BMW 5-Series With 70 Liters Fuel Tank Filled With 77 Liters Petrol: But How?

Petrol pump scams are not new in India. Every day, people report getting scammed across the country with different techniques. Recently, a BMW 5 Series luxury sedan owner also reported a scam. He stated that his vehicle has a fuel capacity of 70 litres according to the manufacturer. However, his vehicle was filled up to 77 litres despite it already having around 10 litres of fuel in it. Due to this, a long argument took place at the pump.

BMW filled with more fuel than capacity

The video in which the owner explains what exactly happened at the petrol pump where he got scammed has been shared on YouTube by Janta Breaking News on their channel. It starts off with the owner of a white BMW 5 Series luxury sedan explaining his side of the story. He mentions that at around 6 PM, he entered the Indian Oil Corporation petrol pump on the Karnal Highway.

Following this, he asked the fuel pump attendant to completely fill the tank. He then mentioned that the manufacturer-stated fuel tank capacity of the BMW 5 Series is 70 litres and his vehicle already had 100 km worth of fuel, which is around 10 litres. What happened next was that when the fuel was filled, the total reading according to the pump machine was 77 litres.

This then shocked the owner, who claimed, how can a vehicle be filled with more fuel than its tank capacity? Following this, he raised a complaint to the petrol pump staff, who started arguing with him. They even stated, “If you don't have money for fuel, then why come to fill your vehicle?” He added that they were also extremely rude, after which the owner of the petrol pump was called.

What happened next?

Soon after this, when the owners arrived, they first apologised for the mistake of the staff for being rude. They then suggested that they ask a mechanic to empty the fuel into containers and measure the amount of fuel in the vehicle. After this, the mechanic drained the fuel from the tank and it was measured. It was then found that the vehicle had only 57 litres of fuel, which was 20 litres less than the meter reading.

Following this, the owner of the BMW started questioning the ethics of the petrol pump. However, the owner of the petrol pump had a different take. He stated that they suggested the owner leave the vehicle overnight and during the next day, they would drop down the fuel tank and take out more fuel, which the fuel gauge was showing in the vehicle.

To this, the owner of the car said that he would not do that. The owner of the petrol pump, in order to prove that the pump was working correctly, showed a five-litre container getting filled with the exact same quantity from the pump. However, despite this, the BMW owner was not satisfied and he had to leave the pump without any fuel. He stated that he had to walk to a different pump to get fuel for his vehicle to leave.

How is this possible?

Many people might be thinking that the Indian Oil Corporation petrol pump in this case scammed the BMW owner. However, you'd be surprised that this might not actually be a scam. The explanation behind this is that fuel tanks of cars and other vehicles have extra design allowance beyond the stated capacity. This buffer is provided for different reasons.

The first is that fuel expands depending on the temperature. So if this extra space is not present, it may cause issues in the fuel system. Also, there is extra space in the filler neck and pipes connected to the tank. So, a lot of times, when owners ask for a complete fill-up, they breach the manufacturer’s cut-off point, getting more fuel in the vehicle.

This also happened a little while ago with a Volkswagen Polo hatchback owner from Kochi, Kerala. Instead of the manufacturer’s stated 45 litres, the fuel tank of this vehicle was filled with 53 litres of fuel at an Indian Oil Corporation pump. After this, a detailed verification experiment was performed using a certified 5-litre can and the fuel tank capacity came out to 58 litres. Following this, the owner of the car, the petrol pump, and IOC employees all cordially resolved the issue.