[Peter Milnes]

I can only go by what the VIN tells me about particular cars and have only just registered a car whose VIN tells me that it has a B230ET fitted. The reason for the cat not being fitted to B230E (non-turbo) is that the "E" signifies that the car does not have emissions regulation equipment fitted and can thus use leaded or unleaded fuel. The use of leaded fuel is what precludes the fitting of a catalyser. As the later B230E and ETs were modified for unleaded use there would be no problem in fitting a catalyser. Incidentally post 1993 is the compulsory catalyser year as by that date all cars were able to run unmodified on unleaded fuel.

All the best, Peter