E30 Fuel gauge accurate?

[isis 16]

since getting the e30, fuel consumption on this is horrendous compared to my m52.

i've kept filling up full tank only to barely get 400K's out of a 60l tanks.

tank was sitting near empty today and decided to fill up thinking it'll at least take 55 litres.

but in the end it took just 45l! strange considering the needle was sitting near empty!

i've had an e30 318iS in the past and it just kept going no matter how hard i push it.

the gauge was also pretty accurate.

is there something i could do to get a more accurate gauge? clean the fuel sender?

cheers

[pureboiracer 0]

i've had 2 e30s one a 2 litre and one a 2.5 and they've both been pretty crap on gas. 400k to a 60l tank is a lot more than what i've ever got. what kind of e30 is it? does it run rough at all or does it sit under temp on the temp gauge? also is there much smoke out the back of it?

also if your gauge is reading inacuratly check the plug in the back of the insrument cluster. reach up behind it and pull on the wires and see if it moves. this happend to my friends car. it turned out to be the cable tie holding the wires to the plug was infact pulling the plug out slightly. also check the contacts at the sender end too

Edited October 26, 2008 by sydwayz e30

[Matty104 0]

i've had 2 e30s one a 2 litre and one a 2.5 and they've both been pretty crap on gas. 400k to a 60l tank is a lot more than what i've ever got.

Damn, Here was me thinking that my bad economy was because there was something wrong with the car,

[bravo 35]

I drive mine hard pretty much all the time. Long trips aveage between 8.5l/100km and 9.5l/100km. Short trips up near the 11l/100km.

60l tank = 600km.+

[mtech1e30 0]

Do you wait until the light comes on before you fill up? The light on mine comes up after the needle goes past the E, and if I fill as soon as the light comes on it takes approx 45L to fill.

The last few fills I have got:

507km 46.64L

447km 41.07L

441km 40.62L

M10 318i (55L tank).

[Apex 693]

I drive mine hard pretty much all the time. Long trips aveage between 8.5l/100km and 9.5l/100km. Short trips up near the 11l/100km.

60l tank = 600km.+

Same, only I have to drive hard to keep up with modern cars!!

After a recent service we are getting 550-600 km around town. The gauge moves slow when its near full and near emty, we have done over 50km on fuel light before.

[gmccormack 0]

I drained an E30 tank completely to remove it from my old 323. When I refitted it I had only had a 10 litre petrol can to refill it from. Even with 10 litres in it the empty light was still on, solid. There is probaby close to 15 or so litres left in the tank when the light comes on.

[bmw.maniac 1]

I drained an E30 tank completely to remove it from my old 323. When I refitted it I had only had a 10 litre petrol can to refill it from. Even with 10 litres in it the empty light was still on, solid. There is probaby close to 15 or so litres left in the tank when the light comes on.

That's good news for me haha. I read in the owner's book that the light comes on when there's 6 litres left, so I got a bit of a fright when my light came on after 430 km of driving! It's an '88 318i

Edited October 27, 2008 by Eddy

[isis 16]

320 wagon

Well i only drive it on the weekends and the odd weekday.

i push it now and again.

But yes i got a fright too after filling up a ful tank for the first time to find that after just over 350Ks, its sitting near empty!

has had a full service.

so i'm thinking when its sitting near empty, i've at least got 150Ks - but sitting on empty makes me nervous!

[hotwire 352]

320 wagon

Well i only drive it on the weekends and the odd weekday.

i push it now and again.

But yes i got a fright too after filling up a ful tank for the first time to find that after just over 350Ks, its sitting near empty!

has had a full service.

so i'm thinking when its sitting near empty, i've at least got 150Ks - but sitting on empty makes me nervous!

Only acurate measure of consumption is to measure distance travelled by fuel used.

I did have an issue with the tank when I first got my now E30 race car (facelift) where the fuel light would come on at 1/3 tank & soon after the car would stop. After investigation I found the RHS tank (with fuel light sensor) empty while the LHS tank was still full. Turned out the the fuel return pipe had a hole in it (LHS inside the tank). This pipe enters the LHS, runs along the bottom of the tank, over the tunnel & down into the swirl pot on the RHS. Having a hole where it did caused it to lose its prime for evening levels of both tanks. Still have no idea what could have caused this hole in the pipe inside the tank (no external damage) but solution was a replacement tank.

Not applicable to pre facelift cars as they have an external leveling tube linking both sides

Never heard of before & will probably never see again but goes to show - anything can happen.

[nath 134]

Do you wait until the light comes on before you fill up? The light on mine comes up after the needle goes past the E, and if I fill as soon as the light comes on it takes approx 45L to fill.

The last few fills I have got:

507km 46.64L

447km 41.07L

441km 40.62L

M10 318i (55L tank).

Oh god the figures, the figures! frugality runs in the family?

Hey isnt your car a 2L or something?

[mtech1e30 0]

Hey isnt your car a 2L or something?

I am not sure. It is an M10 with 92mm pistons, so someone with the appropriate maths ability could work it out. Car is a jap import that was owned by an old man who provided a log book with all receipts for the entire time it was in NZ, so I am sure the changes were not done here in NZ. The HG was too small for the cylinders, so the pistons were hitting it, which is why the HG blew, which makes me think the engine was bored out, rather than replaced by a 2L M10.

[325_driver 422]

Given my e30 325i a tune, used to only do 450 from full to the light, which i thought was alright, now it does (on trips, being nice)550 - 600, which i find quite odd, and 500 round town.

i find you cant get any accuracy round town with all the stopping and starting and changing of rpm, can be really demanding on the fuel

[325_driver 422]

Only acurate measure of consumption is to measure distance travelled by fuel used.

I did have an issue with the tank when I first got my now E30 race car (facelift) where the fuel light would come on at 1/3 tank & soon after the car would stop. After investigation I found the RHS tank (with fuel light sensor) empty while the LHS tank was still full. Turned out the the fuel return pipe had a hole in it (LHS inside the tank). This pipe enters the LHS, runs along the bottom of the tank, over the tunnel & down into the swirl pot on the RHS. Having a hole where it did caused it to lose its prime for evening levels of both tanks. Still have no idea what could have caused this hole in the pipe inside the tank (no external damage) but solution was a replacement tank.

Not applicable to pre facelift cars as they have an external leveling tube linking both sides

Never heard of before & will probably never see again but goes to show - anything can happen.

I DO NOT EVER WANT TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT PROBLEM !

[Eagle 1662]

Not sure if my fuel light even works, ive had it down on the E mark and nothing.

I tend to get 9-10L per 100km but ive never really had a trip where i haven't put my foot down a few times, so could probably could do better

[Jamez 2147483647]

my fuel gauge is so much better than your guys, it works sometimes like 1/10 trips and when it does work, i managed to travel 300km and only used 5L WOW but seriously i can do about 350-450km on a tank with the old m10 318i depends if its racing/highway/town

[bmw.maniac 1]

my fuel gauge is so much better than your guys, it works sometimes like 1/10 trips and when it does work, i managed to travel 300km and only used 5L WOW but seriously i can do about 350-450km on a tank with the old m10 318i depends if its racing/highway/town

Checked your SI board batteries?

[Jamez 2147483647]

umm no but would that explain why the service lights don't work either?

and like the problem is funny cause when its working properly (very rare) if you turn the car off and on agian it stops working

[hotwire 352]

I DO NOT EVER WANT TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT PROBLEM !

Bet you don't & probably wont have to either. The hole in the pipe was literally in the middle of the LHS tank cavity with nothing around it to have caused it.

Must admit - it had me stumped for a while - wasn't until in frustration - I had drained & removed the tank that I was able to see the problem.