I've had my car since 2/03. I did almost all of the mods to it within the first 2 or 3 months including the Magnaflow exhaust, tinted windows, sway bar, etc, etc. I have done loads more to it since but I'll only mention those 3 for now as they are what are on my mind. I have lived in the same house for 4 years and drive the same roads back and forth 5 or 6 times a day (drop off my son, go to the office, back to pick my son up, go to the gym, go home, etc, etc). I've passed cops a zillion times, stopped at red lights with them, driven alongside them...with never a problem. Until today. Just after I drop my son at school a motorcycle cop makes a u-turn after me and pulls me over. He starts writing me up for tinted windows and modified exhaust. Stretching from the back seat to the front pasenger seat I have a brand new H Sport rear swaybar which is getting installed today to replace my Madness swaybar (another story don't ask). So without complaining to the cop about the pettiness of it (because I don't want him getting under my bonnet, checking if I'm lowered too much, no front plate, etc, etc) I take the ticket and while signing it I ask him how it works with getting the violations fixed and getting the ticket signed off. "Oh these aren't correctable", he tells me. "Pay the fine". So I suppose my question is: When did they stop writing fix-it tickets for these "felonies"? So now you just pay your fine and keep the mods and the same cop writes you up the next time he sees you? Or you just pay the ticket and take off the mods (which I am going to hate to do). And how much is the fine for these two violations if anybody knows?
I suppose I could look at it like this...I had a good run of 3 years and all good things usually come to an end.

I'm still pissed off though

Oh almost forgot about the swaybar inside the car...the tint did it's job as the cop didn't even see it. I think if he would have seen that he'd have gone under the car to see what else he could get me for. The irony is, cops don't like tint because they can't see the bad guy holding the gun as they walk up on a car during traffics stops. You should have seen how much like the barrel of a shotgun the black swaybar looked with the way I had it postioned and wrapped

Ken

 

The only windows that can't be tinted are the windshield, the driver's window and the front passenger window. If any of those are tinted you will probably have to remove it and have your ticket signed off and pay a "fee". All others are OK to tint. Modified exhaust I'm not sure about as it had to do with loudness.

Earl

 

What did you do to your exhaust? If its just a magnaflow cat-back I'm pretty sure they're 50 state legal.
If its a noise issue you can have it tested - CA limit is 95db I believe.

 

Yeha it's a regular Magnaflow cat back. He said that the exhaust was "modified" from original so was therefore illegal. I also have headers but he didn't know that and certainly didn't ask or check.

Ken

 

Way to keep your cool. It's funny how sometimes it just doesn't pay to let the b*st*rds get you down.

We were on the way to the Indy F1 race in 2000 and got pulled over for tint. I had just moved up from Florida and wasn't aware of the tint laws in Michigan. I got a "fix it" ticket (within 10 days!), so the next weekend, with a tear in my eye, I removed the tint from the front side windows. Of course, I see many, many cars around here each day with very dark tint on them... it still makes me sad...

Good luck with the battle - be sure to check the law in Kalifornia regarding CARB and cat-backs... b*st*rds!

 

I am reasonably certain that is not illegal to modify the section after the CAT (unless its too loud). The header will be a problem though. A Smog Referee station will test it for a fee as far as the noise goes - but they may notice the header.

*edit*
After looking a little further, I have found several sources that say Cat-Backs do not require an EO by the CARB folks, but headers do.

Here's a link to a post about the noise law on the bimmerwerkz
http://www.bimmerwerkz.com/forum/bim...nia-14418.html

 

Sorry for you hassle.

Motorcycle cops are the worst ... I remember walking to high school with a friend and a motorcycle cop chewed us out for "looking at him wrong"

I've been driving around for almost 4 years without a front plate and have decided to stop tempting fate:

http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=111179

 

That cop is full of...
You can get your tint off your front windows if it is illegal tint(under 35%) and then have a cop sign it off and pay like $10.
And I agree with the other guys here, the magnaflow catback is 50-state legal. You should be able to get that off the ticket, go to court.

 

Whoah Ken, that really sucks.
Motorcycle cop eh. Didn't happen to be in Long Beach? (That's where I got ticketed by a motocop for no DMV-issued front plate.)
I suppose I better be careful since I also have a Magnaflow.


-Juan

 

Also running a magnaflow on our MC. Is it really CARB legal? I tried looking through magnaflow's website to confirm but no info

 

Last time I looked at the law...you can have an aftermarket exhaust as long as it is under (i think)91 decibals(which is loud) and as long as you still have a cat. And then to pass smog of course it has to pass the sniffer.

 

[quote=blacknblue]Whoah Ken, that really sucks.
Motorcycle cop eh. Didn't happen to be in Long Beach? (That's where I got ticketed by a motocop for no DMV-issued front plate.)
I suppose I better be careful since I also have a Magnaflow. /quote]

No not in LB Juan. I wish it was. It happened right in my own hood which really sucks because I see this guy or one of his buddies every day, Cerritos' Finest. You'll love this...it happened on 195th just east of where you cut through to your donut shop. As a matter of fact I'm sure that's where he was headed
Ken

 

msfit, can you post a reference to the statute? i got pulled over a few weeks ago in la la land and was told that "any modification to an exhaust to improve performance or to increase sound was illegal in ca."

thanks

 

Exhaust mods are leagal uner 95 db and anything goes from the cat back

 

27151. (a) No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor vehicle in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the motor of the vehicle so that the vehicle is not in compliance with the provisions of Section 27150 or exceeds the noise limits established for the type of vehicle in Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 27200). No person shall operate a motor vehicle with an exhaust system so modified.
(b) For the purposes of exhaust systems installed on motor vehicles with a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of less than 6,000 pounds, other than motorcycles, a sound level of 95 dbA or less, when tested in accordance with Society of Automotive Engineers Standard J1169 May 1998, complies with this section. Motor vehicle exhaust systems or parts thereof include, but are not limited to, nonoriginal exhaust equipment.

 

The section he wrote me for was 27151 (a) Calif Vehicle Code, which reads:

"27151. (a) No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor
vehicle in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted
by the motor of the vehicle so that the vehicle is not in compliance
with the provisions of Section 27150 or exceeds the noise limits
established for the type of vehicle in Article 2.5 (commencing with
Section 27200). No person shall operate a motor vehicle with an
exhaust system so modified"

Guilty as charged your honor. But...so what that it amplifies or increases the noise slightly. It is NOT one of those harsh sounding pieces of tin that you see and hear dragging up and down the city streets. It sounds like I'm done for but this really is petty.

Ken

 

He forgot subsection b - which sets the volume limit

 

Let me start by saying I'm not a lawyer. But based on the posts from Joey and efcmini, I read 27151 as prohibiting modifications that do not meet the requirements of 27150. It does not seem to say that all mods are prohibited, just those that violate the previous section or the sound level. How about it? Any lawyers around here?

 

A lot of car mods are considered legal if you get them "stickered", like if you pass smog and stuff and register your mods then they give u a blue sticker which means the cops won't give you a ticket for them. My friend got pulled over and they gave him fix it tickets for tinted windows and exhaust, but just about everything under the hood was stickered when the cop checked it.

Luckily, we went to the downtown San Jose cop station to get the fix it tickets written off, where you just go up to the guy at the counter, he asks you, "is your car outside? did you get everything fixed?" and after you say yes, he writes off your ticket without checking. My other friend went to a local station and rolled down his windows, and when they saw the windshield was normal tint they let him off too.

 

Here is section 27150
(a) Every motor vehicle subject to registration shall at all times be equipped with an adequate muffler in constant operation and properly maintained to prevent any excessive or unusual noise, and no muffler or exhaust system shall be equipped with a cutout, bypass, or similar device.

(b) Except as provided in Division 16.5 (commencing with Section 38000) with respect to off-highway motor vehicles subject to identification, every passenger vehicle operated off the highways shall at all times be equipped with an adequate muffler in constant operation and properly maintained so as to meet the requirements of Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 27200), and no muffler or exhaust system shall be equipped with a cutout, bypass, or similar device.

(c) The provisions of subdivision (b) shall not be applicable to passenger vehicles being operated off the highways in an organized racing or competitive event conducted under the auspices of a recognized sanctioning body or by permit issued by the local governmental authority having jurisdiction.


Click the link to the BMW forums in the first few posts, there is a story there about a guy with amodded WRX that got his dismissed. SEMA has been very active on this front and was instrumental in getting these testing proceedures set up. The bottom line is don't do anything to the emissions equipment (cat backs are OK) and don't go above 95 db's.

 

Thanks for all of the feedback guys and especially that link Joeyprice gave. It looks like I'll be looking for one of those "referee" places. Do you happen to know if having a header automatically rules you out of them doing the sound test on your car?

Ken

 

I know that a header requires and Executive Order by CARB and as far as I know there aren't any for the Mini that meet this requirement. It sounds like you only need a sound test, so maybe they won't even do a visual inspection.
It also sounds like if sombody has had their 03 MCS and maganflow exhaust tested already you may not have to do it - I think there is a database (not clear on this one, but I swear I read it somwhere). I think you have to call the Bureau of Automotive Repair to make an appointment with a smog ref.
I'd start out by contacting the the SEMA folks http://www.semasan.com - and see if they can help you out with phone numbers and the like.

 

first, thanks to those who posted the exhaust statute sections. i made a copy for my glove compartment. maybe i'll even laminate it in case of frequent use.

but muggy, you gotta give us the juicy details about this blue sticker business. i've never heard of it, but it sounds like a free pass out of jail if you can get it....

 

The smog referee will give you a sticker for the car after you've been tested and pass.

 

So much for Randy's Exhaust in CA.