Failed Emissions

[sa90h]

Anyone know why I would be failing emissions? I’m on stock downpipe and mhd is installed but set to map 0. The car was on for about 20 minutes prior to the test, so it should have been warmed up. Is it mhd being installed that is making it not pass? If so, how do I uninstall mhd without relocking the dme?

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[swrdply400mrelay]

How long was it on map 0?

Usually you have to drive for awhile before emission sensors are ready. How long it takes for them to be ready after reflating is dependent on a few things. But usually 30-50 miles of driving.

 

[sa90h]

How long was it on map 0?

Usually you have to drive for awhile before emission sensors are ready.

Flashed it to map 0 last night and I drove for about 15 minutes before I got it tested

 

[swrdply400mrelay]

Flashed it to map 0 last night and I drove for about 15 minutes before I got it tested

That’s most likely not enough time, I would drive it 20-30 miles on the highway. Some OBD readers will tell you such as the Torque app, so you can get one to check

 

[A90Sean]

Thanks. Just noticed that mhd tells me if it’s ready or not. I’ll drive it longer and try again.

 

[Eastwood]

Evap, EGR and O2 need about 40 to 50 miles to reset after flashing the ECU. It's still collecting data.

IIRC, EGR or EVAP requires a cold start the get a baseline.

Do you know if Arizona checks for CALID and CVNs too?

 

[GRNoyp]

You would have to drive at least 50 mile before the ECU is clear once you set the tune to 0.

 

[razorlab]

If you do it correctly, it should take about 20 minutes for everything to be ready.

 

[exe36m3]

Or just flash back to stock, relock the DME and drive about a week.

I have the BM3 on my 435i. I flashed back to stock, drove the car for a month to assure ALL parameters and check were a go, checked using the Torque app and passed the CA Emissions. Did this last fall in fact.

 

[razorlab]

Or just flash back to stock, relock the DME and drive about a week.

I have the BM3 on my 435i. I flashed back to stock, drove the car for a month to assure ALL parameters and check were a go, checked using the Torque app and passed the CA Emissions. Did this last fall in fact.

A week? Lol, you can get all the parameters passed within 20 mins.

 

[concept]

What's somewhat funny is that while CA is typically among the strictest emissions states in the US, a new gas or hybrid vehicle does not have to be smog-checked for 8 years.

 

[exe36m3]

A week? Lol, you can get all the parameters passed within 20 mins.

I was too lazy to do ALL the steps .
So I just flashed and drove my normal week, albeit down like 80hp.

But oddly enough, the car got better MPG flashed. Intake engineering friend of mine said not unusual, he said it was to save the catalytics, so the stock mix tends to be richer.

 

[exe36m3]

What's somewhat funny is that while CA is typically among the strictest emissions states in the US, a new gas or hybrid vehicle does not have to be smog-checked for 8 years.

What's funnier, it's not really even emissions testing either.
I talked with the SMOG guy when he did my 435i. He just plugged in the OBD2 connector, checked the 6 or 8 "ready" categories on his display (I saw them and they looked A LOT like the Torque app). He then looked under the hood, ran a mirror to see the exhaust system, and put the tail pipe sensor in there - but said on the newer cars they don't measure anything anymore. Tailpipe is now if it smokes or not - if so, immediate fail.

I supposed the *assumption* is if the car is newer, it should pass emissions.

 

[concept]

What's funnier, it's not really even emissions testing either.
I talked with the SMOG guy when he did my 435i. He just plugged in the OBD2 connector, checked the 6 or 8 "ready" categories on his display (I saw them and they looked A LOT like the Torque app). He then looked under the hood, ran a mirror to see the exhaust system, and put the tail pipe sensor in there - but said on the newer cars they don't measure anything anymore. Tailpipe is now if it smokes or not - if so, immediate fail.

I supposed the *assumption* is if the car is newer, it should pass emissions.

Yes, but when I posted this question to Bing's AI:

You
Sent by you:
Does a California smog test technician insert an exhaust test probe into a vehicle's exhaust pipe as part of the emissions test?


Copilot
Sent by Copilot:
Yes, during a California smog test, a technician typically inserts an exhaust test probe into the vehicle’s exhaust pipe to measure emissions. This is part of the tailpipe emissions test, which checks for pollutants like carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted by the vehicle

I never watch the test being done, so I can't verify what was listed above. I did once try to drive only 1.5 miles to the smog test. It failed me due to a "not ready" status I went back the following weekend, and after driving 10 miles to the shop, my car passed without issue.

 

[razorlab]

What's funnier, it's not really even emissions testing either.
I talked with the SMOG guy when he did my 435i. He just plugged in the OBD2 connector, checked the 6 or 8 "ready" categories on his display (I saw them and they looked A LOT like the Torque app). He then looked under the hood, ran a mirror to see the exhaust system, and put the tail pipe sensor in there - but said on the newer cars they don't measure anything anymore. Tailpipe is now if it smokes or not - if so, immediate fail.

I supposed the *assumption* is if the car is newer, it should pass emissions.

I think most, if not all, states do just the OBD2 port emissions testing now. Some states even have self serve kiosks where you drive up, connect to the OBD2 port and off you go.

California is checking CVN #'s now, so if you have a tuned DME/ECU that doesn't spoof the OEM CVN, you fail. CVN is a random number that gets generated whenever any small bit gets changed in the DME/ECU. Basically an anti-tampering feature.

Massachusetts is also doing CVN checks now, but not as wide spread as California yet.

As far as the inspection being every 6-8 years in California, I do miss that for sure, however you have to understand that California has BY FAR the most cars compared to other states, with over 31 million registered cars. I am going to assume the 6-8 year inspection is a resource thing.

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