RE: Emissions 87 325es

[Chris Fowler <ChrisF@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tom,
 
I did take my car to the dealer after I failed in 1999.  Several things were
done:
 
1.  BMW inspection #2
2.  O2 sensor replaced
 
This did not totally fix the problem.  This did improve the results enough
that I was passed.  But,  I still failed the
test.  If you fail once then fix and spend at least $600 in GA to fix the
problem, you'll get a sticker as long as
you show some improvement.  I do notice that when my car is beside a brick
wall, I can here a loud notice from muffler as
it is running.  I believe that I have a bad muffler too.  My original belief
is that it was a bad cat.  My dealer has a nice professional
building as well as employees.  But, I've never been totally satisfied with
the service department.  They seem to not know how to
diagnose errors effectively.   I'm not a mechanic so I would not know.
There is a mechanic here in GA named Main Source Germany and 
I've been very satisified with their work.  They are far cheaper than United
BMW and they have a long waiting list.  Emergancy problems can not 
be fixed there due to that list.
 
Thanks,
Chris
 
 

- -----Original Message-----
From: TomMcPhers@domain.elided [mailto:TomMcPhers@domain.elided]
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2001 9:06 AM
To: chrisf@domain.elided
Subject: Emissions 87 325es


Chris 

I just went through that with the same car.  It was dramatically out of spec

- -- the first time, since Rhode Island just started the emissions test.  I 
ended up taking it to the dealer who was very fair and thorough.  There is
an 
access just forward of the CAT -- it turned out that the emissions before
the 
CAT and the ones behind the 
CAT were the same (they opened a plug and inserted the emission probe) -- in

other words the CAT was not working.  To compound that, I had a generic 
Bosche O2 sensor installed a couple years ago and it was wired wrong.
Bottom 
line was that I had to buy a new CAT and O2 sensor for about $1100 from the 
dealer (OEM).  That took care of the problem.  I think what was really 
happening was that the O2 sensor was sending a rich signal to the injection 
system -- and running for that length of time really fouled the CAT.  This
is 
only a possibility for you -- I don't think it would be a muffler, but a 
Catalytic converter will effect the emissions.  The key is in the readings.

Mine was way out -- running really rich.  Another problem can be the temp 
sensor -- which can send a signal to go full rich.  I thought that might be 
my problem, but it wasn't.  If you do need a CAT, you can buy aftermarket
for 
around $300 dollar.  Take this for what it is worth -- I'm not a mechanic.

My bet is that it is a simple problem -- not necessarily cheap to fix, 
but.....   Good luck. 

Tom McPherson 
87 325es 

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