CA emissions and engine swaps

[JackF]

Just thinking out loud here, but lets say you had a 2000 or so 525iT and decided to drop a M52/4 into it. What is the drill in CA as far as getting it on the road?

[tjones02]

As hard as this website makes it sound. BMW made it harder to do electronically...

http://www.bar.ca.gov/80_BARResources/07_AutoRepair/Engine_Change_Guidelines.html

Though there are some hoops to jump through a swap like that isn't too difficult legality wise. I'd also bet that since both motors look similar one could get away without going through getting a BAR approval tag. The average smog station tech wouldn't know that it's a different motor if you took the ///M badge off of the valve cover.

Now, getting a much newer engine in an older chassis... that's rather more difficult. Questions that arise in several grey areas. One of which is where the CA Bureau of Automotive Repair considers a Cat a chassis piece due to the older car not having the proper heat shielding for it.... Say a M20 or S14 in a '76 2002.... How could one be expected to pass the emissions requirements for the newer motor when you weren't required to have a Cat???

[SteveJ]

Years back, it wasn't too bad dealing with the referee station. The point about the CAT was on my mind as well, and the referee said the same as Tom did above. Older body not required to have the CAT, even with the newer motor. Granted, I was only going from a 1971 to a 1981 motor. Still fairly simple emissions then.

If you cobble it together, cut coners, and knowingly try to sneak something through illegaly, then you may be open for problems.

If you go in with a clean install, done right, and try to address any issues in the grey area, then your process may be easier.

The referee that I worked with kept failing my car for high HC. We'd reset the CO and try again. After 2 more fails, we found a slight wobble in the distributor shaft. Swapped it out and the car passed clean.

Contact some of the CA guys that have done M2 swaps. They probably have more current info.

[ray_]

Hmm, well, the M2's are mostly exempt from testing.

Ash on the board here can tell you a few stories about smogging a converted car in Cali!

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,profile/mode,viewprofile/u,401/

Cheers,

Ray