BMW X3 in diesel emissions probe

BMW is reportedly facing investigation by German transport authorities over alleged emissions cheating, centred around X3 medium SUVs fitted with a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine.

The federal probe is said to have been prompted by allegations by environmental protection and consumer rights organisation Environmental Action Germany that the emissions control systems of X3 2.0d variants were rigged to meet certification requirements under test conditions.

It is alleged that emissions controls would be dialled back or even deactivated under certain conditions that differ to lab tests, such as when the air-conditioning is switched on.

This has echoes of a mid-1990s case in which General Motors agreed to pay a $45m fine following accusations by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that some Cadillac models disabled emissions controls when the air-conditioning was operating.

GoAuto understands affected BMW X3s are pre-facelift F25 (second-generation) models produced between 2010 and 2014 and that a dramatic increase in emissions caused by turning on the air-conditioning was what first aroused Environmental Action Germany’s suspicions.

It is not known whether Australian-delivered X3 xDrive20d vehicles included the alleged emissions cheat or if any elevated pollution output would have contravened local environmental regulations.

A specific scenario in which outside temperatures were below 18°C, the air-conditioning was on and the engine high in the rev range is said to have resulted in the X3 20d using almost zero emissions control and the highest concentration of harmful NOx in diesel exhaust fumes yet measured by Environmental Action Germany.

While the 2015 revelations of Volkswagen Group’s huge emissions cheating scandal have made the German giant something of a poster child for the term ‘defeat device’, the practice of fudging fuel-efficiency and emissions data has been known by regulators for half a century.

In 1973 VW agreed to pay a $120,000 penalty to the United States EPA after being accused of using emissions ‘defeat devices’. Chrysler, GM, Ford and Toyota also were also penalised for employing similar tactics.

Ford was found to have used defeat devices in some light commercial vehicles during the 1990s, and Honda was penalised for disabling dashboard warning lights that could have alerted drivers to inefficient running that led to higher emissions.

During the same decade, manufacturers in the heavy truck and earthmoving equipment sector were also caught cheating. The US EPA issued a total of $US1 billion in fines to Caterpillar, Cummins, Detroit Diesel, Mack, Navistar, Renault and Volvo because their heavy trucks produced significantly higher emissions in the real world than under test conditions.

Cummins is in trouble again over emissions-cheating software found in engines supplied to Ram for its 2500 and 3500 pick-up trucks over a 10-year production period.

Other brands – not including most of the VW Group – caught or alleged to have cheated on fuel consumption or emissions figures around the world in recent years include Chrysler, Citroën, Fiat, Ford, Hino, Hyundai, Jaguar, Jeep, Kia, Land Rover, Mazda, Mini, Mitsubishi, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Opel Peugeot, Renault, Toyota and Volvo.