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BMW of North America, LLC, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance


American Government Topics:  6 Series, 7 Series

BMW of North America, LLC, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

Jeffrey M. Giuseppe
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
June 6, 2014 

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 109 (Friday, June 6, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32815-32816]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-13181]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2013-0146; Notice 1]


BMW of North America, LLC, Receipt of Petition for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Receipt of petition.

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SUMMARY: BMW of North America, LLC, (BMW) a subsidiary of BMW AG in 
Munich, Germany, has determined that certain model year (MY) 2014 BMW 7 
series and 6 series vehicles do not fully comply with paragraph S5.2.1 
of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 101, Controls and 
Displays. BMW has filed an appropriate report dated December 5, 2013 
pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility 
and Reports.

DATES: The closing date for comments on the petition is July 7, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written data, 
views, and arguments on this petition. Comments must refer to the 
docket and notice number cited at the beginning of this notice and be 
submitted by any of the following methods:
     Mail: Send comments by mail addressed to: U.S. Department 
of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Deliver: Deliver comments by hand to: U.S. Department 
of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. The 
Docket Section is open on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except 
Federal Holidays.
     Electronically: Submit comments electronically by: Logging 
onto the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) Web site at http://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Comments may also be faxed to (202) 493-2251.

[[Page 32816]]

    Comments must be written in the English language, and be no greater 
than 15 pages in length, although there is no limit to the length of 
necessary attachments to the comments. If comments are submitted in 
hard copy form, please ensure that two copies are provided. If you wish 
to receive confirmation that your comments were received, please 
enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard with the comments. Note that 
all comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
    Documents submitted to a docket may be viewed by anyone at the 
address and times given above. The documents may also be viewed on the 
Internet at http://www.regulations.gov by following the online 
instructions for accessing the dockets. DOT's complete Privacy Act 
Statement is available for review in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000, (65 FR 19477-78).
    The petition, supporting materials, and all comments received 
before the close of business on the closing date indicated below will 
be filed and will be considered. All comments and supporting materials 
received after the closing date will also be filed and will be 
considered to the extent possible. When the petition is granted or 
denied, notice of the decision will be published in the Federal 
Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. BMW's Petition

    Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) (see implementing rule 
at 49 CFR part 556), BMW submitted a petition for an exemption from the 
notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 on the 
basis that this noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle 
safety.
    This notice of receipt of BMW's petition is published under 49 
U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or 
other exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the petition.

II. Vehicles Involved

    Affected are approximately 5,806 of the following MY 2014 BMW 
vehicles:

2014 BMW 7 Series manufactured between July 1, 2013 and November 4, 
2013,
2014 BMW 6 Series Coupe M Sport Edition manufactured between May 15, 
2013 and October 29, 2013,
2014 BMW 6 Series Grand Coupe M Sport Edition manufactured between May 
15, 2013 and July 30, 2013,
2014 BMW 6 Series Convertible M Sport Edition manufactured between 
April 2, 2013 and October 29, 2013.

III. Noncompliance

    BMW explains that while using in-vehicle controls and displays, 
there is a possibility for the vehicle operator or front seat passenger 
to enable the speedometer to display vehicle speed in units of miles-
per-hour (mph) or kilometers-per-hour (km/h). Since all vehicles sold 
in the U.S. must display vehicle speeds in mph, or mph and km/h these 
vehicles fail to fully meet the requirements set forth in paragraph 
S5.2.1 of FMVSS No. 101.

IV. Rule Text

    Paragraph S5.2.1 of FMVSS No. 101 requires in pertinent part:

    S5.2.1 Except for the Low Tire Pressure Telltale, each control, 
telltale and indicator that is listed in column 1 of Table 1 or 
Table 2 must be identified by the symbol specified for it in column 
2 or the word or abbreviation specified for it in column 3 of Table 
1 or Table 2 . . .

V. Summary of BMW's Analyses

    BMW stated its belief that the subject noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety for the following reasons:
    1. BMW states that the indicated vehicle speed in km/h is 1.6 times 
greater than speed in mph. BMW believes that if a vehicle operator 
changes the display to indicate km/h and later forgets that the change 
had been made, the operator will clearly recognize that the vehicle is 
moving at a lower speed than intended and adjust the vehicle speed to 
match road and traffic conditions. Thus, signaling the operator (at the 
next appropriate opportunity) to perform the necessary steps to adjust 
the speedometer.
    2. BMW also states that the vehicle's Owner Manual contains 
information pertaining to the use of the iDrive controller to change 
the units displayed within the ``Settings'' menu. Therefore, if a 
vehicle operator needs to reconfigure the display to indicate mph, 
instructions are available.
    3. BMW further states that the vehicle's Owner Manual and Service 
and Warranty Book contain the toll-free telephone number for BMW 
Customer Relations. Additionally, the in-vehicle iDrive system offers 
the vehicle operator a BMW Customer Relations menu option to directly 
contact BMW Customer Relations via the embedded wireless communications 
module. Therefore, if a vehicle operator notices that the speed is 
incorrectly displayed in km/h and does not know how to reset the speed 
to display in mph, e.g., as set by a prior operator, the vehicle 
operator can easily contact BMW Customer Relations for assistance.
    5. BMW is not aware of any contacts from vehicle operators 
regarding this issue.
    6. BMW is also not aware of any accidents or injuries that have 
occurred as a result of this issue.
    BMW has additionally informed NHTSA that it has corrected the 
noncompliance so that all future production vehicles will comply with 
FMVSS No. 101.
    In summation, BMW believes that the described noncompliance of the 
subject vehicles is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety, and that 
its petition, to exempt BMW from providing recall notification of 
noncompliance as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118 and remedying the recall 
noncompliance as required by 49 U.S.C. 30120 should be granted.
    NHTSA notes that the statutory provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 
30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to file petitions for a 
determination of inconsequentiality allow NHTSA to exempt manufacturers 
only from the duties found in sections 30118 and 30120, respectively, 
to notify owners, purchasers, and dealers of a defect or noncompliance 
and to remedy the defect or noncompliance. Therefore, any decision on 
this petition only applies to the subject vehicles that BMW no longer 
controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed. 
However, any decision on this petition does not relieve BMW 
distributors and dealers of the prohibitions on the sale, offer for 
sale, or introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate 
commerce of the noncompliant motor vehicles under their control after 
BMW notified them that the subject noncompliance existed.

    Authority: (49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120: Delegations of authority at 
49 CFR 1.95 and 501.8).

Jeffrey M. Giuseppe,
Acting Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2014-13181 Filed 6-5-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P




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