OZ Chips & the Law

[wingman]

NSW Drivers,
Originally research conducted for the info of Bigkriss I thought you all might be interested.

NSW legislation presents 2 hurdles for someone wishing to chip an ECU:
1. Environmental Protection Authority (EPA)
2.RTA

EPA legislation states that ANY vehicle modification that effects the emmissions of a vehicle is unlawful UNLESS the vehicle is tested and can show that it still complies to the Australian Design Rules (ADR) for that vehicle. The other EPA issue is induction noise. The EPA and RTA work together in regards to compliant vehicles

The RTA is mostly concerned with the safety side of things although as stated above also concerns itself with emissions. Essentially anything that increases fuel intake and/or performance is unlawful unless the car is engineered to handle the increased horsepower (suspension/chassis/brakes/steering etc etc), and the emmissions comply (as stated above). In other words, buy chip-get blue slip.

So where does that leave us with free flow air filters, throttle bodies etc?

A 'pod' type filter or a K&N for example in isolation, providing that induction noise is not excessive, will usually be left alone by the RTA. When coupled with an oversize throttle body and/or airflow (or mass) meter and or a chip becomes unlawful unless the vehicle is fully engineered.

This is all legal stuff and we haven't touched on insurance issues as yet.

My advice is to contact one of the many reputable chip manufacturing companies and talk to them. They may, in the interest of selling a chip, gloss over some of the facts. Once you have the info from the company I would call the RTA and ask to speak to Technical Standards. These guys can advise you on your requirements to comply with the law. I would then contact your insurance company and see if they are still interested.

Otherwise you could run the risk. If the worst happens and you are at fault in a serious crash I'd pack your toothbrush and sign your house over to a distant cousin twice removed!;)

[rob101]

i thought if you declared your mods to the insurance company that you were covered.... thing is people don't bother fluffing around with engineers certificates etc. for minor mods like that. if you really want to know about what the requirements are nissansilvia.com has some good articles on them. for example queensland you can do quite a few mods without engineering certificate. good thing about bmws is......... cops don't pull you over like they do in jap imports.:D

[Jon K]

truth is... open element air filter is pointless unless you're FI and have no choice. Larger throttle body...+5mm, +6mm... who the hell is going to measure your throttle body!? If you MAF converted a 535i someone MIGHT notice, but doubtful. 19# injectors in place of 17#... same thing.

If you sticka huge polished metal snail on it then I can foresee issue, but if youre just doing exhaust intake NA work, i don't think it'd be an issue. Is someone even going to notice your car is lowered? E34s don't DROP like crazy.

[BigKriss]

Thanks very much for the information Wingman. I ask this question on other forums also, and I get different responses all the time.

http://www.eurocca.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12286
http://www.eurocca.net/forums/showthread.php?t=11213

I am just playing the devils advocate here; I know there is always a chance of being defected for car modifications. I'm with Jon K and what he is saying, with minor modifacaitons you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Most if not all forced induction BMW's have an aftermarket ecu running on their car. hmm. there's a lot of things the police can defect your car for.

[Zeuk in Oz]

I think you will find that the same applies to wheel / tyre combinations as well.
My investigation led me to the following conclusions:
The RTA (NSW) insists that the tyre size / speed rating / load rating complies with the tyre placard on the car. If a wider / lower tyre is not on the placard then you are at risk of your insurance company wiping you in the case of an accident. The irony is that this is not enforced by the annual inspection of the vehicle.
In other words if going from the standard wheel / tyre combination it is advisable to speak with the RTA, your insurance company and possibly the company that manufactured your vehicle if you need a placard with different wheel / tyre combinations.
I discovered this by accident when I ordered some non-standard tyres on a new Toyota Landcruiser that I bought. No change in size but the new tyres were 1 speed rating too slow. (S as opposed to T)
My insurance company forced the dealer to replace the tyres with the correct speed rating.
If in doubt, talk with the authorities so you don't get left out of pocket.

[rob101]

Thanks very much for the information Wingman. I ask this question on other forums also, and I get different responses all the time.

http://www.eurocca.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12286
http://www.eurocca.net/forums/showthread.php?t=11213

I am just playing the devils advocate here; I know there is always a chance of being defected for car modifications. I'm with Jon K and what he is saying, with minor modifacaitons you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Most if not all forced induction BMW's have an aftermarket ecu running on their car. hmm. there's a lot of things the police can defect your car for.
yes and police are all professional mechanics so they know what they are looking at.....not. The fact of the matter is most cops probably haven't seen the inside of a bmw engine bay. but they know that most cars don't have anodised fittings and shiny **** everywhere under the hood. I think its best to be a bit discrete, yeah sure if you have a cannon muffler the size of a naval gun hanging out the back of your car you are going to get pulled over. but then again, you wouldn't do that to a 5er would you?

[Zeuk in Oz]

I wonder how a chip would be detected apart from removing it to see.
A number of chip manufacturers that I have seen actually advertise that new cars under warranty can be chipped because the delaers who are still servicing them cannot detect the chip.
I wonder if this is so ?

[wingman]

Sure there are heaps of mods out there and plenty of guys running 'illegal' cars. I'm not taking sides with anyone or condoning one thing or the other. I've just presented the facts for people to interpret how they wish. An insurance company does not have to accept a mod just because you've declared it. For any kind of major mod I would get it in writing from the insurance company that they accept the mod (not just on your cover note). This comes from a colleague of mine who worked in motor insurance for 10 years.

[BigKriss]

I wonder how a chip would be detected apart from removing it to see.
A number of chip manufacturers that I have seen actually advertise that new cars under warranty can be chipped because the delaers who are still servicing them cannot detect the chip.
I wonder if this is so ?

I'm thinking with the chip, you could just remove the sticker on it and then claim you didn't know it was aftermarket, you bought the car like that and you don't muck around with the complex electronics of the car. An investigator would have to remove the chip, and then read and decompile the code, to assertain where it came from.

[Jon K]

Guys on OBDI cars, with a proper chip, no standard computer diagnostic will reveal a chip. The issue people have with aftermarket ECUs is when you have an OBDII car. Aftermarket ECUs do not have OBD ports to hook up to the inspection computer - instant fail.

[kev535i]

or move to South Aust where they have no inspections for rego!!

[rob101]

Sure there are heaps of mods out there and plenty of guys running 'illegal' cars. I'm not taking sides with anyone or condoning one thing or the other. I've just presented the facts for people to interpret how they wish. An insurance company does not have to accept a mod just because you've declared it. For any kind of major mod I would get it in writing from the insurance company that they accept the mod (not just on your cover note). This comes from a colleague of mine who worked in motor insurance for 10 years.
sounds like insurance companies can do whatever they want... but good advice anyway... wouldn't it be on your policy statement.

http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/qt/LTASinfo.nsf/index/vehicles_modifications FYI qld peoples

oh yeah to quote queensland's legislation "Powerchips, multiple and/or replacement carburettors may be fitted to any motor vehicle provided the vehicle continues to comply with the emission requirements of the Australian Design Rules applicable at the time of the vehicle’s manufacture. Air cleaners must be fitted." so for us it doesn't seem like a problem, however i guess when in doubt ring and jump through the flaming hoops of beaurocracy.