BMW decat lambda sensor setup
Discussion
So when I was looking at removing the cats from my e46 330Ci trackday car I did alot o research into the lambda sensors and how this change would affect the ecu, after many hours I came to the conclusion that I should just try it using the original sensors in the original positions and see what happened.
The conclusion was the correct one as I can officially say that jack s**t happened to the ecu, my obd reader flags that the cats are not performing correctly but the engine runs beautifully...and the difference in response it amazing.
There are options for adaptors for lambda sensors that either extend the tapped hole so that the sensor sees less flow, or a resistor that gives back the "perfect" feedback to the ecu. both of these are aimed to trick the ecu into thinking that the cats are still functional.
If you are going down a similar route I would suggest doing the same; suck it and see, the fixes are easy to implement after (mentioned in previous paragraph). The hardest part is getting the manifolds on and off without removing the engine.
If anyone has any different experience let us know...experience of actually doing it rather than your opinion or best guess would be appreciated
FYI - this was a 2000 BMW e46 330Ci, I kept the original manifold for cost and simplicity reasons (although removing the cat mesh proved much harder than expected).
The conclusion was the correct one as I can officially say that jack s**t happened to the ecu, my obd reader flags that the cats are not performing correctly but the engine runs beautifully...and the difference in response it amazing.
There are options for adaptors for lambda sensors that either extend the tapped hole so that the sensor sees less flow, or a resistor that gives back the "perfect" feedback to the ecu. both of these are aimed to trick the ecu into thinking that the cats are still functional.
If you are going down a similar route I would suggest doing the same; suck it and see, the fixes are easy to implement after (mentioned in previous paragraph). The hardest part is getting the manifolds on and off without removing the engine.
If anyone has any different experience let us know...experience of actually doing it rather than your opinion or best guess would be appreciated
FYI - this was a 2000 BMW e46 330Ci, I kept the original manifold for cost and simplicity reasons (although removing the cat mesh proved much harder than expected).
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