EPA Gives 2016 BMW X5d Clean Bill of Emissions, Kind Of

by Aaron Cole

December 18th, 2020 5:53 PM

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epa gives 2016 bmw x5d clean bill of emissions kind of

(Update: With EPA comment and clarification on their tests.)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved for sale Friday the 2016 BMW X5d after new tests of that car revealed that it did not use an illegal “defeat device” to cheat emissions standards, Reuters reported.

Well it didn’t use a defeat device as far as they could see, anyway.

“Our screening tests found no evidence of a defeat device in the 2016 BMW X5,” EPA spokeswoman Laura Allen told Reuters. “No evidence” is hardly a clean bill of health from the environmental agency, but at this point we’ll take what we can get.

The test results are the latest in the ongoing saga of “ Everyone is Cheating/ Just VW is Cheating” and could rebut claims that American investigators are specifically targeting German manufacturers.

The GMC Canyon/Chevrolet Colorado and BMW X5d were the only cars awaiting certification from the EPA and all three have been approved for sale.

BMW issued a statement Friday that said the automaker would be delivering the car to dealers soon.

“Production of the 2016 BMW X5 Diesel had been deferred until EPA testing had been completed. The vehicle will be going into production shortly at our manufacturing plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The 2016 X5 Diesel is expected to be available at showrooms in January, 2016,” BMW spokesman Hector Arellano-Belloc told TTAC in a statement.

It’s unclear how long production had been delayed for further testing.

In its report earlier this year, the International Council on Clean Transportation noted that its on-road testing had revealed that the BMW X5d could comply with emissions tests. In the same report, it noted that two Volkswagen vehicles were polluting up to 40 times the legal amount of nitrogen oxides.

That report led to Volkswagen’s admission in September that its cars had been fitted with defeat devices.

Clarification: An earlier story identified the GMC Canyon/Chevrolet Colorado and BMW X5d as the only non-Volkswagen vehicles selected for testing. The GM trucks and SUV were the only vehicles awaiting certification from the agency. The EPA will continue to test 2015 and 2016 light duty trucks and cars under new testing protocols. That testing is ongoing.

#2016 #2016BmwX5d #BMW #Cheating #DefeatDevice #Diesel #EnvironmentalProtectionAgency #EPA #Volkswagen #VwDieselScandal #X5d

Aaron Cole

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5 of 39 comments

Pch101 on Dec 11, 2015

Courts don't find defendants "innocent," but "not guilty." "No evidence" is as good as it gets. Are you expecting the feds to say, "BMW is, like, totally awesome"?

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- SCE to AUX on Dec 12, 2015
  
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Kosmo on Dec 12, 2015

What a snarky headline. What a snarky article. You should be ashamed of your bias, Aaron. This is meant to be a CAR site (see title of site), not a blog for your personal leanings.

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- Big Al from Oz on Dec 14, 2015
  
  kosmos, From my own observations it appears TTAC is losing clientele. I don't know if it is related to the quality or lack of depth across ALL vehicles. The lack of depth I'm discussing is the site is becoming very US centric. There is a whole swathe of vehicles globally TTAC can write up on. What ever happened to Marcelo? Why do we not have more articles on EU vehicles other than the constant VW bashing. Too much of this kind of sh!t will kill of TTAC commenters. Or, the other reason for the drop in TTAC traffic is how poorly or un-user friendly the site has become to use with all of the interuptions from advertisers etc. It can be almost impossible to submit comments, the site slows down to a pace where you just can't type comments, etc. TTAC technical staff should look at speeding up the site making it easier to use.
  
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- Kosmo on Dec 14, 2015
  
  @Big Al from Oz Agree. 100%. On all points. Plus -- excuse the shouting -- I JUST DON'T WANT ANY DAMN POLITICS ON WHAT USED TO BE MY FAVORITE CAR WEBSITE! None. Either side. Cars. Trucks. Preferably many of them with stick shifts!
  
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