Questionmy 1995 318ti (68,000 miles) sat around in a garage for 1-2 years when i was overseas. i had someone run the engine for 5-10 minutes every week.
when i moved back to the US i had some work done to get it road-ready again (some un-related things, like window motor/side mirror replaced, new belts, oil change/filter, new tires). i had the car shipped to california from new jersey and proceeded to fail my emissions test here.
i failed the HC and NO portions of the test at 15mph but passed at 25mph, apparently pretty badly at 163ppm and 910ppm respectively.
i dont recall having any work under the hood done in many years, except i think replacing a burned out ignition cable back in 2003. also, i havent noticed anything wrong with how it runs, except maybe the fact that i drove it around on the highway before the test for about 30 miles (someone told me this would help me pass) and it took at least 20 miles or so for the temp gauge to get to what i remember to be its normal position, halfway on the meter.
the man at the shop seemed to think that bmw's didnt typically fail, but when they did, they were very problematic to get to comply. he suggested running a diagnostic for $125 and then trying an aftermarket catalytic converter, which he said was not as good but about half the cost of a bmw cat (he quoted $800 for that), but if that didnt get the car to pass, he wouldnt charge me for it and we'd proceed with the bmw cat. he also said he might try a new oxygen sensor for about $200.
i have no idea really what is the solution and have no way of figuring whether he's being honest with me.
What do you think?
Thanks for any help!
steve
AnswerHi Steve!
Diagnosis is the key word here. And if your are going to pay $125. for a non-factory diagnosis on a non-OBD car, there is very minimal chance that you would get proper diagnosis of your car's problems. OBD systems which is a uniform emissions related diagnostic system started approximately in 1994 and got into wide use in 1996. German's like the French just don't give a s. about US of A mandated systems and were very late in conforming to it. Even if your car is OBD capable, factory scanners have a lot of edge over standard OBD scanners (trade secrets in other words). And since your car is non-OBD, only a BMW scanner can tell you what is really wrong with it. I know because I have my own personal scanners (2 costly ones for that matter) and I am also a BMW tech.
Run to your nearest BMW dealer, haggle for a one-hour diagnosis, decline their recommended repairs, and then tell me more about it. Otherwise, go to your friendly smog-mechanic and do a trial and error kind of thing.
