[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 198 (Wednesday, October 14, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61884-61886]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-26062]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2013-0146; Notice 2]


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

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

ACTION: Grant 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.

ADDRESSES: For further information on this decision contact Amina 
Fisher, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration (NHTSA), telephone (202) 366-5307, facsimile 
(202) 366-5930.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    I. BMW's Petition: Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) and 
the rule implementing those provisions 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.
    Notice of receipt of BMW's petition was published, with a 30-day 
public comment period, on June 6, 2014 in the Federal Register (FR 
32815). No comments were received. To view the petition and all 
supporting documents log onto the Federal Docket Management System 
(FDMS) Web site at: http://www.regulations.gov/. Then follow the online 
search instructions to locate docket number ``NHTSA-2013-0146.''
    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; and
    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 either only miles-per-hour (mph) or only 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 . . .

                                  Table 1--Controls, Telltales, and Indicators With Illumination or Color Requirements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                  Column 5
      Column 1 item            Column 2 symbol        Column 3 words or abbreviations     Column 4 function     illumination          Column 6 color
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                                                                      * * * * * * *
Speedometer.............  ........................           MPH, or MPH and km/h \14\           Indicator                 Yes   .......................
 
                                                                      * * * * * * *
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Notes:
 * * * * * * *
14. If the speedometer is graduated in both miles per hour and in kilometers per hour, the scales must be identified ``MPH'' and ``km/h'', respectively,
  in any combination of upper- and lowercase letters. . . .


[[Page 61885]]

    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 vehicles are initially delivered for first-sale 
in a compliant state (speed display in miles-per-hour) and that it is 
only through driver (or passenger) interaction within the Settings menu 
that the display can be changed from miles-per-hour to kilometers-per-
hour. BMW believes that this adjustment cannot be accomplished 
inadvertently.
    2. BMW states that the two speedometer scales are noticeably 
different, and that if a previous driver changed the units, a 
subsequent driver would be able to tell at a glance that the scale is 
not in miles-per-hour.
    3. 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. This should signal the operator (at 
the next appropriate opportunity) to perform the necessary steps to 
adjust the speedometer.
    4. BMW also states that the vehicle's Owner Manual contains 
information pertaining to the use of the iDrive\TM\ 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.
    5. 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\TM\ 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.
    6. BMW is not aware of any contacts from vehicle operators 
regarding this issue.
    7. 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 Decision

    NHTSA Analysis: NHTSA has reviewed BMW's justification for an 
inconsequential noncompliance determination and agrees that the subject 
noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
    BMW explained that the affected vehicles are delivered in a 
compliant state with the speedometer displaying miles-per-hour (mph) 
and that switching the display to kilometers-per-hour (km/h) could not 
be done inadvertently because the driver (or passenger) would have to 
complete multiple interactions within the vehicle's settings menu to 
make the change. NHTSA agrees with BMW that it is unlikely that the 
switch from mph to km/h could be done inadvertently because several 
physical actions are required by the operator to make the change. We 
believe that if an operator were to make this change it would be done 
intentionally and with some understanding of the implications, and that 
such a change would not cause any impact to vehicle safety. 
Furthermore, we believe that the vast majority of the owners of these 
vehicles will continue to operate these vehicles as purchased (with the 
speed identified in mph) and never attempt to change to the metric 
units.
    Next, BMW stated that the speedometer scales are noticeably 
different and provided figures showing the speedometer appearance with 
each different unit of measure. BMW explained that if a previous driver 
changed the units being displayed a subsequent driver would be able to 
tell at a glance which scale is being used. The agency reviewed the 
speedometer figures provided by BMW indicating the different units of 
measure. We agree that it is easy to identify the units of measure 
being used because the abbreviated units are clearly labeled in the top 
center of the speedometer. We believe that the act of a driver 
realizing the vehicle is indicating speed in km/h instead of mph would 
not cause any unintended or unsafe actions by the driver and would thus 
be inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. In this case, once a driver 
realized the speedometer was indicating in km/h, we anticipate the 
driver would want to change the speedometer back to mph, and would 
refer to the owner's manual or BMW's customer assistance for guidance.
    Lastly, BMW stated its belief that because indicated vehicle speed 
in km/h is 1.6 times greater than the same speed in mph, a driver who 
does not initially notice that a vehicle's speed indication is in km/h 
would soon recognize that the vehicle is moving at a speed much slower 
than the surrounding traffic and will adjust accordingly to match road 
and traffic conditions. With some caution, we agree with BMW's 
assessment. While a vehicle traveling as much as 1.6 times slower could 
hamper the natural flow of traffic, we believe that affected drivers 
would in-fact adjust their speed to the surrounding traffic and then, 
at the next appropriate opportunity, perform the necessary steps to 
adjust the speedometer back to mph.
    NHTSA Decision: In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has 
decided that BMW has met its burden of persuasion that the FMVSS No. 
101 noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. 
Accordingly, BMW's petition is hereby granted and BMW is exempted from 
the obligation of providing notification of, and a remedy for, that 
noncompliance under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120.
    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, this decision 
only applies to the subject noncompliant vehicles that BMW no longer 
controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed. 
However, the granting of this petition does not relieve vehicle 
distributors and dealers of the prohibitions on the sale, offer for 
sale, or introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate 
commerce of the noncompliant vehicles under their control after BMW 
notified them that the subject noncompliance existed.

[[Page 61886]]


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

Jeffrey M. Giuseppe,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2015-26062 Filed 10-13-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P