So I'm used to the fuel gauges in other cars going a few ticks past "E" before I'm REALLY out of gas. Learned the hard way yesterday that in the 8er, WYSIWYG!!! :mad

Walked about 2 miles to the nearest EXXON (in the 93-degree sticky Memphis heat, no less), and find they don't have any gas cans on the shelf. Informed the clerk that he works at a GAS STATION, and he just might want to keep some of those handy containers in stock... So I buy a few gallons of distilled water out of the fridge at $1.89 per, empty 'em out and fill with gas and walk back to my car. Only then do I realize I don't have a funnel with me!

Rip out the back cardboard of a legal pad in my bag and curl it for a makeshift funnel. Genius! Pour in the 2 gallons and all is well. Fuel needle creeps up about two-thirds of the length of the low fuel light on the gauge.

So if you were ever wondering how much gas you have when the "low fuel" light flips on, might I assert that you have about 3 gallons in the tank! Just thought I'd share my first funny experience in my recently-acquired 8er...

Sorry to hear this, Glad you got her back up, I carry a Bmw fuel can that fits inside the spare tire, Looks like a mini spare, From Germany too! I'll take a pic in a few.
***Edit, Here it is***

2.3 gallons

Luckily, Only others have needed to use it so far!-)

Nice one 8eight.

OP consistently low fuel is bad for your fuel filter and pumps. I hope there aren't 2 pumps in these cars. On my weekend rendezvous playing with this car, I have found out that everything on our 850's come in pairs or worse, quadruples.

Nice one 8eight.

OP consistently low fuel is bad for your fuel filter and pumps. I hope there aren't 2 pumps in these cars. On my weekend rendezvous playing with this car, I have found out that everything on our 850's come in pairs or worse, quadruples.

ahhh, yet another myth...
The only thing that is bad is the walking in the summer heat when you run out. Contrary to mythological belief, the gas does not lubricate the pumps....

ahhh, yet another myth...
The only thing that is bad is the walking in the summer heat when you run out. Contrary to mythological belief, the gas does not lubricate the pumps....

More to do with the sediments being pumped though. How clean is a 13+ year old fuel tank?:)

I hope there aren't 2 pumps in these cars. On my weekend rendezvous playing with this car, I have found out that everything on our 850's come in pairs or worse, quadruples.Having 2 of everthing is not such a bad thing for a wrecher! It leaves you with parts to diagnose problems on your own even if you have just a touch of wrench in you, It also lets you limp to safety on just half a engine, That's priceless when you need to get out the way!

***If you have doubt about the blood in your tank, Change the filters more often or ad a additive and then change them, Should help.***

More to do with the sediments being pumped though. How clean is a 13+ year old fuel tank?:)

Don't know about yours specifically, but mine (and it was a car that saw no maintenance until I got it) was actually very clean.

Sorry to hear this, Glad you got her back up, I carry a Bmw fuel can that fits inside the spare tire, Looks like a mini spare, From Germany too! I'll take a pic in a few.
***Edit, Here it is***

2.3 gallons

Luckily, Only others have needed to use it so far!-)

illegal in the US!

...I have a few of them :devillook

You have one fuel pump on the right rear passenger side, early cars have two. That pump is shared with the later M73 pumps and is only sold as a complete unit ($500+) unless you are handy. Gas may not lubricate the pump but it does cool it. IMO you are playing with fire to let your tank get that low, especially on a regular basis. I'm sorry for your troubles.

The myth is that low fuel around the pump will not cool it!, absolutely no fact in that! The gas cools the pump by going thru it, not around it! Many pumps have an acoustic rubber around the pump and that certainly would insulate any cooling effect from the outside. As long as fuel is going thru the pump, it is fine! When you run out of fuel, the car stops and the pump will shut down shortly as controlled by the DME.

The car took 84.35 Litres of fuel without topping it off. The needle was just still in the yellow zone prior to filling up.

that means you had 5.65 liters left in the tank...

that means you had 5.65 liters left in the tank...

Yup. I was thinking seriously about filling up next time as I had about 25 km of city driving left. The gas station I prefer is about 10km from home. On the hwy though I would have been praying for a gas station within 40 km. The range function went from 30 km to zero in about 2 km of driving so it scared me.

Wonder how accurate your MID would have been. I notice mine counts up miles if I'm cruising the freeways. And drops real fast in the city.

LouM...

I'm sure we've all done that at least once in our lifetime - a mechanic friend of mine used to call the gas canisters "Idiot Cans" :-)
I usually try to make sure I don't too close to the low fuel level, I really don't fancy the idea of having to push the 8 at all.


Ref running low - not advisable but shouldn't do much harm really, There shouldn't be much sediment in the tank since being a fuel injected engine the fuel is on a continuous return circuit anyway meaning it's circulating through the pumps and pipes and the Fuel Filters meaning any crud should get trapped in the filters.

European car enthusiasts tell me that Shell lower blends are better or at par with other gas stations medium to higher blends. Myth or true?

European car enthusiasts tell me that Shell lower blends are better or at par with other gas stations medium to higher blends. Myth or true?

Don't know about the lower brands but Shell V-power is excellent fuel and worth the few pennies extra per litre - I get better consumption figures using V-Power compared to ordinary fuel.

I use V-power Shell as it is the only fuel here without ethanol in it.

Don't know about the lower brands but Shell V-power is excellent fuel and worth the few pennies extra per litre - I get better consumption figures using V-Power compared to ordinary fuel.

Shell is part of the Top Tier fuels list but I don't know about it being worth more than other fuels. Honestly though whenever any of the German car companies have a running problem the first thing they say is the Americans have crappy fuel because of all the sulfur.

Top tier doesnt mean all that much to me.. I used quick trip brand gasoline here in arizona for the last year and avg'd 2-4mpg less than I do when I use chevron. I alternated between every few tanks and they run about the same, but the chevron just produced more MPG. Never really tried shell, but thats been my experience with chevron.