when the fuel light comes on

[e30316coupe]

roughly how far have i got left in the tank?

[Bob_S]

enough time to drive to the nearest garage to put fuel in

[stonesie]

It comes on with about 1 - 1.1/2 gallon's remaining, but running an old fuel tank that low is a bad idea because any sediment in there will be sucked into the pump.

[kam-325i]

Book says around 6 Liters/Litres

[e30316coupe]

about 40 miles then?

[stonesie]

I would not push it that far, the pickup is not pressed against the bottom of the tank so it will never get it all.

[e30316coupe]

doh! Once i start working properly and that il treat shim to a full tank of shell.

[Funnybear]

You get a fuel light? Lucky lucky barstard.

[E30ACE]

i got about 35 miles on my tank,only because couldnt find a petrol station.

[Morat]

Fuel lights are usually working, but it can take some desperation/balls to get the fuel gauge past empty so it lights up. (or a jerry-can in the boot if you're feeling sensible!)

[Hellbound]

My fuel light and brakes light have stopped working recently. How difficult will it be to sort out? I'll have to get someone who knows what they're doing.

[Jhonno]

My fuel light comes on with over 2 gallons remaining.. I have brimmed it several times after it has come on and can only get 45L in there.. (Baby 55L fuel tank)

[Felix79]

My fuel light and brakes light have stopped working recently. How difficult will it be to sort out? I'll have to get someone who knows what they're doing.

If your in Oxford ( headington ) I can help sort it out for you mate as I got spare clusters , guages , SI boards in my garage which we can use. This is one of the very few jobs I can do on an e30 myself.

[caneswell]

I got 60 miles out of my 316i when I had a jerry can in the back to get me going again.

I don't buy the idea that it's that bad to run a tank dry (not on a petrol car anyway!). Fuel pick-up are always on the bottom of the tank anyway regardless of how high the fuel is. As soon as you drive around a few corners it's all going to be sloshing about everywhere anyway.

[325isporttech1]

My petrol light lives on and its never done it any halm running it all the way down, you have 6 litres when the light comes on so quite a bit the light is the only thing i have to go on as the gauge is terrible

[al-g]

either the bulb has gone in mine or i don't have 1.

[Gortour]

As said above the gauge has to go VERY low to get the light on... And I do mean VERY low.
It's well under the red section.

[GrindCulture]

My fuel light comes on regularly, mostly because I'm a complete pikey and only just put enough fuel in to last me the week most of the time.

[grantfk10]

I've managed 35 miles after the light comes on - must stick a can of petrol in the boot and try harder next time....

[Morat]

A neat trick if you have a 13 button OBC is to press the two outside number buttons (1000, and 1 from memory) and it will give a readout of the current fuel remaining, in litres. It's probably complete fiction - but fun anyway

[Gortour]

May need enlarging, but this is where my fuel light comes on... Well under the red sector.

[325isporttech1]

Thats were mine lives unless you put more than £10 in it is broke thow because it waves at me all the time...must fix

[Gortour]

I honestly believed my light didn't work... Gauge seemed fine, but never saw the light.
Then saw a thread on here with a similar pic of the empty gauge and the light on, and put a can in the boot to try it.
Took the pic above when the light did come on.

[djk]

I run nearly every tankful down to the light, there's usually the thick end of 2 gallons (9.088l) left in there if the quoted tank capacity is to be believed.