[924er]

I been out the smog game for a while now, my 335i just turned 6 years old so it was time for a smog. Being FBO including catless dps, I called some friends to see where the spot to go is, if you know what I mean.

Back in my civic days it was easy but now CA tightened up and smog guys are disappearing. I was lucky to find a guy for $250. Even if I would have put the stock DPs on along with the airbox. My shiney CP would have automatically failed the visual exam.

So for you CA drivers running mods, how do you deal with it?

Gotta pay to play

[kaigoss69]

Originally Posted by 924er

I been out the smog game for a while now, my 335i just turned 6 years old so it was time for a smog. Being FBO including catless dps, I called some friends to see where the spot to go is, if you know what I mean.

Back in my civic days it was easy but now CA tightened up and smog guys are disappearing. I was lucky to find a guy for $250. Even if I would have put the stock DPs on along with the airbox. My shiney CP would have automatically failed the visual exam.

So for you CA drivers running mods, how do you deal with it?

Gotta pay to play

No, you can move and play for free!

[Riceball777]

It's very easy to pass with our cars unless you have a top mount single turbo setup. The smog in California is just an OBD port test. They do not Dyno your car or check anything that is coming out your tail pipe. Just get an o2 fix. This makes the ecu not throw a code for the missing cats. And you will pass. Aftermarket charge pipes and intercollers do not effect smog regulations. The only thing that will make you fail the visual is a bov and an after market intake. Both are easy to swap back to stock. Even if you have a big top mount turbo its easy to pay them off to ignore the visual check.

For our cars it's actually more easy to pass that a few years back. Before we would actually have to put our cats and downpipes back on to pass the sniffer test. Now all we need is on o2 fix and it's just an obd port test.

The smog now in California only makes life harder for people that run after market ems systems like aem or haltech because these systems delete the use of the obd port and obd system.

As for as finding an illegal smog (which you dont need because we all run stock ECU's for our bmw) yes it is a littler harder but you are just not looking hard enough. They are still quite easy to find. I run an AEM ems on all my other cars.

[924er]

Originally Posted by Riceball777

It's very easy to pass with our cars unless you have a top mount single turbo setup. The smog in California is just an OBD port test. They do not Dyno your car or check anything that is coming out your tail pipe. Just get an o2 fix. This makes the ecu not throw a code for the missing cats. And you will pass. Aftermarket charge pipes and intercollers do not effect smog regulations. The only thing that will make you fail the visual is a bov and an after market intake. Both are easy to swap back to stock. Even if you have a big top mount turbo its easy to pay them off to ignore the visual check.

For our cars it's actually more easy to pass that a few years back. Before we would actually have to put our cats and downpipes back on to pass the sniffer test. Now all we need is on o2 fix and it's just an obd port test.

The smog now in California only makes life harder for people that run after market ems systems like aem or haltech because these systems delete the use of the obd port and obd system.

As for as finding an illegal smog (which you dont need because we all run stock ECU's for our bmw) yes it is a littler harder but you are just not looking hard enough. They are still quite easy to find. I run an AEM ems on all my other cars.

Yeah you are right, some places are transitioning to OBD2 only but the smog guy I went to were still using the sniffer. I would most definitely fail the visual tho.

For me, I got the metallic CP with the red BOV. My stock CP is ruptured. My intercooler piping is also metallic. Lol

So as long as I'm running the stock tune with the DP fix I should be okay?

And trust me I looked hard. Took me about an entire month. Every smog guy keeps telling me care 06 and above are even harder to pass.

Thanks for your input tho man!

[Riceball777]

Originally Posted by 924er

Yeah you are right, some places are transitioning to OBD2 only but the smog guy I went to were still using the sniffer. I would most definitely fail the visual tho.

For me, I got the metallic CP with the red BOV. My stock CP is ruptured. My intercooler piping is also metallic. Lol

So as long as I'm running the stock tune with the DP fix I should be okay?

And trust me I looked hard. Took me about an entire month. Every smog guy keeps telling me care 06 and above are even harder to pass.

Thanks for your input tho man!

as of january 1 2015 the sniffer in only for cars 1999 and older. Car newer than 2000 only do an obd 2 test. Meaning as long as you are not throwing any codes you will pass. THEY WILL NOT dyno your car or use the sniffer on your car. unless your car is a 1999 or older like an e36.

A metal intercooler pipe as well a a larger after market intercooler is not illegal and will not make you fail the visual test. but your bov will.

A Tune is cannot be seen and cannot be detected and does not affect a smog test.

your car will fail for 2 reasons
1 you have a bov which will fail the visual test
2 You have catless downpipes which will throw a check engine light. Which will make you fail the OBD test. If your not throwing a check engine light for your cats its because most tunes like the JB4 and other tunes have a auto clear feature which automatically clears the check engine light from your dash for the missing cats but the ecu itself is still throwing a code for the missing cats. This will also fail the obd test because it does not but your o2 sensors at a state of ready. To fix this you need an o2 fix. This is a small electronic device that cost about $50 that is wired into your ecu. This fools the ecu making it think that you have cats and thus will put your o2 sensors in a state of readyness thus allowing you to pass the obd test/smog test.

So... you have 2 options
1 buy an o2 fix and install it and get rid of your BOV for the test

2 Or just pay someone off like the rest of the good people here in California.

[924er]

Originally Posted by Riceball777

as of january 1 2015 the sniffer in only for cars 1999 and older. Car newer than 2000 only do an obd 2 test. Meaning as long as you are not throwing any codes you will pass.

A metal intercooler pipe as well a a larger after market intercooler is not illegal and will not make you fail the visual test. but your bov will.

A Tune is cannot be seen and cannot be detected and does not affect a smog test.

your car will fail for 2 reasons
1 you have a bov which will fail the visual test
2 You have catless downpipes which will throw a check engine light. Which will make you fail the OBD test. If your not throwing a check engine light for your cats its because most tunes like the JB4 and other tunes have a auto clear feature which automatically clears the check engine light from your dash for the missing cats but the ecu itself is still throwing a code for the missing cats. This will also fail the obd test because it does not but your o2 sensors at a state of ready. To fix this you need an o2 fix. This is a small electronic device that cost about $50 that is wired into your ecu. This fools the ecu making it think that you have cats and thus will put your o2 sensors in a state of readyness thus allowing you to pass the obd test/smog test.

So... you have 2 options
1 buy an o2 fix and install it and get rid of your BOV for the test

2 Or just pay someone off like the rest of the good people here in California.

Cool man, I'll take these options in consideration in 2 years when my car is due for smog again. Most likely I'll buy the dp fix by then. Thanks!

[924er]

Originally Posted by kaigoss69

No, you can move and play for free!

Strict smog regulations, high taxes, high gas prices, gun laws and other crappy CA things still don't make it worth it to move. I'll live with those lol Cali is nice

[kboss335]

I just got my car registered in AZ but before that it was in CA. The shop I went to never cared about my aftermarket intake or bov but they always checked the cats. When you open the hood they can easily tell if you have catless or not. I had race catted dp's and they couldn't tell the difference between stock or not, they just look for the big bulge. However I did have a catback exhaust and they didnt like that the 2nd cats were gone. Luckily I've been going to them for a long time so they let it slide

[zsaad03]

I have an e90 straight piped it and it wont pass smog does any one know any smog places in Anaheim california or Orange County

[Navykiller]

Originally Posted by zsaad03

I have an e90 straight piped it and it wont pass smog does any one know any smog places in Anaheim california or Orange County

Shows you have a 328.
Just throw a cheap OEM exhaust