inspection

[ill_black_assassin]

anybody know were the port is to hook up the inspection computer located at ?

[bullmand]

The port for the BMW diagnostic computer is that big round one next to the fuse box in the engine compartment. Unscrew the lid and you'll see a bunch of pins. The OBDII port is under the dash on the driver's side. There's a little door with a latch that you have to open and then a cap over the port itself.

[ill_black_assassin]

i cant find the obd II port its not there tore my hole dash apart and cant find it.

[007monkey]

I just went out and found it on drivers side bottom of dash. Its a littlle flap that says OBD on it and unscrews. Hope this helps or that youve found it already.

[bullmand]

assassin, do you have an M42 or M44? I see that your car's a '96. Is it possible that it's an early production model and still pre-OBDII? that could explain the missing port.

[ill_black_assassin]

Originally Posted by bullmand

assassin, do you have an M42 or M44? I see that your car's a '96. Is it possible that it's an early production model and still pre-OBDII? that could explain the missing port.

not sure if its a m42 or m44 put i know the port is not were it is saposed to be. anybody else with a 96 have this problem.

[zboot]

Originally Posted by ill_black_assassin

not sure if its a m42 or m44 put i know the port is not were it is saposed to be. anybody else with a 96 have this problem.

If your car is pre OBD-II, it is NOT supposed to have the port.

[ill_black_assassin]

i thought 96 and up is OBD II. how do i find out if im pre OBD-II

[BleMW]

get the vin and call bmw is what i'd say

[bullmand]

You could start by checking the production date on the sticker in the door jamb. It will something like 03/96. Based on that date, or your VIN, you can look on www.realoem.com and you should be able to tell which engine you have.

[ill_black_assassin]

i have a m44 im taking it to the dealer today. i'll let ya'll know what happen when i get back.

[ill_black_assassin]

i still havn't found it so i can't get my car to pass nys inspection. im going to have to have an obd2 port put in or sell the car. anybody no how to install obd2 port

[bullmand]

What exactly is the situation? Is NY telling you that you have an OBD-II car and you have no port? If it's a late '95 or early '96 production it can legally still be OBD-I. You'd have to look it up to find the exact date that OBD-II compliance was required. It sounds like your emissions test is a code scan for OBD-II. What do they do for older cars? I don't believe you can solve this problem just by installing the port, if that's even possible. I don't think the computer will be outputting what their scanner wants to see. What is the production date on your car?

[ill_black_assassin]

1/96 i no there was never 1 in the car. but they keep telling me if its a 96 it has to have obd-II because its the law.

[bullmand]

Wow. I wish I knew what to tell you. Maybe you could get BMWNA to provide you with some sort of documentation indicating that the car is OBD-1, but with that production date doing that might be an admission of non-compliance on their part. It seems that you would have recourse against BMW in this case since the OBD-II law was supposed to apply to all vehicles produced or sold starting in January of 1996. Here's a link to the EPA OBD website. I don't know if there is will be anything useful there or not. I would call them and BMW and see where that gets you. Probably nowhere, but it won't hurt. Just curious, I'm assuming the car has been registered consistently for the last 11 years. How did the previous owners pass the inspection? Did NY change the rules? Good luck and let us know how it turns out.