I forgot to add the smiley face to express my happiness.
Letter stating that my car complies with emission standards
- Thread starter 73Polaris
- Start date
stphers
Well-Known Member
How does it work when it is not the original engine? If an engine has been swapped for a much newer one, are the emissions go with that engine? I know here in BC ( when we had the emission centers ) and there was an engine swap, it was tested at the same level as what the new engine came from example 92 eng 3.5 swap got tested as a 1992 3.5 tighter emissions To the original poster, that sounds like Charles old car
Thanks, Rick
Thanks, Rick
Contact BMW Environmental Eng. Montvale, NJ (201) 573-2082
I happened to be bored just a moment ago, so I perused EPA's website looking for a specific doc about engine swapping. Then I stumbled upon this nugget:
Importing Canadian Vehicles | US EPA
Information importers need to verify the Canadian vehicle they are importing into the United States is identical to a United States certified vehicle.
Light-duty Vehicle and Motorcycle Manufacturers’ United States Representatives | US EPA
This page provides a list of contact information of vehicle manufacturers' United States representatives.
i hope this leads you to a solution.
I hate to give such a vague response to your question, but... It depends.
The document link below is a good starting point. But, each I/M testing state/region tends to have different requirements. The EPA doc below discusses the baseline policy/rule, some I/M states/regions might be more stringent, but never less stringent (in theory).
https/www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/engswitch_0.pdf
In a nutshell, it says go ahead and swap engines all day long, but don't screw with the emissions equipment -as it was designed and intended to function on it's original chassis and for it's vehicle class-
In another nutshell, don't put a turbine engine in your 318i and then expect to drive it to work -legally. But, yeah, go ahead and do that S85 swap, just make sure you also swap over every bit of emissions control and you had better do it right or we won't register you veh. We will look under the hood..
One distinct and sometimes confusing part of these stat-by-state regs is that some states test according to the original chassis vin, while other states test according to the donor vehicle vin.
Just make sure you know which state (or rather I/M region) you're in and don't have 2 VIN numbers floating around or you will get nothing but head shaking and red tape.
A 75 and older vehicle doesn’t get tested although the DMV expects you to keep all emissions gear in it. If you swap a motor in you are fine, still no testing. If your vehicle is newer than 75 the motor is tested to the year of the motor, such as an 88 b35. It has to get a Bureau of Automotive Repair sticker from a CARB approved referee so every two years the test station knows what motor is being tested.
Contact BMW Environmental Eng. Montvale, NJ (201) 573-2082
I happened to be bored just a moment ago, so I perused EPA's website looking for a specific doc about engine swapping. Then I stumbled upon this nugget:
Importing Canadian Vehicles | US EPA
Information importers need to verify the Canadian vehicle they are importing into the United States is identical to a United States certified vehicle.www.epa.gov
Light-duty Vehicle and Motorcycle Manufacturers’ United States Representatives | US EPA
This page provides a list of contact information of vehicle manufacturers' United States representatives.
i hope this leads you to a solution.
Thanks for the links to the EPA and BMW North America. I've reached out to BMW Classic, and they did reply but but referred me to BMW North America. Unfortunately no response yet from BMW NA. The phone number the EPA lists for BMW NA is out of service.
For sh!ts and curiosity I called BMWNA (
What response did you get from BMWNA? Please post the number. Thanks.
O
Oops..once more
For sh!ts and curiosity I called BMWNA (1 800-831-1117) per EPA guidance. I asked the BMW rep about importing a 1972 BMW from Canada to USA. Here is what the BMW said:
- For a letter of compliance, provide us with the VIN, name, add, etc and you will receive it in 10 days.
- For a letter of conformity, call the importer.
So you might have to call your importer (CA to USA) or maybe she meant the original importer (DE->CA)?
Oops..once more
For sh!ts and curiosity I called BMWNA (1 800-831-1117) per EPA guidance. I asked the BMW rep about importing a 1972 BMW from Canada to USA. Here is what the BMW said:
- For a letter of compliance, provide us with the VIN, name, add, etc and you will receive it in 10 days.
- For a letter of conformity, call the importer.
So you might have to call your importer (CA to USA) or maybe she meant the original importer (DE->CA)?
Allow me to revise and extend my prior remarks. If BMW has a mechanism to provide a "compliance" letter within ten days, and the CA DMV is requesting a letter from BMW, obtaining this letter is probably preferable to arguing with DMV about why the stickers are insufficient.
BMW could issue a letter confirming the vehicle's "compliance" with US Federal and CA specific emissions rules, without having to specify whether it complied when manufactured and sold, or complies now.
This, in turn, would enable the CA DMV "Technical Compliance Manager" to check the box that he has a manufacturer's letter and issue the registration.
BMW could issue a letter confirming the vehicle's "compliance" with US Federal and CA specific emissions rules, without having to specify whether it complied when manufactured and sold, or complies now.
This, in turn, would enable the CA DMV "Technical Compliance Manager" to check the box that he has a manufacturer's letter and issue the registration.