No joy. The emissions center said they can’t change their process/protocol on the fly. Currently, every start/stop car they test is able to output data while the engine is running.
They did call the primary resource, who is apparently a certified mechanic, located around Chicago area and the main contact in IL for emissions issues.
He said they see plenty of exotics up there obviously, and feels he would know about any change in process for a specific model and/or that BMW Corp would have released a statement saying same.
So he has to assume there is something wrong with the vehicle. Said dealer scanners are open to a much wider range of voltages/tolerances than the state emissions tool. This allows dealers/repair shops to determine and fix any issues.
Since the emissions center doesn’t care about fixing vehicles, if readings are out of range there machine simply reports a FAIL and of course not the cause.
So he can walk a mechanic through diagnosing any potential causes as long as they have a labscope at their disposal.
Now, I think a new cars get 5 years without emissions tests. This being an ’09, this would be the first year it should get tested and so maybe they are simply wrong and have yet to see the '09MY method change for the Z4. Or the original owner did something that needs repaired
Saga continues...