# 2011 BMW Z4 - do you have to do the drive cycle?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/2011-bmw-z4-do-you-have-to-do-the-drive-cycle/158655>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** z4, bmw\
**Created:** [February 16, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2011-bmw-z4-do-you-have-to-do-the-drive-cycle/158655 "2020-02-16T17:22:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![RONHILL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@RONHILL](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RONHILL)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2011-bmw-z4-do-you-have-to-do-the-drive-cycle/158655/1 "2020-02-16T17:22:27Z")

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So my brother’s 2011 BMW Z4 had not been driven much in the previous 3 months and failed the Delaware safety/emissions test because the O2 sensor and Catalyst were “not ready”. The tech’s first question was “had we replaced the battery” – yes about 3 months ago. The emissions tech, the local BMW dealer and web sites gave me random driving advice which is virtually impossible to do like the “BMW driving cycle” and/or driving it 200 to 500 miles. Does anybody have a rational solution? One that I could actually do during an upcoming 3 day visit?

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**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2011-bmw-z4-do-you-have-to-do-the-drive-cycle/158655/2 "2020-02-16T18:16:16Z")

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Ok , I give up . Why can’t your brother do his own drive cycle ?

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**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 12:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2011-bmw-z4-do-you-have-to-do-the-drive-cycle/158655/3 "2020-02-17T00:20:36Z")

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Why can’t someone take a 200+ mile rode trip? That’s less than four hours on the interstate.

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**Author:** ![rrappel8\_158848](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@rrappel8\_158848](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rrappel8_158848)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2011-bmw-z4-do-you-have-to-do-the-drive-cycle/158655/4 "2020-02-18T04:28:28Z")

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Google this: **emissions drive cycle 2011 BMW**  
Now follow the instructions, or, have your brother do that, or hire someone to do what’s necessary to finish the drive cycle.  
I live in Delaware, and had to go through this to get one car to pass emissions.  
Really only took a trip to a store that’s about 30 miles away, making sure to shut the car off periodically. IIRC if you buy a cheap bluetooth OBD reader and put “torque” app on phone, it will tell you when cycle is complete.

- **"Just Do It"**

OR… He could sell me the car for $50.00 \ROTFL\