The California Air Resources Board has recently conditionally certified the BMW Advanced Diesel models for sale in the state of California. California has rigorous testing and high standards when it comes to emissions so this was no small feat; except for the caveat that these cars are only conditionally certified.
BMW will have to pay a fine for each car sold in Cali until the the system is corrected for certain problems. There were 7 problems found in the OBDII (On Board Diagnostics) that triggered the conditional certification and fine. We will see if our contacts can shed any further light on the system errors and possible solutions. If the fines are not paid in a timely manner, the cars will be de-certified and BMW would be subject to a much larger fine per vehicle.
It is a bit surprising to see only the conditional certification considering all the testing and market specific changes BMW made to these models. Let ‘s hope that a solution can be worked out or BMW at the least can keep on top of paying the fines by there due dates!
Thanks Victor for the tip!!