CA Smog questions

[Edward]

I am reinstalling a stock x pipe in place of my akra evo mid pipes. I don't have a stock muffler so I was going to couple the stock x pipe to my rear akra mufflers. Will this cause me to fail the visual inspection even though it has no effect on smog whatsoever?

Secondly, is there an actual guidance on the type of drive cycles I need to go through to get my car to register all clear and O2 readiness? I had my car scanned and I only showed a battery fault from a momentary low battery warning and my EDC warning was on due to my coilovers.

[Johal E32]

Catback does not matter, you will pass smog with the rear akra mufflers.

https://www.smogtips.com/BMWDriveCycle.pdf

[Edward]

Originally Posted by Johal E32

Catback does not matter, you will pass smog with the rear akra mufflers.

https://www.smogtips.com/BMWDriveCycle.pdf

Originally Posted by Johal E32

Catback does not matter, you will pass smog with the rear akra mufflers.

https://www.smogtips.com/BMWDriveCycle.pdf

Thank you for the info and link. Much appreciated.

[Longboarder]

I failed with a stage 1 tune and stock exhaust. 02 readiness not set with the tune. Changed the tune back to stock and drove about 50 miles but didn't adhere to any specific drive cycle - just drove the car. And it passed smog.

Good luck and let us know how it goes. I now have an Akra slip like you and was told it passes visual in CA and I don't feel like changing it if I dont have to.

[pjk380]

Originally Posted by Longboarder

I failed with a stage 1 tune and stock exhaust. 02 readiness not set with the tune. Changed the tune back to stock and drove about 50 miles but didn't adhere to any specific drive cycle - just drove the car. And it passed smog.

Good luck and let us know how it goes. I now have an Akra slip like you and was told it passes visual in CA and I don't feel like changing it if I dont have to.

Aftermarket catback should not matter. If the smog shop gives you grief, find another smog shop. I had smog check done last year. I had Evolve mufflers with stock x pipe plus Karbonius intake plenum. The guy didn’t say one thing about the muffler or plenum. He did peak under the car to make sure the Cats were still in place.

I also ran the Stage 1 tune and flashed back to stock in order to pass smog. I did not mess with the drive cycle to set readiness monitors. I drove down the fwy late at night going between 55-60 for 15 min. Turned around and stayed again at 55-60, very light on the throttle for 15 min. When I got home I plugged in my hand held scanner and all monitors were set.

[Edward]

Originally Posted by Longboarder

I failed with a stage 1 tune and stock exhaust. 02 readiness not set with the tune. Changed the tune back to stock and drove about 50 miles but didn't adhere to any specific drive cycle - just drove the car. And it passed smog.

Good luck and let us know how it goes. I now have an Akra slip like you and was told it passes visual in CA and I don't feel like changing it if I dont have to.

Originally Posted by Longboarder

I failed with a stage 1 tune and stock exhaust. 02 readiness not set with the tune. Changed the tune back to stock and drove about 50 miles but didn't adhere to any specific drive cycle - just drove the car. And it passed smog.

Good luck and let us know how it goes. I now have an Akra slip like you and was told it passes visual in CA and I don't feel like changing it if I dont have to.

Good to know. It seems it's up to the discretion of the person who is running the smog check. I've heard stories from friends where they ran the test and fail even though they could have been told prior that they would fail and to correct it. Seems some of them will run it and charge you while knowing you're bound to fail because of some reason.

I'll try the late night run after cold start and keep it under 3,000 rpm as that drive cycle tip sheet says. Thank you guys for your input.

[aBMWfan]

Originally Posted by Edward

Good to know. It seems it's up to the discretion of the person who is running the smog check. I've heard stories from friends where they ran the test and fail even though they could have been told prior that they would fail and to correct it. Seems some of them will run it and charge you while knowing you're bound to fail because of some reason.

I'll try the late night run after cold start and keep it under 3,000 rpm as that drive cycle tip sheet says. Thank you guys for your input.

I passed smog with muffler delete last week, in CA

[Longboarder]

Originally Posted by Johal E32

Catback does not matter, you will pass smog with the rear akra mufflers.

https://www.smogtips.com/BMWDriveCycle.pdf

We have a decibel limit that the smog shops also check in CA. So could be at the discretion of the shop if they want to fail me on visual inspection with the Akra or whatever cat back is on there.

[NeverL8]

Originally Posted by Longboarder

We have a decibel limit that the smog shops also check in CA. So could be at the discretion of the shop if they want to fail me on visual inspection with the Akra or whatever cat back is on there.

I just passed smog on my Eisenmann Sport in San Marcos. The guy said he doesn’t care about the cat back, as long there’s no tunes.