ISO: ROW tune in the Utah area - willing to drive

[Starter986]

Here's my experience...

Never have I had an undercar inspection... on any car ever I've owned. In Washington or California.

In California the cat on my 86 e30 failed... completely... a rattle can. This was around 2001. BMW wanted two arms and a leg. I went to som rando hold-in-the-wall muffler shop... they welded in some aftermarket cat. CARB certified? No one seemed to GAF. My regular smog guy said it ran the cleanest numbers he'd seen... and I passefd with flying colors.

When I trensferred title on the 986 the DMV seemed disinterested in looking at anything. Mind you... I did the transfer at the 29 Palms DMV. Lady just walked out to the parking lot... looked... noted... transferred.

My point? If I were in your shoes I would just find the least expensive cat... have it welded in... and go about your day. It's unlikely that anyone is going to climb under your car and inspect.

Don't ask. Don't tell. Best wishes.

[FoFoJoe]

I appreciate the insight. I came to a similar conclusion before talking with the shop owner. I figured he's just doing his job and giving the "clean and 100% correct" answer, where in reality I could just have a cat (well, 2 cats) welded in to remedy the issue.

I'll take the car to a reputable exhaust shop and play dumb about the current exhaust mods. I'm thinking I go in for a quote on what it takes to pass emissions, and see what they throw at me.

Thanks, and I hope that E30 is treating you right. I had a short and aggressive BMW phase where I was dying for a 325ix. Ended up with a Miata lol.