EPA recall of 1997 318ti catalytic converters

[nyle]

did you replace your o2 sensors? i hear the one downstream of the cat is more important than the upstream one. thats if you are obd2, otherwise you only have one to begin with.

[L84THSKY]

I replaced the downstream one a few months prior to the cat replacement. I have a new upstream one ready to install soon.

Originally Posted by nyle

did you replace your o2 sensors? i hear the one downstream of the cat is more important than the upstream one. thats if you are obd2, otherwise you only have one to begin with.

[nyle]

uhm. yeah. i think the bavauto ones are d.e.c. i got a dec off of autopartswarehouse and i get a cell for it. i'm debating whether to get a good quality aftermarket cat and have it welded in or to get a used one off of someone. either one is kinda taking a chance i guess.

[L84THSKY]

So you're saying you don't have much faith in the DEC cat? The warranty is one year, so I should decide if I feel it's the cat soon. Even if I removed the cat, and sent it back, who knows if they will agree it was bad, and send a replacement. I figure since the new DEC I have was recently put on, taking it off and putting a new one on shouldn't be too bad. Gonna try a few things soon, then call BavAuto about these issues.

Originally Posted by nyle

uhm. yeah. i think the bavauto ones are d.e.c. i got a dec off of autopartswarehouse and i get a cell for it. i'm debating whether to get a good quality aftermarket cat and have it welded in or to get a used one off of someone. either one is kinda taking a chance i guess.

[nyle]

right. i would've sent mine back on warranty. the welds cracked after a few months. however, my warranty card was virtually destroyed upon arrival. i had my mechanic re-weld it for now. it'll get replaced eventually. i'm a broke student

[tiFreak]

Originally Posted by nyle

however, my warranty card was virtually destroyed upon arrival.

that seems a little bit too convenient...

[nyle]

tell me about it. they taped it in the little packet on the cat with the invoice. so everytime another box hit it, or it rubbed against a floor or something it got all marked up.

[540318]

Guys, fyi, just got my Cat replaced courtesy of BMW, no questions asked. The ti is a '98 with 90k miles. The Cat started rattling about a month ago and I had CEL on/off erratically. Took it to the dealer, they checked it and told me the CEL was a camshaft sensor, unrelated to the Cat problem, and that they were putting a new Cat. The O2 sensor was rusted in as they were trying to transfer it to the new Cat. They had to put a new O2 in, at my cost, but would not argue with them on that with a free Cat.

I was considering going with an aftermarket Cat but the threads here and the discussion on the recall made me go to the dealer and ask. So thanks to the guys here who have kept it with the subject... And thanks to BMW (and their dealer really) for standing by their excellent products.

[cson]

Ok I am getting excited about this, I had the CAT problem for over 2 years that is since I bought the car. I took it to the dealer and they said the CAT was bad in 2006 but did not mention anything about this warranty. I said I am not paying $1500 for a car I bought for $5000 and get out from there since then I replaced so many other parts to fix my misfire but did not succeed. I was finally going to bite the bullet and replace the CAT and found this forum. I am not sure if they will still replace mine but I will try my best. Anybody had success in Pasadena, CA area that I can use as an example when I go to the dealer.

PS: I was checking this site at my wife’s laptop and forgot the page open; she later asked “what happened to those guys that replaced their cats did they get a dog or something? LOL that was so funny I even forgot how bad I felt for the last 2 years trying to fix something that has been recalled. What kind of a customer service this is. I hate the BMW dealers in Pasadena. I might feel better if they replace my CAT not with a DOG though…

[cson]

Good news I got my CAT replaced for free thanks all for posting the details here it took a week but it is free. I am so happy. lets see if this will fix my misfire problem.

[pnosker]

Excellent, glad to see a success story!

[cson]

Well the new CAt did not fixed the misfire I need to check back all the possible problems again vacuum leak and O2 sensors next.

[Marv17]

so what did you say or do to have your cat replaced??

and how does someone find out if the cat on the ti has already been replaced by the dealer during the recall??

[cson]

Well I think you might be just out of luck as the warranty expired recently. It was a 10 year unlimited miles warranty for the CAT produced in 1997. I had the problem diagnosed in 1996 and did not pay $2000 to replace it back then. I then found the EPA document thanks to people in this forum, and took the car back saying look why you didnot change this back then. And they said sorry and changed it. So if you have documents and keep them like me you might have a chance to have it replaced.

The old one and the new one look different to me but I do not have pictures of them ay be some one have it.

Good luck