Infomration on E30 M5x/S5x swaps in CA?

[fastgeek]

Hi folks,

Title says it all. Am curious to know who here has personal experience with swapping in a S5x/M5x motor into an E30 and still manage to *legally* pass CA smog. Am giving this idea some consideration as the engine in my recently aquired '91 318is is in need of repair... the level of which will determine just what I decide to do. ;) Besides, much as I love my '98 M3 I actually like DRIVING the 318 more, and the very thought of either a aluminum block 97-98 M52 or S50 conversion makes me somewhat giddy. Not to mention it would make the "pain" of selling the M3 that much less.

FWIW the car is a federal emissions vehicle, not CA emissions. Have no idea if that has any bearing on the situation and am planning to ask my usual smog shop about this in the next few days.

Hope to hear back from some of the CA folks and welcome any advice. :bow:

Thanks!
fastgeek (Jason)

[hugh jass]

I'm working on a OBD1 converted 98 M3 motor swap into my 90 325is. My plan is to have all 95 emissions stuff intact after the swap and get the car referred as having a 95 drivetrain. As long as all the stuf is there visually, and it passes the tailpipe test, you shouldn't have any problems. I know there are a few CA swap cars licensed in the state, so it has to be fairly straight forward.

[permit]

My M50 passed visual inspection, and the smog test. The guy doing the test claimed he had two 318i's...I laughed under my breath because either a) he didn't own two 318i's b) he did own them, but has never popped the hood.

My M52 will be a challenge though, it looks less stock than the M50 did.

[rede30]

ask and look around, I know two places that will pass me for 100. I will have to deal with the in a little over a year.

[fastgeek]

Well I think that if I do go for a swap then it'll be the S50. About the same price as the aluminum M52's and actually managed to find a few low mileage examples for a good price. Best part of course is that it IS an OBD-I motor, so no need to dick around with any conversions. So it'll either be that or just fix the M42 and do various little things to get the most out of that little sucker that I can.

Permit - that guy who smogged your car is pretty amazing. Too bad he's not in my area, could've come in useful. OTOH if anyone knows of "not too bright" smog guys up in the Greater Sacramento area then feel free to share. ;)

HJ - guess I could do what I *think* you're talking about, which is getting the car officially certified. Guess it wouldn't be the end of the world, just more money. But if that's the best way, then so be it. :)

Rede30 - I hear what you're saying, but for the most part I'd like to try and keep it as legal as possible.

A little personal opinion narrative here....

I support emissions requirements and think that everyone shoudl do their part. What I don't agree with are visual inspections. So long as the sniffer test passes, then who CARES what's under the hood? You tell them, for example, "It's the engine out of a '95 M3" and they plug that info into the computer. Run the sniffer test, usually on a little "dyno" these days, and if it passes then that's that. Turbos, SC's, whatever, who cares. If it's clean out of the pipe, then you're doing your part and that's all that should matter.

/rant

Regards,
fastgeek

[permit]

Permit - that guy who smogged your car is pretty amazing. Too bad he's not in my area, could've come in useful. OTOH if anyone knows of "not too bright" smog guys up in the Greater Sacramento area then feel free to share. ;)

Psh, that's only half the story. He ended up testing my car eight seperate times because it kept failing (horrible exhaust at the time) for the cost of one test ($40). I think he just fudged the smog test to have it say I passed though, no reason the car would pass on the 8th time and not the 2nd or 5th time. He was a chiller to say the least.

[erik325i]

In CA I believe you need to meet all of the emission requirements for the year of the motor. So, that meens that you wouldn't legally be able to swap an m52/s52 that has been converted to OBD I. Instead, you would have to convert the car to OBD II. You shouldn't have much trouble if you are swapping in an m50/s50 though.

-Erik

[bimmers4life]

you need to have every original piece of smog control equiptment from the engine installed on your vehicle. It doesn't matter if it is obd1 or obd2. it all has to be there when you get certified.