So, I have a 2008 550i. It's got the Dinan cold air intake, which as far as I can tell is not CA legal (I emailed Dinan but haven't heard back yet.) The specs say "49-state legal".



I have the original intake, so, depending on how difficult it is, I can swap it back in, and get it smog certified. And then, if I'm feeling like an outlaw, I can put the Dinan back in for 2 years at a time.

BUT, I'm having trouble figuring out the legality status of the whole car. I'm not sure when (or... if?) they unified all of the emissions specs so that all cars were CA certified. I don't see the point in dealing with the intake if the car-as-a-whole isn't legal in CA. All I know at this point is this pic:



What else do I need to know / where else do I need to look?

 

Do some digging at the Calif DMV site. I seem to remember that if you are moving to CA and you have an existing car that you've owned for some period of time from another state (not sure the minimum length) you get some leeway in getting the car registered.

 

Where it says "California: ULEV II PC", means it complies with California emissions. You'll be fine, but you may fail smog with the intake, especially if you have to do the new Star smog.

 

Yeah, their website is a mess of broken links and links that link to other government websites that don't exist, etc.

I think that I have to register my car within 20 days of establishing residency in the state, which I will assume means finding a place to rent after spending a week at an airbnb or whatever. That's cool.

I should just call them, though.

 

Phew, I was hoping that was the case. I don't know how hard it is to swap the Dinan intake back to the stock one, but I figure it can't be that hard - just some screws, an air box and filter, and some plastic tubing.

How hard can it be, right? (famous last words)

I can do that - and then hold onto the Dinan one either to resell or to put back on after I pass smog testing.

On the positive side, we're going to have a dog friendly office, and looking around for a vehicle to buy cheaply that I can go to work with the dog, there's tons of 1975 and earlier (pre-smog emissions) trucks and stuff for <$3k. I'd love to augment my BMW with a '62 C10 with a small block....

But, I'm learning that "car culture" in CA means either pre-1975, or not-quite-legal, heh.