[Poochie]

I took my car in for a NY state inspection today, this is the first year since the vehicle is now three model years old they had to plug in the vehicle into its OBD2 port and check the "emissions" compliance.

However, the vehicle's computer keeps spitting that some of the emission control devices are not in a "ready" state, sort of like when you disable the cat with a tune but all I have installed is a Dinantronics Stage 1, everything else is stock.

As far as I know, Dinan products are CARB legal, so I didn't think they interferes with any emission control device but when I disconnected the piggyback, all the sensors slowly started coming back online. :

Does anyone know if Dinan piggybacks interferes with the emission control devices or do I have a 'defective' unit.



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[Estoril6rod]

How long did you wait between resetting the ECU and having them read the car? From experience everything related to catalyst and O2 sensors takes a while to "clear" since the ECU is performing its own calibrations following a reset, stock or modified.

In regards to Dinan piggybacks I have no experience whatsoever... but I do know that any tune above stock will decrease the lifespan of stock catalysts and eventually it will throw a code when reading the car through the OBD2.

Drive the car around for a while and read your car again to see if the O2 sensor cleared.

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by Estoril6rod

How long did you wait between resetting the ECU and having them read the car? From experience everything related to catalyst and O2 sensors takes a while to "clear" since the ECU is performing its own calibrations following a reset, stock or modified.

In regards to Dinan piggybacks I have no experience whatsoever... but I do know that any tune above stock will decrease the lifespan of stock catalysts and eventually it will throw a code when reading the car through the OBD2.

Drive the car around for a while and read your car again to see if the O2 sensor cleared.

Backstory; I failed inspection 11 days ago, they gave me a 10 extension to reset the vehicle's "drive cycle."

I drove a 150 miles within that time but still when I went in today for the re-inspection, they told me the cat and O2 is still not in a "ready" state.

Only after I scratched up my hands by removing the piggyback on the side of the road, that's when I saw the cat starting reading 'ready' again. So I narrowed it down to the piggyback that's sending a signal to the DME that it is not agreeing with, thus, the DME is perpetually placing the cat in a dormant state, without trigging a MIL.

I am in no way bashing the tune, I'm just trying to better understand what exactly the unit alters to make power.

Now I just have to remove it before each inspection and reset the drive cycle. Something I assumed I wouldn't have to do since it's a BMW-approved tune, sort of..

[Estoril6rod]

Originally Posted by Poochie

Backstory; I failed inspection 11 days ago, they gave me a 10 extension to reset the vehicle's "drive cycle."

I drove a 150 miles within that time but still when I went in today for the re-inspection, they told me the cat and O2 is still not in a "ready" state.

Only after I scratched up hands and removed the piggyback on the side of the road, that's when I saw the cat starting reading 'ready' again. So I narrowed it down to the piggyback that's sending a signal to the DME that it is not agreeing with, so its perpetually placing the cat in a dormant state, without trigging a MIL.

I am in no way bashing the tune, I'm just trying to better understand what exactly the unit alters to make power.

Now I just have to remove it before each inspection and reset the drive cycle. Something I assumed I wouldn't have to do since it's a BMW-approved tune, sort of..

That's odd... as far as I know Dinan piggybacks do not suppress any CEL's related to the catalyst so if something was wrong with your catalyst you would've gotten a CEL way before inspection.

I know it's a hassle to disconnect a piggyback or reflash to stock every time you go in for a smog but in my opinion it's a small price to pay once a year for what you get in return as far as performance.

[ZM2]

I would have tried putting the Dinan into bypass mode.

[Anthony1s]

Have you asked Dinan about this?

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by Anthony1s

Have you asked Dinan about this?

I sent an email but didn't get a response yet. I'll call them tomorrow during business hours.

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by ZM2

I would have tried putting the Dinan into bypass mode.

I did think of that but instead of wasting time playing trial and error, I just removed the entire unit from the ECU's harness.

[ZM2]

Originally Posted by Poochie

I did think of that but instead of wasting time playing trial and error, I just removed the entire unit from the ECU's harness.

Bypass takes 1min and a phone app, but glad you got it passed.

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by ZM2

Bypass takes 1min and a phone app, but glad you got it passed.

The APP bypass still has the engine's ECU running through the Dinan's harness. Still cool that Dinan threw in an electronic bypass.

I didn't want to waste time driving the car in NYC traffic trying to reset the 'drive cycle,' only to figure out it might be a short in the Dinan harness or its ground cable, so I rooted it out.

Last time I forgot to spray the dielectric grease into the Dinan harness, which they provided, before installation and then on a really cold day, the vehicle started throwing low 'signal' codes for some of the engine sensors.

I love having a fast(er) car but the headache of dealing with failing inspection and check engine lights is a compromise I rather avoid. Most changes to Minis or BMW always sets off the computer, last time it was a cone intake that started tripping the MIL, now it's the piggyback...

As a wise man once said; "I'm getting too old for this shit"

[Poochie]

Just to close out this thread; my vehicle passed inspection today after I removed the piggyback and reset the 'drive cycle.' Not sure if I had just bypassed the tune with the Dinan APP if this would of worked as well but I did not chance it and just completely removed the whole unit.

Dinan never replied to my emailed question asking if the Dinantronics was blocking the sensors from going into a 'ready' state for inspections. When I got someone over the phone, they just directed me to a dealer.

So their silence was deafening, as it pretty must answered my question. Any aftermarket changes to these vehicles, you run the risk of the computer kicking it back.

Some folks might be ok rolling the dice with tuning, in the name of more power but I'm done tinkling with my daily driven vehicles, as I can't afford to deal with any possible related issues.

[ZM2]

Tuning can definitely turn into a rabbit hole. For some of my previous cars, I didn’t want to mess with it. For the M2, I’m enjoying it, as I’m learning a lot.

Having moved on from Dinantronics, I can say that BM3 is smoother, faster, and more customizable. Plus, it’s just a 5min exercise to go from stock, to a tune, back to stock and lock the DME.

None of this is with Apple-like ease, but it’s a good way to go if you decide you want to start tweaking again.