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What are my options - State Referee modified exhaust ticket

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    What are my options - State Referee modified exhaust ticket

    Bad news. I got written a "state referee modified exhaust ticket" this past weekend.

    No I was not speeding, driving erratic, driving aggressively, revving my engine, part of a caravan, speeding earlier in the day etc... my exhaust is really not loud, especially not if I am driving mildly.

    This happened up in the canyons in the malibu mountain area. At the top of Stunt road for those familiar with the area. Sheriff was parked at the top around the corner from the stop sign with an E92 M3 pulled over. I pulled up to the stop sign to turn right. Sheriff was blocking traffic in that lane so I waited a moment for opposing traffic to pass. As I waited for the lane to clear, the officer turned to me taking a break from writing the existing ticket, walked up to me and exclaimed "no front plate, modified exhaust, you can pull up right here and shut off your car, get your papers out".

    So yea.... what the hell. I can post specific details of the ticket later if it matters. He explicitly marked it as "non correctible" and also explicitly wrote that I must visit state referee for smog and inspection.


    What are my realistic options.

    Here's what I'm thinking:

    1) make the car a BAR legal swap

    2) register non-op and do one of those montana LLC deals - would this provide the loophole to get out of the existing ticket???

    3) buy another e30 and transfer everything over
    '89 325i OBD2 S52 BUILD THREAD
    Shadetree30


    #2
    Yo!

    how far off being OBD2 compliant are you?

    did the officer actually have a decibel reader out? Is the level recorded on the ticket?

    pay the 99$ for a ticket lawyer and see if they can get it dropped due to possibly no decibel reading. Mobile smog stations aren’t legal, I can’t imagine a forced visit to the ref would be either without an actual decibel reading.

    wait on doing anything for the front plate until the ref exhaust situation is handled.

    to contest, sooner the better but ticket lawyers are pretty good.

    -Devo

    Comment


      #3
      dang that sucks. ive gotten a state ref for exhaust but mine did not say non correctable. i just put my car back to stock ( smog stuff) and took it in . they checked my car out to see if it was stock and they revved it. paid the 20 dollar fine and was on my way. maybe try registering out of state.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by e30devo View Post
        Yo!

        how far off being OBD2 compliant are you?

        did the officer actually have a decibel reader out? Is the level recorded on the ticket?

        pay the 99$ for a ticket lawyer and see if they can get it dropped due to possibly no decibel reading. Mobile smog stations aren’t legal, I can’t imagine a forced visit to the ref would be either without an actual decibel reading.

        wait on doing anything for the front plate until the ref exhaust situation is handled.

        to contest, sooner the better but ticket lawyers are pretty good.

        -Devo
        let's just say that I'd basically be starting from ground zero for approaching the BAR process

        no he did not have any decibel reader. there was no official measuring, or reasoning of any sort. Just his very vague comment. He literally could not have even seen the exhaust from the actual moment he decided to stop me, nor could he have really heard it. There's no way I was actually exceeding any decibel limit. He profiled me. Saw the car, the harnesses, roll bar, seats etc. and figured it was a good bet I'd be hiding something. He even commented "this car isn't made for the road" as he handed me my ticket meanwhile, a caravan of lambos, porsches, bmws, mercedes etc. rolls past with straight pipes, wings, plastered with liveries etc....

        good idea to call a ticket lawyer. I'll do that too. Any recommendations?

        Originally posted by efficient View Post
        dang that sucks. ive gotten a state ref for exhaust but mine did not say non correctable. i just put my car back to stock ( smog stuff) and took it in . they checked my car out to see if it was stock and they revved it. paid the 20 dollar fine and was on my way. maybe try registering out of state.
        yea my concern is that regardless if I made the noise aspect of the exhaust compliant, I'd fail for many other reasons visually. And actually I don't think I'd fail the straight noise aspect either. It's not that loud.

        I will consider out of state registration if there is no reasonable path forward to get the ticket cleared, and if out of state registration will nullify the ticket
        '89 325i OBD2 S52 BUILD THREAD
        Shadetree30

        Comment


          #5
          This is my biggest fear when it comes to putting a M54 in my car. I dont think I have a chance to make it smog legal since the cats are in the headers factory.

          good luck definitely try the lawyer.
          91' 318is 90' 325is

          Originally posted by Sonny
          Buy the E30s, they ain't gonna last long
          E30 can make you, E30 can break you
          "He who controls the Nova's, controls the Boomers"

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Motheye99 View Post
            This is my biggest fear when it comes to putting a M54 in my car. I dont think I have a chance to make it smog legal since the cats are in the headers factory.

            good luck definitely try the lawyer.
            mine too. Except I never thought it'd go down like this. I've never actually been pulled over in this car besides when I first bought it and had the 3rd brake light out.
            '89 325i OBD2 S52 BUILD THREAD
            Shadetree30

            Comment


              #7
              another idea is would it be possible to swap your M20 back in? making it legal
              91' 318is 90' 325is

              Originally posted by Sonny
              Buy the E30s, they ain't gonna last long
              E30 can make you, E30 can break you
              "He who controls the Nova's, controls the Boomers"

              Comment


                #8
                Doesn't sound like a legal stop tbh.

                California Ticket King, they are up north somewhere but I’m sure that doesn’t matter. IIRC, it was an online form but the guy was very helpful when I called to speak to the actual lawyer. Couldn’t hurt to check it out.

                as for the M20 route, if you decide to go that way lol, I have one that passes with a full factory exhaust that is out of the car. That sounds like a huge pain in the ass but you’ve got options.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Motheye99 View Post
                  another idea is would it be possible to swap your M20 back in? making it legal
                  it didn't feel like it either. m20 and everything associated are long gone. I think I still have the harness, ECU and some other odds and ends. Man that would be a pain.

                  Originally posted by e30devo View Post
                  Doesn't sound like a legal stop tbh.

                  California Ticket King, they are up north somewhere but I’m sure that doesn’t matter. IIRC, it was an online form but the guy was very helpful when I called to speak to the actual lawyer. Couldn’t hurt to check it out.

                  as for the M20 route, if you decide to go that way lol, I have one that passes with a full factory exhaust that is out of the car. That sounds like a huge pain in the ass but you’ve got options.
                  thanks, I'll check them out.

                  I know I have options. It's not like the car is going to get crushed. I've just been looking forward to slowing the projects down for a minute and enjoying the drive.
                  '89 325i OBD2 S52 BUILD THREAD
                  Shadetree30

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Try IG: ticketdismissers

                    Theres a guy from there that has a supercharged s52 e30. Seems like a cool dude the one time I met him. I believe theyre in woodland hills.
                    sigpic

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Mike36 View Post
                      Try IG: ticketdismissers

                      Theres a guy from there that has a supercharged s52 e30. Seems like a cool dude the one time I met him. I believe theyre in woodland hills.
                      thanks!
                      '89 325i OBD2 S52 BUILD THREAD
                      Shadetree30

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Oh man......... now I have to have my car barred. It pains me to hear you going through this Charlie.
                        I thought the cops had eased up on the exhaust tickets, guess I was wrong. It's an all money grab right now. Screw the blue collar worker, while rioters, vandals and the homeless get away with bullshit.
                        @IRON-E30 aka Edwin:D

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by IRON-E View Post
                          Oh man......... now I have to have my car barred. It pains me to hear you going through this Charlie.
                          I thought the cops had eased up on the exhaust tickets, guess I was wrong. It's an all money grab right now. Screw the blue collar worker, while rioters, vandals and the homeless get away with bullshit.
                          I gotta say. It's really disheartening. I still can't get over the fact that the guy "pulled me over" while I was stopped at a stop sign waiting for traffic to clear as he was blocking the right lane. And on a "no front plate" and vague "modified exhaust" justification. That was low. The whole thing is depressing.

                          I still don't have any good options yet. Lawyer basically said: 1) fix it and try to pass the inspection... 2) just pay the fine and hope you don't get another ref ticket resulting in a misdemeanor for failing to obey police order... 3) fight it in court with a lawyer 80% success rate...

                          The ticket also states a ref smog check. No idea if that then means I'm flagged in the smog system as needing to do it at a state ref? In which case double screwed?
                          '89 325i OBD2 S52 BUILD THREAD
                          Shadetree30

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I wonder how much a lawyer would cost in court, seems like you would have a good case. Could you fight it and if that failed then do option 2?
                            91' 318is 90' 325is

                            Originally posted by Sonny
                            Buy the E30s, they ain't gonna last long
                            E30 can make you, E30 can break you
                            "He who controls the Nova's, controls the Boomers"

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by Motheye99 View Post
                              I wonder how much a lawyer would cost in court, seems like you would have a good case. Could you fight it and if that failed then do option 2?
                              yea, I'm going to see what that entails. Kinda sounds like I can't drive the car on the street until this thing is resolved though, or at least that's what the officer told me. If this is true, my court date isn't even until late October. That will be painful.
                              '89 325i OBD2 S52 BUILD THREAD
                              Shadetree30

                              Comment

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