Can someone with an N54 car and a scanner check something for me?

[BMWM.D.]

So I have a bit of a strange situation and request here guys:

I'm looking for someone who owns an N54 Z4 (and an OBD scan tool) that can do a quick check for me. I'd like to know what your cars show for your "EGR" emissions monitor when reading the monitors with the scan tool. I'd like to know if it shows "ready", or "not applicable". Unless you've recently cleared the codes, it should read one of those.

Just as a little background on why I want this, I'm messing around with a 2009 35i/DCT car that won't pass smog due to the "EGR" monitor showing "not ready", and I thought that was a little odd. The N54 obviously doesn't have an actual EGR system, but the Vanos does operate to create a similar effect. I don't have access to many N54 E89 cars on a regular basis, so checking another isn't likely to happen. My personal E90 335i (N54) shows "not applicable" when I read the EGR monitor. I thought all N54 cars were like this, but I'll be honest when I say it's not something I pay much attention to. So I'm trying to figure out if this is normal for an E89 N54 car (and it just needs a proper drive cycle), or if there's something wrong.

Hope someone can take a quick look for me and report back. Thanks....

[BMWM.D.]

I guess nobody with a scanner had a free minute to check this for me? Oh, well. Since I'm a helpful guy and try to do my part for this community when I do find time to come post, I'll let you know what I found. Maybe, just maybe, it'll help someone else in the future.

It turns out the "EGR/VVT" monitor is legit for an N54 Z4...... however, I couldn't get this one to set no matter how I drove it. Cleared the faults, did a battery reset, drove down the freeway like a little old lady doing 55 MPH (OBD2 drive cycle), etc. Got all the monitors up except the EGR/VVT monitor, and the car can't pass smog like that.

After ripping my hair out for a couple hours this morning, I finally found some data that looked fishy. It appeared the VVT tests had been completed, yet both ISTA (BMW's factory diag tool) and any aftermarket scanner I tried showed it as "incomplete". At that point, I updated the DME with the latest software, reset the adaptations, and voila -- the EGR/VVT monitor set easily during the low-speed portion of the OBD drive cycle.

I'm not sure if BMW has a DME software glitch on their hands or what. With these cars just starting to require smog checks by age, this could be something that may become more common. Unless you were having a shop check your emission monitors, you'd never know there was an issue. It won't cause any fault codes or warning lights, but it'll prevent you from renewing your registration. Hope this helps someone.