you.

 

wow, that is GREAT gas mileage! i have a 2009 R57 and my fuel gauge reads pretty close to the OP's. kind of annoying, but i've gotten used to it and go by mileage as well.
my next car is going to be a justa for sure.

 

"Justa" warning: My mileage is not typical. I have to work pretty hard to get 50 MPG, and do things that other people will not do. (Like drive at 55 MPH on the freeway.) Don't expect similar results unless you want to specifically drive for fuel economy.

 

Yeah, I've got big feet (or at least a big right foot).

;-)

 

UPDATE

I had my MINI dealer replace a fuel sender last year to correct this, but to no avail. I began to accept this as just "Life with a MINI".

A follow-up contact from MINI (customer satisfaction) encouraged me to try again. Then two harrowing long road trips, with long distances between gas stations and rapidly falling fuel gauge and almost 14 gallon refills with two candy-corns lit, finally brought my patience to an end. Back it went (with two weeks left on warranty).

This time, the dealer (who said a service bulletin had been issued) found resistance faults in the senders and replaced both. First lamp goes out now at appx. 85 miles, as opposed to the 150 miles that had been the norm. Looks promising!