How long do I have to wait to get inspected...

[njcardsfan]

...after my Check Engine Light has been reset? This refers to another thread of mine. It reads cat converter problems. It always goes off and stays off for months. I had it reset yesterday. Can I get it inspected today?

[loser635]

Drive around for a hour/20 miles and go for it

[njcardsfan]

I'm going for it. I'll let you know.

[strad]

It takes a couple hundred miles. At least it did mine. Several inputs were listed as "not ready" before then. I have a reader so I kept checking it after every drive.

[njcardsfan]

Ugh. Looks like I'll fail if I try then. I'm already overdue for my inspection. I will have driven 100 miles, give or take. I might just try and if I fail, try next month.

[RNeil]

"Not ready" is not the same as a fail. I would have it inspected and if they say you are not ready, then you have a defense if you are questioned.

It generally takes a "driving cycle" to complete the monitors. You can search for a procedure, altough it might not be BMW specific. It would involve starting with the engine cold, fuel between 1/4 and 3/4, idle for 5 minutes, accelerate moderately to 50, hold it for 1 minute, slow to about 20 without using the brakes, repeat a couple of times. It is possible for routine driving to not include a "driving cycle". That would be the only way it takes a couple of hundred miles.

[paniolo]

if you try and fail you get a grace period to correct ... at least here. Often they just look to see if CEL is on and don't hook up a reader, just move to a sniff test. That would vary by state though.

[strad]

"Not ready" is not the same as a fail. I would have it inspected and if they say you are not ready, then you have a defense if you are questioned.

It generally takes a "driving cycle" to complete the monitors. You can search for a procedure, altough it might not be BMW specific. It would involve starting with the engine cold, fuel between 1/4 and 3/4, idle for 5 minutes, accelerate moderately to 50, hold it for 1 minute, slow to about 20 without using the brakes, repeat a couple of times. It is possible for routine driving to not include a "driving cycle". That would be the only way it takes a couple of hundred miles.


Well, that's both true and not true. The assumption could be made that you are trying to hide a failed condition if a device is reported as "not ready," since the only way that would happen is with a recent reset. I know Nevada doesn't care, because I smogged a car at least twice with two devices not ready (and one of them was in fact in failure mode, and would have caused the cel to come on if I'd waited for it). I think other states are a bit more stringent though (CA comes to mind lol).

[njcardsfan]

Just passed inspection! This was one day after the reset, definitely <100 miles driven. I might have gone through a "driving cycle," as described above, although I wasn't trying to. I did some highway and city driving.

All's well that ends well, until I need to replace my catalytic converter. What is that going to cost me?

[NY Bimmers]

normally if you can drive about 10-15 miles at a steady 50mph, all you're monitors will be ready when u get to the inspection.