Low fuel warning
 

Hi! Newbie here!

How much gas do we have on "reserve" when the fuel warning light comes on? And how many of us here run our X's on low fuel more often than we should?

Thanks and great forum site!!!

Not sure, just a few gallons. I never let it go lower than a quarter tank. I haven't seen a low fuel indicator light since I ditched my husband :rofl:

Welcome :)

With BMWs, the low warning light comes on when there's approx a 1/8th tank full, namely, when you're running on the "reserve".

This makes lots of sense. In my X3, there are 8 ticks, and when the needle falls below the second to last "tick", there's 8 litres of fuel left, which happens to be about 1/8th of the 67 litre tank. No sure of the capacity on the X5. But unlike Toyotas, when the needle says empty, it really IS empty.

I've managed to get both my X5 and e46 M3 to bounce between 0-1 miles left, as far as the ECU is concerned.

My GM truck's ECU goes down to about 20 miles left, then it just reads "Low Fuel". Why it can't go lower is beyond me. The ECU always knows how much fuel is being used at any given time, it also should have a decent understanding of how much is left in the tank.

Apples to Oranges I guess.


I don't mind running low fuel, as I live exactly 1.5 miles from a fuel station....You also stretch your fuel mileage, by not always lugging around the extra weight of fuel...But then, you also inroduce room for condensation in the tank..

It's in the manual - 10 liters which is about 2.6 US gallons.

OT...

:bustingup ...L, Ah the wrath of a woman towards her ex-hub. ;)

I try not to do that either, but there are times when I'd rather run on low fuel for awhile than to exit the interstate and get gas in a not-so-safe or deserted area.

I've noticed the "low fuel" comes up when I hit a 50km range. This is in the X5, X3 and M5. I did manage to get to a gas station in the X5 when it said 0 km left.

Not really mD, but that was a pet peeve of mine with him. What is so difficult about filling the damn tank...It was like playing chickie, he wanted to see just how far he could push it. I picked up my '01 X5 before I turned in my jeep from hell. He drove the jeep for a few weeks until we turned it in. He called me one day and asked "How much further can I go when the OBC says 0 miles to empty?" :tsk:

I never ran out of gas or missed a plane until I met him or after I left.

Ah, my lascivious geezer male brain had focused on a different interpretation of "low fuel", :yikes: .
Now, I get it...:D