BMW May Be Having A Dieselgate Moment In Germany

BMW has so far gotten off lightly in the diesel affair. While Volkswagen had to pay billions in fines and compensation due to millions of emissions fraud, the BMW paint was hardly scratched.

The Munich public prosecutor’s office closed an investigation against BMW in 2019. “The allegation of fraud has not been confirmed,” the authority said at the time. The Munich car manufacturer allegedly mistakenly used incorrect software in some models. For the alleged mishap, BMW got away with a fine of 8.5 million euros .

An authority spokesman confirmed to BILD: “The KBA market surveillance initiated hearing proceedings against BMW in August 2023. It is about the suspicion of an inadmissible shutdown device in the engine control of an X3 2 l diesel. The emission type approvals in question were issued at the time by the Irish Type Approval Authority. The Irish approval authority NSAI and the KBA are in close contact.”

It goes on to say: “This is an ongoing procedure, the conclusion (decision) of which cannot be predicted given the evaluation of existing measurement results, the hearing of the manufacturer and further measurements and analyses.”