How/what do they check with the smog pump?

[sugaki]

So my smog pump has been dead for awhile, but it passes smog because visually it's intact. Was thinking of switching to a pulley, which wouldn't exactly be legal, but was wondering what they look for... or if I gut the stock unit, take out all the hoses/fittings would that still pass?

[zubbie]

What vehicle do you have? I thought smog pumps were only installed on M5's?

After a little digging I found this thread. Do you have a late 95 530?
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1872624-1995-M60B30-Air-Injection

[Jackson42]

What exactly do you mean when you say that it died? If it seized up, all is not lost necessarily. Mine did that and I took it apart to find the inside was corroded and the vanes had stuck to the housing, but the bearings were OK, so I used fine wet-or-dry paper and solvent to remove the corrosion, cleaned it up and reassembled it. It's worked fine ever since. Or if you get in there and find it is not salvageable, you could just remove the vanes if the bearings are still in decent shape.

[sugaki]

What vehicle do you have? I thought smog pumps were only installed on M5's?

Yep, this is a '92 M5.

What exactly do you mean when you say that it died? If it seized up, all is not lost necessarily. Mine did that and I took it apart to find the inside was corroded and the vanes had stuck to the housing, but the bearings were OK, so I used fine wet-or-dry paper and solvent to remove the corrosion, cleaned it up and reassembled it. It's worked fine ever since. Or if you get in there and find it is not salvageable, you could just remove the vanes if the bearings are still in decent shape.

Oh yeah I was planning on gutting it and getting rid of all the SAP plumbing, and I was wondering if I could get rid of all the plumbing without it getting snagged by inspection.