Passed the BAR exam!

[eandrade]

To my knowledge, E30s are exempt from the evap test. I don't think a swap makes a difference either.

Actually, not true. During the BAR engine change certification, the referee pressurized the gas tank and squeezed the line on the EVAP can. Also, I remember the smog technician doing this when I had my car (with the old M20) smogged 4 years ago.

[eandrade]

• BAR Referee did not ask for VIN of donor car. He did not look for the VIN sticker at the back of the cylinder head (it's pretty much inaccessible anyways) or the model number on the block.
• I explicitly told him it was a motor from a '95 M3.
• I'll post a photo of my engine bay in a subsequent post.

As for photos of the exhaust, these are the only photos I have:

Muffler by BrownGuacamole, on Flickr


Mid pipe by BrownGuacamole, on Flickr


X-pipe by BrownGuacamole, on Flickr

[R3Z3N]

Having gone through this myself, it was pretty straight forward I want to add as well :)

Now, you've gone through the OBD2 to OBD1 and then through BAR, is it safe to assume they did not/do not know it's a 98 or were they OK with the OBD1 swap?

Not clear from your post, it seems like it could be taking either way...

+1 Curious. It sounds like the engine vin was not checked.

[AndrewBird]

At first I was like, "Why isn't this in off-topic? Must be spam." Then I was like, "Ah, makes sense."

[Jean]

Having gone through this myself, it was pretty straight forward I want to add as well :)

Now, you've gone through the OBD2 to OBD1 and then through BAR, is it safe to assume they did not/do not know it's a 98 or were they OK with the OBD1 swap?

Not clear from your post, it seems like it could be taking either way...

[P.Kelly]

Ernie, do you have a picture of your engine bay?

[amcink]

Subscribed for my Swap

[reelizmpro]

To my knowledge, E30s are exempt from the evap test. I don't think a swap makes a difference either.

[K1CKBAC]

Did he ask you for the VIN number of the donor car?

[blackhawkimpact]

Have pics of your exhaust setup?

[bernzpeed]

what do you guys think about using this, I have a S52, being converted to OBD 1. Would this work for this application?

My bad, forgot to insert link. Duhr. I'm on my phone can't really find the link.

[P.Kelly]

Just pulled my S5X motor today from the donor car, so here comes the fun stuff. I'm going to try to do this the same as you.

[cmybimmer]

jealous! hoping to make an appointment with BAR this thursday..

congratz!

[P.Kelly]

Great info, thanks for the informative post.

[eandrade]

Good job. Did they give you any trouble because all data wiring manual shows two o2 sensors for a 95? Or have they fixed that now? Got mine bar'd there 4 years ago.

Thanks!
I know what you mean; the Bentley has the wrong diagram for the cats (it shows the S52 midpipe+O2 but the caption says it's an S50). So I printed out the RealOEM part diagram for the mid pipe (this page). I showed it to him at the beginning before he started looking at the car when he wanted to see any paperwork. (That was the only paperwork I brought)

He said something to the effect of "oh, I already know what the exhaust looks like". He asked if I had any other paperwork; I said no...so then he wanted to know where I got the motor from ("the junkyard") and where I got the exhaust from ("the junkyard") and who installed it ("I did the install, with some help from my mechanic who got the airbox setup").

When he looked for the O2 sensor, he first started to look in the exhaust manifolds but couldn't find it. So he asks me "do you know where the O2 sensor is"? I tell him, "It's right before the cats, there's an X-pipe setup to measure both pipes." He peeked underneath the passenger floor and saw it; was good enough for him. That was a big sigh of relief for me.

Like I said, the guy was pretty laid back and professional. He mentioned that when the car was on the dyno it passed right away; he's been working with another guy with an E30 that has been there six(!!) times already and it always took a long time for that car to get through the dyno piece. And I suspect he did his homework on what to check on the setup because the whole time I never saw him refer to any diagrams or procedures...and yet he knew right off the bat how to do a stomp test (he nailed it with doing it only once, whereas I usually have to repeat the procedure twice to get the CEL to blink)

Oh and before he did the inspection he gave me the option of sitting in the classroom or coming outside and watching the procedure; I opted to watch -- which gave me the opportunity to address any questions he might have about the setup (like the O2 sensor)