Nein! BMW denies cheating on emissions test as German magazine points finger

By Ronan Glon September 24, 2015

A new report claims that the Volkswagen Group isn’t the only car manufacturer whose vehicles emit more toxic pollutants than they are legally allowed to. German magazine Auto Bild reports the Euro-spec BMW X3 xDrive 20d (pictured) spews out 11.8 times more nitrogen oxide than the legal limit set by the European Union’s Euro 6 regulations.

“All measured data suggests that this is not a Volkswagen-specific issue,” explained the International Council for Clean Transportation (ICCT), the non-profit organization that tested the X3, in a statement, without providing more specific information.

If this analysis proves accurate, the amount of nitrogen oxide measured in the X3’s exhaust fumes would make it dirtier than the U.S.-spec Passat equipped with a 2.0-liter TDI engine. The least compliant Volkswagen model tested so far is the Jetta, which emits 22.6 times more pollutants than it should, closely followed by the Audi A8 TDI, which pollutes 22.2 times more than the legal threshold.

Full details about the diesel-burning X3’s alleged emissions problem will be published tomorrow when the next issue of Auto Bild lands on magazine racks across Germany.

Munich fires back

Top BMW executives responded to Auto Bild by saying that they aren’t familiar with the ICCT’s test but they vehemently deny all allegations of wrongdoing.

“At the BMW group, there are no specific activities or technical provisions which influence the emissions recorded during the test mode,” stresses the company in a statement.

The Munich-based firm points out that its engines’ emissions control systems remain turned on regardless of whether the car is on a test bench or driving on a road. Additionally, executives point out that the ICCT has recently tested 14 of its diesel-powered models and found absolutely no discrepancies with them.

BMW shares fell by nearly ten percent immediately after Auto Bild’s report was published, the biggest drop recorded in four years.

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Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…

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