S52 cams and OBD1 intake on M52 Ca legal

[Bimmer_man]

I havent seen if this is CA legal. Ive been looking for a bit and cant find much info on that. Most info is on S52 and m52 swaps in CA. If you know for 100% certainty please let me know.

[decay]

it is not.

whether you can get away with it is another question. but i wouldn't try to sneak that stuff by the ref.

[Bimmer_man]

well bummer. What about just the cams? I know the car can run with just installing them without a tune but i dont know if that will mess with it running rich or lean causing sniffer issues.

[decay]

well you understand you only have to see the ref until you pass the first time, right? then smog is just like everyone else.

show up at the ref's doorstep with an absolutely bone-stock M52, down to every detail possible.

after that, it's a crap-shoot at the local smog shops, but having everything have a BMW PN is probably a good start.

[Bimmer_man]

My car isnt a E30 its a E39. It just has the M52 and i know the people of r3v know this stuff. I dont have an e30 anymore sadly. I will get another on eventually. Im not sure if that alters any of your answers. I probobly should have disclosed that first haha.

[decay]

oh, i thought you were talking about doing this to a swap car.

i think you'll probably get away with it. might want to swap the injectors out for units a pound or two higher.

[Bimmer_man]

Sweet. For the first smpg ill just smog it stock then after I'll swap in the cams and intake and see if it will pads next time. Thanks for the advice I appreciate it a lot.

[R3Z3N]

I havent seen if this is CA legal. Ive been looking for a bit and cant find much info on that. Most info is on S52 and m52 swaps in CA. If you know for 100% certainty please let me know.

CA requirements are engine must be stock intake to exhaust. Only CARB approved parts, which is usually only an intake mod and maybe some aftermarket cats. Silly yes. But then again, with a clean running engine you can get away with it.

[JeLani]

how about s50 cams with obd1 intake? (kind of same question.) but will you get a more 'passable' emissions result? I want to do an m52 3.0 with s50 ecu with a 24# injector chip tune.. what are the legalities with fuel injector mods? I know this isn't the thread to ask but i know someone will reply

[2mAn]

Im sure SOMEONE out here is trying to make that legal

[Bimmerman325i]

The law is extremely clear on this. Unless you are using CARB approved parts (i.e., most Dinan stuff, essentially zero other stuff), the engine must be 100% stock from the MAF through to the catalytic converters. There's some debate on whether things ahead of the MAF are unrestricted or not, but assume not.

This means-- tunes, injectors, bigger/different MAFs, M50/M52 intake manifold, different throttle body, throttle body boot, cams, pistons, headers, cats, midpipes, ALL cannot be changed unless they are CARB approved.

If you are doing a motor swap, the ref does know about the common swap parts and will verify you are using the correct ones. You will fail if the ref gets meticulous and checks for fuel injectors, for example-- they are color coded so it's obvious when they're not stock.

That said, it's a crap shoot whether a smog shop will notice the intake manifold stuff if it LOOKS stock/OEM. They will absolutely notice headers. The real question is whether you can get away with it or not.

Anyway-- there is no room for interpretation on the law. Either run full stock, with all the associated functioning smog equipment, or have CARB approved parts with the associated documentation and EO numbers...and even then, smog shops were a PITA to deal with when I had CARB headers on my M3.