View Poll Results: What was done to your car?

Voters
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  • Headlights changed to sealed beam units

    15 45.45%
  • Front turnsignals changed to U.S. Spec units

    6 18.18%
  • Sidemarkers drilled into front fenders

    9 27.27%
  • Sidemarkers drilled into rear fenders

    26 78.79%
  • Bumper reinforcements added

    15 45.45%
  • Bumpers changed to U.S. Spec

    2 6.06%
  • Door reinforcements added

    19 57.58%
  • A/C added to non-factory A/C car

    3 9.09%
  • Speedometer changed from KPH to MPH

    28 84.85%
  • OBC/Check Panel/Dash panels changed from German to English units

    7 21.21%
  • Emissions equipment added (cat, charcoal canister, etc.)

    15 45.45%
  • Other (specify)

    2 6.06%
Multiple Choice Poll.
Results 1 to 18 of 18

Thread: How 'Federalized' is your Euro?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    St. Louis, MO
    Posts
    689
    My Cars
    '84 635 Euro/'14 328i GT

    How 'Federalized' is your Euro?

    With all the recent discussion about varying levels of Federalization done to Euro models brought to the U.S. I thought it'd be a good idea for Euro owners to quantify the level of changes done to their cars. Poll time! These are the majority of changes I've seen on other Euros in the wild, but there may be more I'm not aware of, please list any more you come up with.
    Last edited by Lapis 635 Euro; 08-22-2010 at 06:23 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Denver, Colorado
    Posts
    2,876
    My Cars
    1985 535i, 1980 635CSi
    On some I guess the gas tank was replaced (18(70L) vs 16 gallon)

    Sealed beam headlights
    rear sidemarker lights
    door impact braces

    My car is L-jet injection so no cat was added because there is no motronic to connect to an 02 sensor

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    2,760
    My Cars
    E28s
    My car was hacked up pretty badly. Side markers front and rear, huge heavy bumper bars, door reinforcements that were very poorly done, some crazy wiring within the fusebox (I'm guessing for the AC) and a ridiculously bad AC install... Oh, and air injection! ALL of this has been reversed now...
    '88 528e /// '88 M5 /// '89 951 /// '98 E430 /// '02 M5

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Scottsdale, Arizona
    Posts
    4,885
    My Cars
    81 euro 635, 4.4 X5
    To what extent have any of the fedded cars been turned back?? Mine has the rear quarter markers filled, euro turn signals installed no smog of any kind. Dash gauges back to metric and all of the hvac panel in German. I did leave the door and bumper reinforcements in as they were well done.
    81 Euro undergoing total nut and bolt restoration
    pictures at: flickr.com/photos/bertsphotos

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    ALOHA 96821
    Posts
    3,993
    My Cars
    Euro CR E24s + 540iT
    Not sure of everything that was done to my gals. I'd like to restore them to their "grey market" status, but its always work in progress. I do have the original shipping papers for one.

    The side markers are an eye sore and each of the odometers were changed from Kilometers to miles. I stripped the CATs from each of my Euros and went all euro exhaust systems. Everything else inside my 6ers are in German and I'm not sure how to tell if the bumpers or doors were reinforced. I'd like to think that they are close to Euro standard
    "Simply looking at a Shark is the same as buying one " - R. Carter
    "I have to stop looking at Sharks" - RokuMado
    In Desire Of: 1985 M635CSi (Alpine White) OR ALPINA Model
    1985 Euro 635CSi CR 5-Spd (Schwartz/Buffalo Anthracite)
    1985 Euro 635CSi CR 5-Spd (Polaris/Napa Schwartz)
    1985 Euro 628CSi Auto(Zobelbraun/Buffalo Nutria)...Rehomed
    2002 540iT Sport Auto (Schwartz/Napa Black)
    2019 740i M Sport (Carbon Black/Napa Black)
    (pics) Nori YumeHimeSaiko


  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Atlanta
    Posts
    4,006
    My Cars
    B9 coupe and B9 sedan
    When many of the cars were converted, the owner was given the original parts back so they could be changed after the inspection. With this being the case, it is common to find the euro lighting in place but still operating as the US type lights as the wiring was changed to be compliant with the DOT regulations.

    Some other things that were done:

    disable the headlight aiming system
    adding the unleaded fuel restrictor to the fuel fill
    adding charcoal canister and fuel vapor return
    Adding the "Johnson Box" or other device for o2 sensor operation
    Some of the cars were able to keep the euro marker lights by adding the dual filament buld or extra socket to make it operational as parking light and signal light.
    Also some of the early cars were required to add the seatbelt warning buzzer if it was not in place from the factory.
    Depending on the year of importation; a 3rd brake light was added
    Last edited by alpinacsi; 08-23-2010 at 09:13 AM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    North Central Florida
    Posts
    1,282
    My Cars
    88m5,2015 Silverado
    My 79 , replaced fenders without side markers, filled rear marker holes, Euro headlights, removed bumper reinforcements, never had MPH /US cluster even after DOT work. Always had full euro exhaust as it was Smog exempt being over 5 years old at the time. Filler neck was never modded as well. Added a small bulb in the euro turn signal housing that was used as parking light but kept the euro lens. It was full euro after the mods I did in 89 except the door reinforcement bars
    Last edited by 88m53453; 01-17-2014 at 09:50 PM.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    10,579
    My Cars
    '86 M635/'10 Clubman
    Would probably be cool to post pix of the various bits...

    I'll try to do some of that if I can break away from the spawn this weekend...
    Last edited by e24mpwr; 01-24-2014 at 03:10 PM.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    ALOHA 96821
    Posts
    3,993
    My Cars
    Euro CR E24s + 540iT
    Wow, interesting results for all the euro 6ers
    "Simply looking at a Shark is the same as buying one " - R. Carter
    "I have to stop looking at Sharks" - RokuMado
    In Desire Of: 1985 M635CSi (Alpine White) OR ALPINA Model
    1985 Euro 635CSi CR 5-Spd (Schwartz/Buffalo Anthracite)
    1985 Euro 635CSi CR 5-Spd (Polaris/Napa Schwartz)
    1985 Euro 628CSi Auto(Zobelbraun/Buffalo Nutria)...Rehomed
    2002 540iT Sport Auto (Schwartz/Napa Black)
    2019 740i M Sport (Carbon Black/Napa Black)
    (pics) Nori YumeHimeSaiko


  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    Posts
    748
    My Cars
    1985 M635csi, 97 HD fatboy with stroker motor
    Mine had side markers in front added (later removed by a PO). The bundle of snakes header was removed and replaced with a runner to log manifold setup. I removed that and re-fitted a used OEM header. Speedo was changer to MPH unit.
    Not sure if there were any other mods. Does not appear to have had the bumpers messed with.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    St. Louis, MO
    Posts
    689
    My Cars
    '84 635 Euro/'14 328i GT
    Bumping an old thread for new Euro owners out of curiosity.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Sydney Australa
    Posts
    2,482
    My Cars
    1x633, 1x E3 2 DR Racer
    When you look at the poll results and realise that back then, the US did not enforce seat belt wearing you wonder why so many cars were butchered in the name of safety when the occupants were about to be tossed around like salad.

    Funny how nations (any of them) really miss the elephant in the room sometimes.
    1977 633 CSi RHD Euro. S38B38 3.9L M5 Transplant. 5 Speed Getrag Dogleg. 3.73 LSD. 417hp, 369lb/ft
    1971 3.0CS E3 2dr Alpina Special Coupe Racer, 347hp, 295lb/ft

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Netherlands
    Posts
    292
    My Cars
    1982 628CSi
    I'm just happy I have a German-delivered car in my possession that isn't hacked up.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    5
    My Cars
    9/80 635 Euro
    My 9/80 was federalized in Calif in early '81:
    -front and rear side markers
    -charcoal fuel vapor canister
    -speedo changed from Km to dual scale mph/km
    -DOT sealed beam headlights
    -cat converter/oxygen bung/johnson box (not connected) replacing Euro exhaust
    -rear fog light disconnected
    -not sure about bumper and door reinforcements
    -all dash controls read in German
    Note: car spent first 30 years registered in Cali. CarFax shows it was a frequent "gross polluter" but somehow previous owners always got it to pass smog.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Scottsdale, Arizona
    Posts
    4,885
    My Cars
    81 euro 635, 4.4 X5
    Best response:: How federalized was your car???? Was being the key word!! Now back to full Euro spec except for hidden bumper and door reinforcements.
    81 Euro undergoing total nut and bolt restoration
    pictures at: flickr.com/photos/bertsphotos

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Seattle, Washington
    Posts
    958
    My Cars
    E23 E24 euros E34 E38
    My '84 was fairly unmolested except the speedo in mph, the missing headlight wipers, and the rear side markers. The wipers are back where they belong, attached to the headlight housings and full euro exhaust. Does anyone else have a map light on a gooseneck that's attached to the passenger side headliner/roof? Not sure if this was euro specific. I guess a trip to Realoem is in order.

    Sent from my HTC6545LVW using Tapatalk

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Metairie, LA, USA
    Posts
    406
    My Cars
    1985 BMW 745i, & 635CSI
    I wrote this about 5 years ago that may help explain some of what went into federalization back in the day. There were variations based on personal use or resale, Dot mods were required for all cars, 25 year old cars were exempt from everything, you could get epa exemptions for 5 year old cars for personal use, and the list goes on. The post and the discussions afterwards may clear up some things for you and show why cars were federalize differently and how some of the mods were basically cheating or illegal.

    https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...08-A-look-back




    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

  18. #18
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Lewes, Delaware
    Posts
    72
    My Cars
    1985 M635csi, 2008 535xi
    I purchased my '85 M new on a trip to Germany and had it shipped to the port in Houston, so I was able to supervise all the necessary mods myself. Didn't realize how lucky I was to live in Dallas until much later. The testing lab outside of Fort Worth was very liberal, so the only mods were door beams and naturally, the cat. I changed the speedo to MPH, but it wasn't required. No ugly side markers, and the factory bumpers were retained, so the exterior appearance was unchanged. With only 34k miles, I imagine I'll be keeping it quite a while longer. Still a baby!
    1985 M635csi purchased new.
    "Voters will always choose the beautiful lie over the uncomfortable truth."

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