That Time of Year Again

ZTec

ZTec

Zorg Guru (IV)
Supporter
British Zeds
The M44 Massive
Joined
Oct 18, 2014
Points
171
Location
Llantwit Major
Model of Z
Z3
It's was MOT time again on Thursday, took my beloved Zed down to my local garage who I have used for years, nothing is too much for them. Everything was good apart from the CO emissions which had been excessive over the past couple of years but they had managed to get it below 30, but not this time, tried all sorts no joy, no codes came up. Finally came to the conclusion it was the cat. BMW wanted £800+vat and wanted the old cat as well (cheeky b******s)) found a good aftermarket one for £99 plus £16 for fitting kit, did the job, brought the CO down to a pass. Had a chat with the tester who said the car was in great condition, with no advisories.:)
Oh and they put the old cat in the boot so I could take it to local cat buyer for some cash back.
Happy days.:thumbsup:
 
Glad your Z passed the MOT :p
I really dislike the emissions test our always used to fail for some reason :)
It's always good to get the passed certificate in your hand ;)
 
Mine failed Emission test, mechanic took it for a blast then passed (Think he just wanted a cheeky ride in a Z)
 
Nice one. Hope mine does OK when the big day comes this November. Only advisories were front flexible break hoses which have been done. Is emissions a common issue?

Andy
 
Not quite sure :p
But all the cars we have normally fail on the emissions :)
Maybe it's the way I drive them :ymdevil:
 
I have been told in the past that the emissions failures are partly to do with the sort of usage that these cars get, ie not enough miles regularly throughout the year. I can't figure out the reason why that should be as I'm no expert.
My car now only does a very low mileage annually but the local BMW specialist hasn't had any difficulty getting it through the test so far - fingers crossed for this years!
 
The main thing above all else is that the engine needs to be HOT. Most cars are not tested properly.:(

Tony.
 
Always hoon around for 20 miles before an emissions test, clears the pipes. Alternatively hoon around all year then the last 20 miles don't matter
 
We have never had an issue with emissions on either zed. But there again they were both daily drivers
 
Thank you all Shelly, Zedwheels, Paul, Andy, Steve, Tony, Tinman & Billz for your comments. At the end of the day a lot of these cars are driven sedately all the time, they need to be pushed to blow the cobwebs out, I put a couple of bottles of Wynns fuel injector cleaner in a tank of fuel and give it a good blast for that tankful, get it really hot to clean out the carbon, it does smell a bit of unburnt fuel until the tank empties, but after that it smells fine. The cats don't last forever so they loose their efficiency over time which pushes the emmissions up. If ever you do get a cat changed don't forget to ask for your old cat back, there's plenty of scrappiest out there who buy them, recoup some of your money, got £95 for a Citroen cat a few years ago. Happy days.;)
 
Shelly said:
Glad your Z passed the MOT :p
I really dislike the emissions test our always used to fail for some reason :)
It's always good to get the passed certificate in your hand ;)
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It even better to have a pass certificate with no advisories. :)
 
ZTec said:
Thank you all Shelly, Zedwheels, Paul, Andy, Steve, Tony, Tinman & Billz for your comments. At the end of the day a lot of these cars are driven sedately all the time, they need to be pushed to blow the cobwebs out, I put a couple of bottles of Wynns fuel injector cleaner in a tank of fuel and give it a good blast for that tankful, get it really hot to clean out the carbon, it does smell a bit of unburnt fuel until the tank empties, but after that it smells fine. The cats don't last forever so they loose their efficiency over time which pushes the emmissions up. If ever you do get a cat changed don't forget to ask for your old cat back, there's plenty of scrappiest out there who buy them, recoup some of your money, got £95 for a Citroen cat a few years ago. Happy days.;)
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Never thought of that about the Cat, thanks. When ever I take mine out we have a nice quite stretch of dual carriageway just down the road where she gets "pushed" a tad post warm up:whistle:
 
The main thing to be aware of regarding after market cat's is that they will be smaller, contain less inside to do their job and wont have to life span of an original one which is reflected in the price to be fair. Some older cars we get in at work have these issues and it's likely that a cheaper cat will last 2 years but some times only one. So when you're down to 30 days left on your certificate get it M.O.T.'d, then if the cat is faulty you will still have some warranty left if it was for only 1 year(most are).

Tony.
 
t-tony said:
The main thing to be aware of regarding after market cat's is that they will be smaller, contain less inside to do their job and wont have to life span of an original one which is reflected in the price to be fair. Some older cars we get in at work have these issues and it's likely that a cheaper cat will last 2 years but some times only one. So when you're down to 30 days left on your certificate get it M.O.T.'d, then if the cat is faulty you will still have some warranty left if it was for only 1 year(most are).

Tony.
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I agree with you Tony, got two year warranty with it and I do 2,000 miles a year in my Zed (fair weather Zed), wasn't going to spend best part of £900 on a cat that's more than half what I paid for the car:)
 
Mine struggles getting through the emissions test. Everything else has always been fine since we've owned it.
 
Usually it would cost me between 300-500 quid to put my Z3 through the MOT - BMW Dealers. I put it through this year without doing any work, cost = price of MOT. It sailed through, thankfully and no advisories. I was well pleased. I did 4000 miles last year.
 
Grumpy said:
Mine struggles getting through the emissions test. Everything else has always been fine since we've owned it.
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I give mine a 'good run' before the MOT, unfortunately it wasn't enough this year:(
 
t-tony said:
The main thing to be aware of regarding after market cat's is that they will be smaller, contain less inside to do their job and wont have to life span of an original one which is reflected in the price to be fair. Some older cars we get in at work have these issues and it's likely that a cheaper cat will last 2 years but some times only one. So when you're down to 30 days left on your certificate get it M.O.T.'d, then if the cat is faulty you will still have some warranty left if it was for only 1 year(most are).

Tony.
Click to expand...
also the cheap euro cats are not worth anything at the scrap yard

oh and my z4 passed its mot yesterday with no advisory's at all
 
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