- Joined
- Apr 1, 2016
- Points
- 208
- Location
- Maybole , South Ayrshire
- Model of Z
- Z3 Individual Dakar / Orinoco Individual
Hi Guys time for a story that will get to a point 
( I promise)
When I bought Lynne's zed got it cheap as it had a number of serious issues but let's not diverse to much .
One of the issues was it had a bit of a major starting and running fault after a bit of diagnosis ended up with the cylinder head being removed and subsequently binned as it was cracked.
Ended up buying an 86k engine out a 318 is ( guy was taking out the 1.9 to put a 3.0 into this 1st gen compact.)
Anyway repairs carried out all well in the engine department cat was relatively new ( aftermarket) next mot a few months after engine just scraped emissions so just before the next mot checked emissions failing.
So looked at bmw cat even at trade price eye wateringly dear so put another aftermarket one on ( thinking original failed due to the engine failure) so no problem with mot emissions.
Following year struggling again do decided the problem was the aftermarket cats as OE equipment cat m44 seem OK.
As I still had the cat I had removed all the pipework was in decent condition I started to ponder solutions.
As the m44 is a pre face-lift model engine it is only fitted to pre 2001 cars so only Euro 2 which means unfortunately the aftermarket cats are cheap rubbish and can't keep the m44 under control.
So started thinking surely all I would need to do is fit a better quality cat more equivalent to the quality of a genuine bmw one.
So from Jan 2001 aftermarket cats have to be ' type approved ' and have to be of a similar quality to a vehicle original cat these cars are Euro 3 onwards so the plan was then to find a Euro 3 cat to cut and shut in during my searching another option came to light.
Found a guy in Germany who sells on Ebay he does a M44 cat front pipe with a Euro 3 type approved cat fitted.
Arrived well within estimated delivery time via Euro tracking by dpd.
So here is a few comparison pictures
So front section a lot better designed y piece where the 2 become 1.
You can't really see the best in the picture but the pipe bore is slightly larger from the y piece to the cat.
The overall length of both bits is yhe same look different just because I had them sitting beside each other
The cat is a fair bit bigger and looks decent metal used.
Cat stamped 103r type approved.
So had the cat in a couple of months done a Scottish zed run in it car smells so much better .
So took into work on Sunday done cat test on it .
For mot at fast idle co ( carbonmonoxide) , hc ( hydrocarbon ( unburnt fuel)) and lambda checked at idle speed it's just the co thats checked .
So at idle and fast idle all readings well within limits.
Will keep this thread updated as to how this cats continued performance is .
Got a Lakes run coming up soon next report will be after that.
Stephen.
( I promise)When I bought Lynne's zed got it cheap as it had a number of serious issues but let's not diverse to much .
One of the issues was it had a bit of a major starting and running fault after a bit of diagnosis ended up with the cylinder head being removed and subsequently binned as it was cracked.
Ended up buying an 86k engine out a 318 is ( guy was taking out the 1.9 to put a 3.0 into this 1st gen compact.)
Anyway repairs carried out all well in the engine department cat was relatively new ( aftermarket) next mot a few months after engine just scraped emissions so just before the next mot checked emissions failing.
So looked at bmw cat even at trade price eye wateringly dear so put another aftermarket one on ( thinking original failed due to the engine failure) so no problem with mot emissions.
Following year struggling again do decided the problem was the aftermarket cats as OE equipment cat m44 seem OK.
As I still had the cat I had removed all the pipework was in decent condition I started to ponder solutions.
As the m44 is a pre face-lift model engine it is only fitted to pre 2001 cars so only Euro 2 which means unfortunately the aftermarket cats are cheap rubbish and can't keep the m44 under control.
So started thinking surely all I would need to do is fit a better quality cat more equivalent to the quality of a genuine bmw one.
So from Jan 2001 aftermarket cats have to be ' type approved ' and have to be of a similar quality to a vehicle original cat these cars are Euro 3 onwards so the plan was then to find a Euro 3 cat to cut and shut in during my searching another option came to light.
Found a guy in Germany who sells on Ebay he does a M44 cat front pipe with a Euro 3 type approved cat fitted.
Arrived well within estimated delivery time via Euro tracking by dpd.
So here is a few comparison pictures
So front section a lot better designed y piece where the 2 become 1.
You can't really see the best in the picture but the pipe bore is slightly larger from the y piece to the cat.
The overall length of both bits is yhe same look different just because I had them sitting beside each other
The cat is a fair bit bigger and looks decent metal used.
Cat stamped 103r type approved.
So had the cat in a couple of months done a Scottish zed run in it car smells so much better .
So took into work on Sunday done cat test on it .
For mot at fast idle co ( carbonmonoxide) , hc ( hydrocarbon ( unburnt fuel)) and lambda checked at idle speed it's just the co thats checked .
So at idle and fast idle all readings well within limits.
Will keep this thread updated as to how this cats continued performance is .
Got a Lakes run coming up soon next report will be after that.
Stephen.
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