[PNF]

There is a signal that says how much gas you have left (or how many more miles you can drive).

Are those accurate? Say if it says I have zero miles left, does the car really just stop?

I have ran out of gas in a car ever and i usually fill up when the car is about 1/4 or 1/8th, just before the light comes on in my IS300.

It came real close today as the indicator says that I have about 15 miles left, and I am on a highway with the next gas station would be about 5-7 miles out..

So, just wondering, how much BMW puts in reserve gas if any?

[jlstyle]

I drove mine when it said 0 mile left but I still drove more than 10 miles to find a cheap gas station anyways. I bet it could at least drive 20 miles.

[ragingclue]

On my E36, it was almost a gallon.

I wouldn't push it with these cars though. It's already kinda scary knowing that the calculations of "range" are off by a good 20%+. Whoever did the math there didn't do a very good job. I don't trust it whatsoever. And, with this car, you can't afford to be wrong about how much gas you have left....

[chazzz]

If you drive your E92 to the drop of gas left, you'll likely to have a failed high pressure fuel pump. When your onboard computer tells you that you are on fuel reserve, it's time to get gas ASAP.

[anerbe]

the estimated miles left varys between model, and probably even car...

my friend's e39 m5 with 25 miles left would run out of gas. my old m3 could run 20 miles after -- (actually read -- after 0)

it's a crap shoot. unless you want to physically run out of gas to see how long you can run, fill up as soon as the light goes off to be safe.

[BK]

No, of course the miles to empty isn't entirely accurate. How would the car know how fast you're going to drive those miles, whether they are uphill or downhill, etc.?

Instead, what it does is make an educated guess, based on your mpg for the last 15-20 miles of driving. That's a decent estimate, but don't rely on it.

[PNF]

Wow, very fast reply.

I was going to delete this thread because I did a search and found a couple thread on this already.

Mod: sorry about this. Please feel free to merge/delete this thread.
-------------------

Back to topic, the car actually will signal you "reserve gas" ?? I have just filled up the car before I came in for work and I did read somewhere here about HPTP failure is due to water condensation in the gas tank (well, one of the probable cause?)

We cant possibly keep the tank FULL all the time.. and I believe this might be more of a problem for those of you on the northeast/snowy area AND parking the car outside?

[blakjack23]

Like others have said...your car won't just stop.

This got me scared, but I drove another 2 miles to the gas station.

[AndreyATC]

Once you get -----, you have about a gallon left
So depends on your driving, you can still drive 15-30mil

[PNF]

Originally Posted by AndreyATC

Once you get -----, you have about a gallon left
So depends on your driving, you can still drive 15-30mil

So, about 1 gallon left when it shows -----...

Not that bad actually~ 1 gallon is more than I thought and 1 gallon is good for another 10 miles at least with normal driving.

[Accel Junky]

16.1 plus a 2.1gal reserve. I got to ---- last night and filled it up. Put in 15.79gal. So I should have had 2.31gal left after hitting zero. My guess is that the fuel pump would cavitate or something if you let it go dry so the reserve versus the false zero is to prevent idiot drivers from running out.

[mroach]

I assume the computer knows you have about a gallon left but doesn't want to tell you that you could drive another 25 miles because you know someone would think "cool I don't need gas yet," put the hammer down, run out of fuel in 20 miles, and then sue BMW because they ran out of gas on the highway and got raped while walking to a gas station.

At least this way they can say "we told you so."

[hanmaas]

exactly. i don't get why people even let their gas run so low, it cant be that hard to get gas once the the yellow light comes on. i myself dont even let it get to that point, 1/4 is when i hit the pump.

[Accel Junky]

Originally Posted by hanmaas

exactly. i don't get why people even let their gas run so low, it cant be that hard to get gas once the the yellow light comes on. i myself dont even let it get to that point, 1/4 is when i hit the pump.

For me, it's all psychological. The longer I stretch the fill up, the better I feel. I also put only $20 in at a time (well, with the current low gas prices). I drive much more carefully when I have less gas in the tank at all times. Just personal I guess. I have run out of gas once or twice in other cars trying to pull this, but this is a more forgiving car.

[ncoig]

If you use the "secret menu" in the center console, you can see precisely how much gas is left, in liters. I find it hard to believe there's a gallon "reserve" unless you count the filler neck. I inadvertently got down to 13 miles remaining, and filled up with 16.15gal, which is the most I ever filled. I doubt there was much left.

-N

[fermion]

I think the 16.1 gallons is including the gas reserve...

[shaddai]

I just filled up today with just less than 15 gallons and the computer said I had 17 miles to empty... that's the closest I've come to -----.

[Accel Junky]

Originally Posted by ncoig

I find it hard to believe there's a gallon "reserve" unless you count the filler neck.

It says in my manual, below the 16.1 fuel capacity, 2.1 gallon reserve but it could be inclusive. I'm not sure.

[demosthenes]

Here's what my owner's manuals says:

Fuel tank: ~16.1/61 US gal/liters
including reserve of ~2.1/8.0 US gal/liters

[Accel Junky]

Originally Posted by demosthenes

Here's what my owner's manuals says:

Fuel tank: ~16.1/61 US gal/liters
including reserve of ~2.1/8.0 US gal/liters

Oh, hell, now I remember. Yeah, it does say including reserve. Guess I better be more careful. I had .31 gallons left at ----

[waterp7]

Today I got it to go to - - - - ... for a long period of time. I got scared so I threw in half a gallon at a mobil and then ran to a Shell station (my personal favorite) which was about 3 miles away. At the Shell station, I filled in 15.922 gallons. So adding both fillups, the total fill up came out roughly to 16.422 gallons. Does this mean we have a reserve tank beyong the specified 16.1 gallons? I was running on fumes if we don't.

[E90SLAM]

what about fuel density?

for example, in cooler temperature....
or...when i go for canyon runs, when i drove from near sea level to around 3,300 feet above sea level (according to GPS)...the fuel level drops....but after downhill section...the fuel quantity increased...

anywayz, when fuel reserve light comes on...just gas up....