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Gas Tank Capacity in an '89 325is?

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    #1

    Gas Tank Capacity in an '89 325is?

    So all along I've thought my tank capacity was 14.5 gallons because I read that somewhere and when my gauge needle is towards the bottom of the red, I fill the tank completely with ~12 gallons.

    Just the other day I read that late model cars have 16.2 gallon tanks (except 318's?) and it would make sense that an '89 counts as a late model.

    So what is the tank capacity and/or is there a way to determine it other than running it till I'm out of gas on the side of the road?

    Thanks.
    '89 BMW 325is Zinnoberrot / '88 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW GTI 16v Bright Blue Metallic / '91 BMW 325i Black / '91 BMW 325i Sport Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Montana Green / '01 Audi A4 Avant TQM Silver Metallic / '01 VW Jetta GLX VR6 Black
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    #2
    The fuel gauges in these things are not even close to accurate. I've put 15 gals in a late model.
    sigpic
    -Sean : 91 Calypso 325i : Castro Motorsports SoCal Spec E30 #33

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      #3
      it is 16.5 but for whatever reason the gas guage is always inaccurate like that. Like you I fill up in 12-14 gallons from the time the yellow light comes on. ... Odd but its probably due to the way our fuel tank is designed to hold fuel

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        #4
        Okay, yes, I've never had the yellow fuel light come on, where is that located in the cluster?
        '89 BMW 325is Zinnoberrot / '88 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW GTI 16v Bright Blue Metallic / '91 BMW 325i Black / '91 BMW 325i Sport Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Montana Green / '01 Audi A4 Avant TQM Silver Metallic / '01 VW Jetta GLX VR6 Black

        Comment

          #5
          Originally posted by Cinnabar325is View Post
          Okay, yes, I've never had the yellow fuel light come on, where is that located in the cluster?
          believe it or not, you'd have to go below the red mark before that light comes up on the cluster. its on the left of the fuel gauge. i know its nerve racking but if you give it a try. the yellow light indicates you have 1.6 gallons left before your engine is powered by fumes. post e30 bmw clusters, BMW revised this indicator to avoid confusion.

          when i first had my car i htought the low fuel light blew out but I had 2 different clusters and both are the same

          Comment

            #6
            16.2 gallons of raw powaaaaa...
            sigpic

            Comment

              #7
              Originally posted by bmwstephen View Post
              believe it or not, you'd have to go below the red mark before that light comes up on the cluster. its on the left of the fuel gauge. i know its nerve racking but if you give it a try. the yellow light indicates you have 1.6 gallons left before your engine is powered by fumes. post e30 bmw clusters, BMW revised this indicator to avoid confusion.

              when i first had my car i htought the low fuel light blew out but I had 2 different clusters and both are the same
              Good info. So the light is "inside" the gauge towards the left or "outside" the gauge on the left?
              '89 BMW 325is Zinnoberrot / '88 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW GTI 16v Bright Blue Metallic / '91 BMW 325i Black / '91 BMW 325i Sport Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Montana Green / '01 Audi A4 Avant TQM Silver Metallic / '01 VW Jetta GLX VR6 Black

              Comment

                #8
                inside the fuel guage. literally right next to the red mark area on the fuel guage

                Comment

                  #9
                  the reseve comes on when there's ~1.6 gallons left

                  there's nothing wrong with the gas gauge on E30s. it's very accurate, unless you've got a huge dent in your tank or something.

                  the reason you never fill it to the actual capacity of your tank is you can't drain it all the way. it would be basically impossible to fill it up to 14.5 gallons unless you put in a brand new, dry tank. same with the larger 325i tank. even if you run it until the engine dies, it still won't take 16+ gallons, because less than half a gallon isn't enough for the fuel pump to pick up.
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                  Bimmerlabs

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                    #10
                    Good info guys, I appreciate it. I decided to run my tank down the other day to see if the gas light would come on (didn't know if it worked or not). Sure enough, the light came on when the needle was completely below the red marking. I drove awhile more with the light on and then filled up the car. It took 14.6 gallons, which matches exactly with the 1.6 gallons claimed to remain when the light comes on.

                    Range at the time of fill-up was 310 miles. So I got about 21.5mpg split between town and highway with my fresh 2.8 stroker. Not too bad at all considering it's 20 degrees outside and the mileage will improve in warmer weather.
                    '89 BMW 325is Zinnoberrot / '88 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW GTI 16v Bright Blue Metallic / '91 BMW 325i Black / '91 BMW 325i Sport Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Montana Green / '01 Audi A4 Avant TQM Silver Metallic / '01 VW Jetta GLX VR6 Black

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