CAlifornia BAR/SMOG/engine swap thread.

[2mAn]

CAlifornia BAR/SMOG/engine swap thread.

Something like that will be quite a chore!... Good luck

[Sean S.]

I'm getting near the end of this swap and am down to the wiring. I have the entire harness out of a 99 m3 and will be keeping obd2 and all of the smog crap because : California. I want to shoehorn all the wiring into the e30 m3 cowl covering for neatness and I am wondering what wiring can be eliminated from the m3 harness in order to make this a little easier. Anyone got a list?

Thanks,
Sean

[bradmer]

Can you share your numbers? I'd expect the oil change will help bring this number down as well. What cats are you running?

On the 15 mph test I measured 84, with 54 being the max allowed. On the 25 mph test I measured 33 when 37 is the max.
I have the oem cats that were pulled with motor on the 83 k mi z3m donor car.
The fuel injector's were black around the spray nozzle when I pulled them to be cleaned. I have been getting crappy fuel mileage as well so I hope this will fix that as well as assist in the HC solution.

[raj]

- high HC numbers
solution, I'm hoping that by having the injectors cleaned that it will cure this issue.

Can you share your numbers? I'd expect the oil change will help bring this number down as well. What cats are you running?

[bradmer]

It's been awhile since my last visit to the referee, so I made an appointment with the BAR at Southwestern College in Chula Vista yesterday. He cleared almost all of my past issues and then came up with a couple of new ones that I need to remedy.

1987 325i with 1999 s52 OBD2 engine

- The evap sensor needs to be set to ready, currently it is not.
solution, I shipped the ecu to Markert Motorworks today, he has been most gracious in helping me to get the ecu compliant.

- A code 10 that appears to be an air conditioning fault code. I searched the BAR site and found nothing stated about having the air conditioning operational, only emissions.
solution, I contacted the referee, his response is that if it is just an ac thing it should be fine. I have asked for help from Dave Markert on this, hoping he can delete the air conditioning which would eliminate the code 10 fault next time at the BAR. I have all of the ac stuff but would rather not go there now.

- high HC numbers
solution, I'm hoping that by having the injectors cleaned that it will cure this issue.

Before the next visit I'm installing new spark plugs, cleaning the air filter and changing the engine oil.

It was proven with the help of 328ijunkie that you do not need the pusher fan / clutch assembly installed. Thank you to Dave on post #121 of this thread, I had that page printed out and handed it to the referee who agreed that it is not a requirement.
I installed the throttle body coolant hoses as required from the previous BAR visit.
Had the ecu scanned by the local BMW dealership for $175.
Got the pusher fan to operate automatically instead of by toggle switch. Should've done this to begin with, kicks on just over the halfway mark every time.

Any input appreciated.

[Sean S.]

Yep, that's what I'm expecting (to have to go to dealer)

Any of you Bay Area guys have a recommendation?

[raj]

My motor is OBD1, so this was just documentation to make the ref's life easier. For OBD2 I've read you need to go to a dealer.

[Sean S.]

[*] I came very well prepared with a document indicating the VIN and various information about the vehicle.

Just a question, where did you go to get this? I am getting to the point of needing this for my s52, OBD 2 swap. Did you get a statement from a BMW dealer, if so, which one?

Thanks!

[Sonny]

That bill died.
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/f...201720180AB550

Oh okay, thank you !

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[earthwormjim]

Isn't there a fee for smog abatement you can pay at the DMV if your car is 25 years or older and won't pass. You won't need to smog car anymore, is this true?

AB-550

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That bill died.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB550

[Sonny]

Isn't there a fee for smog abatement you can pay at the DMV if your car is 25 years or older and won't pass. You won't need to smog car anymore, is this true?

AB-550

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[Tinkerer007]

I knew I had forgotten something…
I have used OEM cats of unknown mileage (I was told 100k but who knows).

I do wonder if I would have passed had I really warmed them up. My 25mph numbers are pretty decent.

The 15 MPH test has twice the load as the 25 MPH test...

https://www.smogtips.com/smog-question/3078/Failed-Smog-Check-at-15-MPH-but-Passed-at-25-MPH-Why

[raj]

Nice job, what cat did you use that it failed though? And thanks for confirming about pre-MAF scenario on OBD1 cars!

I knew I had forgotten something…
I have used OEM cats of unknown mileage (I was told 100k but who knows).

I do wonder if I would have passed had I really warmed them up. My 25mph numbers are pretty decent.

[Jean]

Nice job, what cat did you use that it failed though? And thanks for confirming about pre-MAF scenario on OBD1 cars!

I've been paying attention to the MAX numbers between the years and cars, have you guys asked about this or know how these numbers are set?

For example your post above is for S50 car and the MAX NO is listed as 707/744 vs PacificExposure posted a smog report for S50 swap and it shows 695/717 ?

[raj]

I visited the referee at Skyline College today for my S50 swap. It took about 90 minutes. I unfortunately did not leave with a sticker (failed the 15mph test), but here are a few notes:

• There were two really nice guys handling my inspection, and I felt that they genuinely wanted me to pass. In fact, one of them stated so explicitly. I shot the shit with one while the other performed the actual inspection.
• I came very well prepared with a document indicating the VIN and various information about the vehicle.
• I drove on the freeway ~30m before arriving, but they did not let the car sit long. They did the emissions part first, which was nice. However, I didn’t realize that RPM is a factor in heating up the cats, and I was doing mostly low-rev freeway driving. This probably contributed to my 15mph failure.
• They did not perform an EVAP check. Apparently they do not have the right adapter for the gas cap.
• It was confirmed that you do not need to worry about anything pre-MAF on an OBD1 car. I have a Castro airbox and passed visual no problem. I did bring a printout of appendix G just in case.
• Alldata etc was pulled up to make sure everything was correct. They had the RealOEM-looking diagrams. Everything was printed out and compared to the car.
• They took a lot of pictures of everything.
• They were curious about the throttle body heater/intake temp sensor and whether it connects to the ECU. I told them it didn’t. They weren’t able to confirm, but passed me on visual anyways.
• I’m running an M20 charcoal canister and passed visual without a problem.

I failed emissions due to high HC and NO. I plan to have my cats replaced with aftermarket CARB-legal units, possibly get a pre-test at a local smog shop, and go back to the referee. The referee did say the full inspection is required each time, but that it will be faster given that I’ve passed visual already.

Hope this helps anyone else going through this process, and fingers crossed I get my sticker soon.