US: Lawsuit filed against BMW for emission cheating

Owners of 2009-2011 BMW 335d sedans and X5 diesel SUVs have filed a lawsuit alleging emission cheating by BMW and its technology partner Bosch in the New Jersey federal court. The lawsuit claims that cheat devices similar to the ones used by Volkswagen cars were installed in the BMW cars as well. The emission cheating devices resulted in cars polluting up to 27 times above the permissible limit.

The complaint also says that Bosch, partner to companies like BMW, VW, Mercedes Benz, Porsche and Audi conspired with the automakers to limit advances in engine technology and hinder competitors. The lawsuit also claims that BMW worked with Bosch to cheat the emission tests while exaggerating vehicle performance to trick customers. A spokesperson for BMW North America stated that the BMW cars are not manipulated, and they comply with all the legal requirements.

Last month, BMW claimed to have wrongly installed software in around 12,000 of their diesel vehicles. This led prosecutors to raid the company's Munich headquarters and the engine plant in Austria to investigate the 5 and 7-series models. Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority was approached by BMW to reveal higher emissions after installing the wrong software.

In the wake of the VW emissions scandal, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) of the US and the California Air Resources Board began systematically testing diesel cars and light trucks. The testing resulted in them accusing Fiat Chrysler Automobiles over using a cheat device in their vehicles. However, no other automaker was formally accused.

Source - Automotive News