I have a 1997 with 170,000 miles on it. It still has the original catalytic and original O2 sensors.
I'm getting a CEL and per my garage it is a bad Cat.
This may be a dumb question, but can a bad 2nd oxygen sensor (after the cat) cause this error code? I'm not sure how the car knows the cat is bad?
If I do need a cat and since I have a 1997, do i have to get the BMW cat from bavarianauto.com for $360, or can I use a universal cat?
It looks like worst case, I need to buy a $360 cat, 2-$100 to $150 oxygen sensors + install. This is going to be at least $700
.
I'm hoping just changing the 2nd oxygen sensor might fix this??
I live in a state with emissions inspection, so I do eventually have to fix this.
Ken