Top mounts in CA

Seaneezy

Corporal
Mar 12, 2018
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e90 LCI 335i
You could but if you get pulled over by a cop that knows cars (which a lot of cops do these days) then all he has to do is ask for you to pop your hood then if he sees something that looks out of place with no carb number listed on it then he will send you to the referee and then you get only one chance to pass because from what i remember if you fail the referee it becomes a smog every year on that vin.

There no car out there that has a top mount turbo setup stock and in CA it's illegal to remove any working parts before the cats. So unless the turbos blew and were replaced with OEM only parts it's not a legal replacement. The best option for the OP is to stick with twins. Ones that look OEM are the best. Like vtt stage 2, pure ect....

I've been pulled over a lot, and my car does not sound anywhere close to stock but I have never had a cop ask me to pop the hood (I'm twins so it wouldn't matter). I have also never seen a smog checkpoint in the bay area but I would honestly not be surprised anymore. I don't want to sound cocky but I would not let California smog laws prevent me from a ST swap, to each their own.
 

ShocknAwe

Captain
Jan 24, 2018
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Charleston, SC
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N54/3 1er ///Mutt
How hard would it be to falsify carb numbers? Don't live in CA and never will because of things like this, but why not just print fake tags.
 

buster84

Corporal
Mar 24, 2018
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335 bmw xdrive
How hard would it be to falsify carb numbers? Don't live in CA and never will because of things like this, but why not just print fake tags.

Smog shops enter the carb numbers into the computer if they come up as invalid the parts get flagged as illegal.
 

GotPwned

Lurker
Apr 3, 2018
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2007 BMW 335i
Smog shops enter the carb numbers into the computer if they come up as invalid the parts get flagged as illegal.
With some smog places they are so lenient that once they see a carb sticker on anything they will let it pass.
 

Seaneezy

Corporal
Mar 12, 2018
133
34
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e90 LCI 335i
There are a lot of incompetent smog shops in the bay area that do not check carb stickers on aftermarket parts and could pass you just based on emissions codes and cats in your exhaust.
 

TheGoose

Lurker
May 5, 2018
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2007 E92 335i
I'm not worried about the visual inspection or having CARB legal stickers. Mainly it would have to pass the OBD test when it gets plugged in. Like people have already said, know a smog guy. In some cases depending on the shop you can pass with 9/10 of your monitor's running. Not sure how well a DP fix would work with a single setup. I have seen while watching a Budget Bimmers video that they set the values for the o2 sensors and passed with a single turbo kit. Not sure how much different the test is but that may be an option.
 

GotPwned

Lurker
Apr 3, 2018
21
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2007 BMW 335i
I have seen pass smog with a DP fix on a single turbo setup. No point of that if you cant even pass visual tho and knowing CA smog their visual is probably one of the most strict.
 

TheGoose

Lurker
May 5, 2018
23
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2007 E92 335i
I have seen pass smog with a DP fix on a single turbo setup. No point of that if you cant even pass visual tho and knowing CA smog their visual is probably one of the most strict.

In my case I’m not worried about the visual inspection, only passing the OBD is the challenge as I stated.