Re: (E30 M3) Failed Emissions due to JC chip? **Rob

["Rob Levinson" <always_coca-cola@xxxxxxx>]

Brandon Wood <woody@domain.elided> wrote:

>Subject: (E30 M3) Failed Emissions due to JC chip?
> My 88 M3 passed Ohio emissions with flying colors two yrs ago but now =
>Sharked and 7k miles older (61k total) it has failed.  Should I have =
>switched the chip out before getting it checked?  I thought the chip was =
>50-state legal (Jim?).  I replaced the plugs 7k miles ago.  Maybe my =
>original O2 sensor is at fault, I'm not sure.  Probably wouldn't hurt to =
>have my injectors cleaned.  Any ideas would be great!  TIA,


        Uh, Brandon... a little reality check here.  Why on earth would you
suspect the chip as your primary cause of emission-test failure?  Your car
is 10 years old, has the original O2 sensor, and is probably leaking air
from any of the intake gaskets (common in E30 M3s), and could (as you said)
need the injectors cleaned... not to mention your decade-old catalytic
converter.

    But instead of exploring those options, you suddenly attack the JC
chip... which is probably doing very little at idle (where I assume Ohio
checks emissions and not one of those horrid dyno tests).  What I'm saying
is, use a little common sense here - instead of blaming a product (even one
that is known to be bulletproof) in a potentially damaging way, take care of
the things you know need attention (O2 sensor, gaskets, plugs, injectors)
and, if all else fails, then question the unlikely things (like the probably
blameless chip).

- - Rob Levinson
'85 535i Turbo

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