Emmissions test (monitors not ready)

[REM318TI]

I am so glad to have found this site and hopefully I can get a solution to the problem I have with my 318ti.

I had transmission work done about 4 months ago, a month later I had to get the emmissions test done, the result was 4 monitors not ready, the person that did the test said I needed to drive te car about 60 to 80 miles and the computer should reset and pass the test. I did that but same result, I went to te dealer, they said there was nothing wrong with the car ant to just drive it a little more, same result, went to an authorized emmissions shop, they said there were a couple of codes that needed clearing, they did, told me to drive the car again about 60 to 80 miles, no luck, so far I had spent about $600, they gave me a driving cycle print out, I followed but same result, my tags have expired, I have use the extension that Virginia offers, and nobody seems to have a solution, and since is not failing I can't get a waiver either, I will greatly appreciate your help.

Thank you.

[autoxerwgn]

It's hard to really know what the problem is without more information. Which monitors are not setting? What faults were in the computer? I work at a dealer and have to reset readiness codes every once in a while. It doesn't usually take me more than a 15-20 minute drive to get them all to set. (Although you have to drive it like a baby) I know the dealer equipment is able to set the secondary air and fuel tank leak check monitors without driving the car. I think the remaining ones should be Oxygen Sensor, Oxygen Sensor Heaters, and Cat. Converter.

[REM318TI]

Thanks for the reply autoxerwgn, as far as which faults were in the computer I don't know, I could find out thought, the monitors that test not ready are the Catalyst, Evaporative System, O2 sensor and EGR System, the DMV says it will pass with 2 monitors not ready maximum, unfortunately this 4 monitors have tested not ready since the first time, I have done another driving cycle, it was a lot more descriptive, 18 steps altogether, but at this point I am not very optimistic, I hope this gives you a better idea of the situation, please let me know if you need more info that could help.
Thank you very much.

[autoxerwgn]

Well, your car doesn't have an EGR system so I don't know why that is comming up. As far as the other monitors, there is usually 2 seperate oxygen sensor monitors, one for the O2 sensors themselves and the other for the oxygen sensor heater. If you let the car sit and idle for a while, like 10 to 15 minutes at operating temperature, it should be enough to set the heated o2 monitor. The only way to set the other o2 monitor and the catalyst monitor is to drive it. The quickest way to set them is to find a nice road that you can cruise on at about 45-50 mph-ish. You want to avoid going over 3000 rpm while getting to this road and during the drive. A nice steady drive with minimal throttle input and some coasting should be enough to set the cat and o2 monitors.

[REM318TI]

I will do the driving this week, hopefully that will do the trick, thanks for the advise, I will let you know the outcome. Appreciate your help.

[REM318TI]

Well, I drove it about 70 miles, did not get above 3000 rpm, same result, same monitors reporting as not ready, does the driving need to be continuous? unfortunately around here there aren't any long roads. so the driving had a lot of stops along the way, I could try to get out of town and find a road that will allow for continuos driving, do you think I should try that? thanks.

[scabzzzz]

Something else is wrong. Theres no reason why those monitors wouldnt be set by now whether you were redlining every gear all day or babying the car. Unless you are resetting the codes really often and then driving. Clearing the codes, turning the engine on and driving a bit. Cut the engine off. Drive some more. They should be ready. Just a basic drive cycle. If its not setting properly, i would imagine the DME would be at fault. Since you're OBDII, if you're cats or o2 sensors were bad then you would be throwing a check engine light. Unfortunately, swapping DME's for you would require aligning your EWS to the new DME. Sounds like a lot is going to entail with this.. Move to another state with no emission testing

[REM318TI]

I actually thought about driving to Florida and selling the car, hopefully it will not come down to that, besides with expired sticker plates probably I won't be able to get too far, and more important I like the car, I went to an authorized emmisssions repair shop and got charged about $500, what do you think I should expect from them, should I ask for my money back? they say the car does not have any problems, but the emmissions test say otherwise, any sugestions will be appreciated, I don't know enough to try swapping DME's or aligning EWS, is that something the repair shop should have done? thanks

[pdxmotorhead]

Was it a BMW specialty shop?

Sounds to me like a vacume leak or air leak in the intake system.

If your air tube has a crack it may be opening and closing causing random combustion issues and ticking the whole system off.

I assume you have:
1. Full tuneup (At least plugs maybe wires too...)
2. Oil change
3. How long since the last Service from a real BMW mechanic?

Any modern EFI car can have the same issues, its not a BMW specific thing...

Dave