R1200GS Fuel Gauge

[Frankh]

I have a 2007 R1200GS, the fuel gauge display where you have about 10 separate bars on mine the top 4 or 5 look closer together than the bottom few and it seems to go from showing full the less than half full in one quick movement. Has anyone else seen this ? Do BMW really think this is how it should be ? Has anyone had this fixed? The dealer is telling me thats how it is, and nothing can be done!! Sounds to me like its either faulty or not fit for purpose. Any views?

 

[nick]

They all do that sir.

Fact.

My gauge registers full for 110 miles then drops to halfway.

Warning light comes on around 170 miles.

Bike stops after 200 miles or so !

 

[POG]

I have a 2007 R1200GS, the fuel gauge display where you have about 10 separate bars on mine the top 4 or 5 look closer together than the bottom few and it seems to go from showing full the less than half full in one quick movement. Has anyone else seen this ? Do BMW really think this is how it should be ? Has anyone had this fixed? The dealer is telling me thats how it is, and nothing can be done!! Sounds to me like its either faulty or not fit for purpose. Any views?

Mine's an 06 ADV and it does it as well. Best way is to set your trip meter and gauge it that way. I suppose with the bigger tank, I have a bit more leeway

 

[Shep]

Mine's an 06 ADV and it does it as well. Best way is to set your trip meter and gauge it that way. I suppose with the bigger tank, I have a bit more leeway

It works just as good on the budget GS i'd get 200 miles to a tank then fill up, the guage was not needed at all.

On the GSA the DTE/range function is very good if it says 10miles to go I get 31-32ltrs in Good enough for me.

Shep

 

[Frankh]

Thanks for the replies so far, I am comforted I am not the only one, I am happy that I to can reset the trip and calculate how far I can get and therefore not run out. But why can a fuel gauge not work as it should? I have ridden plenty of bikes without a fuel gauge, if they fit one it should work reasonably accurately in my opinion.

 

[Shep]

Thanks for the replies so far, I am comforted I am not the only one, I am happy that I to can reset the trip and calculate how far I can get and therefore not run out. But why can a fuel gauge not work as it should? I have ridden plenty of bikes without a fuel gauge, if they fit one it should work reasonably accurately in my opinion.

All mine have worked reasonably when the tank was nearly empty (less than a half full) they are just a little slow to read the level from a full tank, never been a problem for me, but thats a personal thing.

Shep

 

[ianm00]

Thanks for the replies so far, I am comforted I am not the only one, I am happy that I to can reset the trip and calculate how far I can get and therefore not run out. But why can a fuel gauge not work as it should? I have ridden plenty of bikes without a fuel gauge, if they fit one it should work reasonably accurately in my opinion.

BMW fit them for entertainment purposes only!

 

[POG]

It works just as good on the budget GS i'd get 200 miles to a tank then fill up, the guage was not needed at all.

On the GSA the DTE/range function is very good if it says 10miles to go I get 31-32ltrs in Good enough for me.

Shep

I use the range function as well...when it gets down to about 5 miles I know that I've still got half a gallon to play with

 

[sarthek]

The 2008 GSA I rode at the weekend appeared to have a more sensible fuel gauge than my 2006 bike. It seemed to be a higher number of equally sized bars so that you don't get that big drop from full to half-full all of a sudden.

The tank wasn't full though, and I didn't ride it far enough to make a big dent in the fuel that was on board, so maybe someone fortunate enough to have an 08 bike could confirm this.

 

[andyclift]

if they fit one it should work reasonably accurately in my opinion.

I think it does work reasonably accurately. It always drops to half way at around 110 miles and always goes on "reserve" at around 160 - 170. Then it gives me a reasonably accurate read out of how many miles until I start pushing. Beats most of the bikes I have had where the only low fuel indication was the engine stopping - often part way though an overtake.

I have had cars which constantly read out fuel remaining to 0.1 litre but whether its accurate, I have no idea, but it tells me nothing useful - and cars don't have the problem of the tank continually tilting left and right.

 

[Ian916]

you need to own a multistrada to fully appreciate your GS fuel gauge, - mine is great the way it is.....(the GS) A fuel gauge on a bike cannot be an easy thing to do with all of the movement involved.

 

[bone]

Yeh but, I've also got a '99 600 Fazer and the fuel guage is deadly accurate. Pity BWM didnt use a similar sender unit. The GS reads full to halfway in one go at 110 miles. This is what we pay a premium for.

 

[Deleted account 210516001]

My 06 GS gauge did work reasonably well until the last sofware update which produced the solid block on the upper half of the gauge which does not move until about 115 miles after filling up. Then very rapid countdown of the lower bars until fuel warning about 160 miles.

Apparently this is considered an improvement!!!!

 

[deaninkl]

Frank, you can see from the respnonses that you are not alone. Think of it as a fuel indicator rather than a gauge.

I have found that the reserve indicator is prety accurate, and after a short whil you will now what your bike will do on a tank of gas. You have 2 trip meters so its prtey easy to reset one every time you fill up, and when it indicates reserve you have 45-55 miles before pushing. Mine stays prety much on full for the first 150km, then in 70km goes to 1 or 2 bars, and stays there for the next 50km before reserve starts to flash. You just get use to it... like a few other idiosyncrecies of the GS.

 

[mbp]

I find the fuel gauge and warning a bit weird too. It's exacerbated by the fact that the rubber hose makes it hard to fill the tank right up.

Also, I believe there are two versions of the fuel gauge LCD, depending on whether you ordered the OBC or not, and what model year it is. I think what you are seeing is the normal designed behaviour for a GS without onboard computer - the top bars are basically wired together.

The user manual says:

The display shows larger bars at the top, if the motorcycle is not fitted with an onboard computer. In this display mode the bar at the top corresponds to about half the available tank capacity, and the next bar down corresponds to about a quarter. The smaller bars provide a more accurate estimate of the amount of fuel left in the tank.

If you have the OBC you will have an INFO button on the left grip.

I think this is a bit cheeky because it's very likely the same sensor in all tanks. Oh well.

 

[Frankh]

very useful info, particularly from MBP, that explains why I thought my fuel gauge on the GS looks odd, prior to my current 07 GS which does not have the OBC, I had an 07 Adventure which did have OBC and this had discreet rectagles on fuel gauge and the gauge was reasonably accurate. I can live with it !! Thanks for all the replies.

 

[SonicTheHedgehog]

The 2008 GSA I rode at the weekend appeared to have a more sensible fuel gauge than my 2006 bike. It seemed to be a higher number of equally sized bars so that you don't get that big drop from full to half-full all of a sudden.

The tank wasn't full though, and I didn't ride it far enough to make a big dent in the fuel that was on board, so maybe someone fortunate enough to have an 08 bike could confirm this.

I'm tending to find that the progress through the first half of the gauge is fairly steady, but it drops through the bottom sections really quickly. I got a loaner 2008 GS while my Adv's in for its 600-mile check, and this did the same - with the smaller tank, it rather took me by surprise, to the point it was asking me to feed it by the time I got near a filling station.

 

[Delirious]

My '06 K1200S is pretty similar. It takes about 80 to 100km's to go down 1 bar from full and then the rest go down in the next 100km's. I think it's just the granularity of the gauge. As you have less fuel you get more accurate readings. Never bothered me really and you always have the range count down which is pretty useful.

Cheers,
Delirious.

 

[Phil Clarke]

Its real simple - the fuel guage sender is a linear guage - it reads the fuel level, not quantity. A gs tank is far from uniform in cross section so the volume of fuel used for a given drop in level will vary hugely. Cars have pretty much square tanks so its easy to correlate level with volume. It is obviously possible to programme in the volume for a given level but this is probably far too complex for a simple fuel guage sensor as you would need to model the tank and have a separate model for each type of bike. Some bikes are worse than others - I guess if they have a twin spar frame the tank is fairly uniform in shape so the guages will be accurate.

So don't give BM a hard time, they are not magicians....