Symptoms of catalytic converter failure

[Mekihariz]

Hi,

Anyone here kindly advises about the symptoms of a catalytic converter failure.
If it is indeed faulty can it cleaned or it needs straight replacement.
Thank you in advance.

[DanG]

Here is a link for you: https://palmbeachgarage.com/catalytic-converter/

I believe BMW is required to warranty catalytic concverters for 8 years or 80,000 miles.

[NoGuru]

Drive it hard! That is the best way to "clean" it. If you get any stuttering or misfires and you can't get it cleared out, you might need to replace it.

[tdott]

Sometimes it could be easier to unbolt it and inspect it physically.

Problems can be intermittent like misfires, rough running, etc.

[AnotherM]

Bmw just replaced both of my cats under warranty. Im at just under 60k miles.

Only issue i ever saw was a repeated intermittent cel for catalyst inefficiency.

The procedure for inspecting the cats before replacement per BMW is to pressurize the exhaust system, test for leaks, followed by unbolting from the turbos and visually inspecting.

[jko415]

the car should throw a fault code if the catalytic converters are below efficiency. if they are clogged it will give you performance issues under load. these are replacement pieces, no way to clean or repair them.

[cooolone2]

Lol, in addition to the above, after a nice drive, take a look under the car, the converter will be a different color usually when failing as it is usually blocked...

[E90lova]

I think it's amazing how close the holes are on the stock cats on my 2014 335 Xdrive. Looks like it would be easily clogged.