CA Catalytic Converter options

[LandCruzer94]

Fellow Californians,

Looking to "legitimize" my CA e28 by any means. Car is currently catless, so I would need something that is CARB approved. I've searched high and low... is the OEM cat the only thing that I can get? Would love to keep my long tube headers if I can but I doubt it. Any thoughts/resources would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[LarryM]

I went through this a few years ago. You need a cat converter that complies with CARB Executive Order #D-193-134. A qualifying muffler will have D-193-134 imprinted on its bottom; some smog shops might do a visual to check that it's legal, others may not.

The one I'm using is a Magnaflow Part # 3321037. I think there are other muffler options, but Magnaflow is the best overall choice I found. I paid about $200 at O'Reilly.

Forget the headers; you'll fail the visual. Best you can do is Euro downpipes, which are slightly larger diameter than US models.

That's the most up-to-date info I can give you. The ultimate goal in this state is to eventually get our cars off the roads so the bureaucrats could change the law on their whim. I plan to be far away before they do.

[LandCruzer94]

Thank you so much! I feel like every cat I was finding was a 48 state cat, but it seems the CA ones are quite a bit higher than MSRP even. At least I know you can get them.

Thank you again!

[ccchrisss]

I went through this a few years ago. You need a cat converter that complies with CARB Executive Order #D-193-134. A qualifying muffler will have D-193-134 imprinted on its bottom; some smog shops might do a visual to check that it's legal, others may not.

The one I'm using is a Magnaflow Part # 3321037. I think there are other muffler options, but Magnaflow is the best overall choice I found. I paid about $200 at O'Reilly.

Forget the headers; you'll fail the visual. Best you can do is Euro downpipes, which are slightly larger diameter than US models.

That's the most up-to-date info I can give you. The ultimate goal in this state is to eventually get our cars off the roads so the bureaucrats could change the law on their whim. I plan to be far away before they do.

Hey Larry, If the smog tech runs this EO# and sees that it's universal and not listed as a specific fit for the e28 would it fail even if emissions are good?

[LarryM]

I went through this a few years ago. You need a cat converter that complies with CARB Executive Order #D-193-134. A qualifying muffler will have D-193-134 imprinted on its bottom; some smog shops might do a visual to check that it's legal, others may not.

The one I'm using is a Magnaflow Part # 3321037. I think there are other muffler options, but Magnaflow is the best overall choice I found. I paid about $200 at O'Reilly.

Forget the headers; you'll fail the visual. Best you can do is Euro downpipes, which are slightly larger diameter than US models.

That's the most up-to-date info I can give you. The ultimate goal in this state is to eventually get our cars off the roads so the bureaucrats could change the law on their whim. I plan to be far away before they do.

Hey Larry, If the smog tech runs this EO# and sees that it's universal and not listed as a specific fit for the e28 would it fail even if emissions are good?

It doesn't matter that it's a universal fitment; as long as it's been officially blessed by CARB and has EO #D-193-134 imprinted on its bottom side where it can be seen by a smog inspector, it's considered legal in CA. Both of my BMWs, an E24 and an E28, go through smog inspection with one of these (a Magnaflow # 3321037) in place and they always pass. Very cleanly, I might add.

[ccchrisss]

Hey Larry, If the smog tech runs this EO# and sees that it's universal and not listed as a specific fit for the e28 would it fail even if emissions are good?

It doesn't matter that it's a universal fitment; as long as it's been officially blessed by CARB and has EO #D-193-134 imprinted on its bottom side where it can be seen by a smog inspector, it's considered legal in CA. Both of my BMWs, an E24 and an E28, go through smog inspection with one of these (a Magnaflow # 3321037) in place and they always pass. Very cleanly, I might add.

Thanks. That sounds logical to me but you never know these days in CA. I had a muffler shop guy tell me he wouldn't risk it in case the smog tech looks up the part # and sees that it's not approved for the make/model even if it has the right EO. I would try to roll the dice on it but I can't find any for under $800 these days. Seems you got a great deal finding one for $200 earlier this year hah. Running out of time to register so I might give it a shot if the state ref doesn't call me back this week.

[LarryM]

I paid $210 for that Magnaflow #3321037 cat converter in 2019, at my local O'Reilly store. I just checked prices of that same cat and am shocked at how much they're selling for today. O'Reilly doesn't even carry them anymore but Summit does:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mpe-3321037

I have no idea what would justify such an increase in price over a 3-year period. Could be increased manufacturing costs but I wouldn't be surprised if CA is charging the cat manufacturers more for achieving CARB certification. After all, their ultimate goal is to eventually get all our cars off the roads....

[topher800]

I believe the rare metal(s), e.g. palladium & platinum, have shot up in price.

[Mike W.]

I believe the rare metal(s), e.g. palladium & platinum, have shot up in price.

Yowzer. While I don't track them on a regular basis, I'd been seeing 50 state cats going for ~$400 over the years. The $210 price seems like an aberration, but ~$800? Yikes!

Not that everything else hasn't been going up in price, but still...

Not that I have an E28 era car anymore, although the hunt goes on for an E24, but I've considered cutting open an OE cat, putting a non compliant in, and welding it up. Or one inside a resonator, although even old, rusty, exhaust parts aren't that easy to come by anymore. Yes, a torch in the garage helps, but I'm not the only one.

[vinceg101]

I believe the rare metal(s), e.g. palladium & platinum, have shot up in price.

Also, and because of this cost increase, CAT theft has escalated exponentially around the entire country, not just California. Granted, this tends to be more prevalent on specific models (high ground clearance, Prius', and the like), but it has driven up the costs as supply dwindles.
It's no wonder the prices of all CA CAT's have gone through the roof this year.

[ahab]

The value of rare metals used in cats have come down considerably in the last year, and now we're back to ~2019 prices. The big spike came the year after covid when production had been hampered by the shutdowns and raw materials for making cats was scarce. I think the current prices of the cats themselves is due to a few factors, corporate greed being the biggest one, supply chain costs, supply and demand with the rise in theft due to high scrap prices of the last few years, the desire to price older cars off the road (especially CARB), etc. I used to buy 48 state 2" 2in 2out M30 cats for <$90. (Magnaflow 94008). I bought one June 1st of this year and it was ~$146 on Amazon. I found it from a company called APK Solutions for $126. Strangely a search for that company isn't turning up much right now, but I have the cat out in the garage ready to install so they came through for me.

I also found this website while looking for M5 cats, I'm sure you could research the M30 version there too.

https://arb.parts/Vehicle/1988/BMW/M5



Edit: If you believe the ARB website, this Walker looks to be CARB compliant for ~$150. https://www.amazon.com/Walker-80833-Uni ... B00C565ROG

As does this one for $426 on Amazon (Summit wants $732 for the same one...) https://www.amazon.com/Walker-81133-Uni ... B01HQSIIVG

[Mike W.]

Edit: If you believe the ARB website, this Walker looks to be CARB compliant for ~$150. https://www.amazon.com/Walker-80833-Uni ... B00C565ROG

As does this one for $426 on Amazon (Summit wants $732 for the same one...) https://www.amazon.com/Walker-81133-Uni ... B01HQSIIVG

I can't say for sure, but I doubt the second one is Calif approved. It shows a 2 way arrow, which I take it to mean it can be installed either way. I believe the "reduction" or Nox part has to be before the oxidizing (CO, HC) part to function properly. So I doubt it's a 3 way cat. Says the armchair expert sitting in front of the computer.

[ccchrisss]

I’m still waiting for a callback from the state ref on this issue, but when I get a definitive answer on what we can/can’t use I’ll be sure to let you guys know!

[DavidE9]

Im using a Magnaflow. It's passed smog testing twice now.

[LarryM]

When I was cat shopping a few years ago I looked at both Walker and Magnaflow. The welds on the Walker were very sloppy and it looked cobbled together. Overall the Magnaflow appeared to be better made. It was an easy choice when they were both similarly priced in the $200 range.

[ahab]

Mike, take a deep dive here. You have to enter the car details, I can’t link directly to the 535.

https://ssl.arb.ca.gov/AftermarketParts/catalysts

[Mike W.]

Mike, take a deep dive here. You have to enter the car details, I can’t link directly to the 535.

https://ssl.arb.ca.gov/AftermarketParts/catalysts

There goes another half an hour I'll never get back. Wow. But good info. Suggests I'm wrong on the bidirectional aspect, as the one listed seems to be approved. Curiously though, and I only spent half an hour there, it does not appear to list any Magnaflow products. Maybe I needed to spend an hour, not half.

It's been a long time, but I chatted with those people a few times and they came across as very bright, very knowledgeable, and tight, but not petty. It's a fine line, but they wanted you to follow the rules, their rules, well, the people I talked to I don't think made the rules, but I got the feeling they were happy if you passed, as long as you followed all the rules. My impression was not that they wanted you to fail, they just wanted everything to be by the book.

[LarryM]

Mike, take a deep dive here. You have to enter the car details, I can’t link directly to the 535.

https://ssl.arb.ca.gov/AftermarketParts/catalysts

If you go to that website and do an "EO Search" (rather than a "Vehicle Search") for EO# D-193-134, then scroll to pages 38-39, you'll find our era BMWs listed and the approved cat converters for them. One of the cats on that list is "Car Sound Exhaust System" part number 3321037 which is an approved Magnaflow cat. ("Car Sound" = Magnaflow)

I went through this rigamarole in 2019 and it took me awhile to figure this out.

[ahab]

Luckily I'm not in CA so luckily this isn't an issue for me but I would think that if you're checking what's allowed and what's not on a site run by the people that do the inspecting, then whatever you find on that site has a high probability of being accepted.

Larry, is the EO number you listed the only one accepted? I'm interested to hear what leads you to believe it's only the D-193-134 units, which is not to say I don't believe you. The way I read the various supporting .pdfs is that there are multiple options that will allow you to pass. To support this, they also list the different units whose approval has been withdrawn so it appears that it's an active list. The ones under D-193-134 seem to be the uber expensive units, but the ones under Executive Order D-182-77 & D-182-54 also show approval for our generation of M30 cars and are the Amazon cheapies linked above.

So, does it HAVE to be EO D-193-134, or are any of the units approved under the various executive orders going to be ok? There certainly could be other snags which are simply not listed on the website, given what we know about bureaucratic red tape. However, if my car were flagged (failed) I would be inclined to provide a copy of their own documentation which says those cheaper units are approved. I don't see where it *requires* D-13-134 and all the EOs show passing numbers with regard to allowable grams per mile of NMOG, CO and NOX during testing, and all docs list the aforementioned generation of cars.

[LarryM]

I just did a Google search on “what is a carb eo number?“ Considering the answers while looking over the CARB database again, I gather:

1) It indicates the performance upgrade part is California emissions legal.

2) An EO number isn’t unique to each part number; that is, multiple products with different part numbers can be assigned the same EO # and be considered CARB-compliant.

So it does appear that the cats listed under EO # D-182-77 & D-182-54 will be acceptable as well. Those include Walker and a company called Airtek. When researching this a few years ago the Walkers were slightly less than the Magnaflows, ~$150 vs. ~$210. However now they're much less: ~$425 vs. ~$800. I do believe the Magnaflow is a better quality unit and probably flows better. I use one on both my E24 and E28 and both sail through smog very cleanly. So I guess the buyer will have to determine if the price difference is worth it.

For more reading about different cat converter options this topic has been previously discussed:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=139986
viewtopic.php?t=155943

[ccchrisss]

The state ref finally called me back. They said that ANY PC-1 cat on this list (https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/pre-obd-ii-catal ... ation-list) should work for our cars. As long as the EO # shows that it is approved for pre-OBDII vehicles under the specific category, which would be PC-1 for e28's.
He referenced pg.40 of the smog check manual which states:

"For Pre-OBDII Vehicles, inspectors shall use the EO number to verify the CAT falls within the correct vehicle
category- PC-1, PC-2, T-1, T-2. Refer to ARB’s Web site for a separate Pre-OBDII EO Listing containing the
EO numbers and corresponding vehicle categories. Inspectors are not required to check specific vehicle
application using the series or part numbers."

so Larry you were right, although there are multiple EO#'s that will work as well. The muffler shops were giving me a hard time about requiring specific make/model/year approval but appears to be unnecessary now. Hope this info is useful to anyone else who comes across this issue later on.

[325racer]

Looking for 528e options.

Looks like it requires a single inlet/outlet cat.

Per d-182-65 = Walker 81127 This comes up on the Walker site https://www.amazon.com/Walker-81127-Uni ... B01HQSIIQ6
D-182-54 = Walker 80827 https://vinnistore.ca/en_ca/walker-calc ... 80827.html
d-182-77 = Walker 81327 (Which doesn't seem to exist)


Meanwhile these are Single in Dual outlet (which isn't really needed on 2.8L)
D-193-134 = Magnaflow 3321037 https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mpe-3321037
D-193-150 = Magnaflow 3322037 https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mpe-3322037
$696 here with 20% discount code https://www.hottexhaust.com/magnaflow-3 ... d-193-150/


I guess it's just figure out what paper shows a listing, decide a price point and availability.

[ccchrisss]

Looking for 528e options.

Looks like it requires a single inlet/outlet cat.

Per d-182-65 = Walker 81127 This comes up on the Walker site https://www.amazon.com/Walker-81127-Uni ... B01HQSIIQ6
D-182-54 = Walker 80827 https://vinnistore.ca/en_ca/walker-calc ... 80827.html
d-182-77 = Walker 81327 (Which doesn't seem to exist)


Meanwhile these are Single in Dual outlet (which isn't really needed on 2.8L)
D-193-134 = Magnaflow 3321037 https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mpe-3321037
D-193-150 = Magnaflow 3322037 https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mpe-3322037
$696 here with 20% discount code https://www.hottexhaust.com/magnaflow-3 ... d-193-150/


I guess it's just figure out what paper shows a listing, decide a price point and availability.

With the magnaflow prices these days, I think you're better off getting a walker. FWIW I just had a walker 81133 installed and passed on my 535i, which is essentially the same cat as the 81127 just different config I guess. Tech said it was very clean, cost was also almost 1/3 of a magnaflow.