[STR3T]

So, took my car in for it's first emissions test at a very leisurely pace after getting the notice in the mail. For one, it was December and cold and snow, etc. Also just assumed no real issues would come up as I haven't had MIL or anything since I bought this thing used a year ago. And really, it's an '09 what could possibly happen...these cars are really clean, right?!

Well, I should've known better as I knew from the carfax that this car was likely lemoned out of CA (ridden hard, put away wet with user complaining about "turbo sound"). It was bought by Chicago dealer and CPO'd on the cheap.

So I've been nervous since I bought it but other than a few items, I've put ~7.5k miles on it last summer/fall without much incident. I also don't have much experience with IL emissions...having had new cars for the most part since I moved from the MO side.

So first test was over a week ago...100% FAIL. Test center said they got nothing from the OBD port. NOTHING on any of their 8 or 10 tests.

I take it to a MO dealer I've been using for oil change and to please check the OBD port because... $50 OBD fee and they tell me they ran a short test with an ISID successfully and plugged in an aftermarket scanner and read data just fine.

Off I go, hoping somehow the BMW shop had reset something and/or the IL test center just messed it up the first time. Of course, same thing, FAIL. No readings whatsoever again. Now it's Tuesday night and so I have less than a week to get this fixed in order to get tags renewed.

So I shoot an email off to an IL BMW Dealer's service shop with this scenario hoping they have seen/heard of something like this on our side of the river.

Nice enough, one of the owners replies, says the test center folks don't know their cars. They are likely starting the car up (while foot is on the brake). That's apparently a no-no with this model. They should only start the ignition (not the engine) and get all the readings they want once the dashboard lights all fire up.

Now, at the IL test centers, they set you off into a little tiny waiting box that's about 100 degrees F and from there I can't really see exactly what they do each time. But I do know they started/restarted the car 3-4 times each go-round. So hopefully 3rd time will be a charm if this is the only issue.

Seems strange though that some of the tests wouldn't require a running engine, such as Engine Misfire. And of course, was wondering if the original CA owner had done some mod and was screwing around w/ the OBD and internal settings or something.

Thoughts...before I go back for my 3rd try here? Any other similar experiences w/ emissions on the E89?