Woodcliff Lake, NJ – December 21, 2015… BMW of North America, LLC (BMW NA) today announced it has entered into a Consent Order with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) which resolves issues raised in NHTSA’s Special Order issued to BMW NA on September 28, 2015 in regards to its execution of a MINI noncompliance recall campaign. The Consent Order also includes an admission by BMW NA that it did not comply in a timely fashion with various reporting requirements under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. Pursuant to the Consent Order, BMW NA has agreed to make a $10 million cash payment to NHTSA and to spend $10 million on enhancing internal processes and technologies to more rapidly detect emerging safety-related issues and developing increased measures to maximize recall completion rates. An additional $20 million shall be in the form of a deferred amount and held in abeyance, pending BMW NA’s satisfactory completion of the obligations in the Consent Order. BMW NA has also agreed to execute certain performance obligations to improve its recall execution and reporting processes and will work with a consultant to develop best practices to do so. The Consent Order will remain in place for two years subject to NHTSA’s right to extend for an additional year. The company is committed to further improving its recall processes to better serve its customers. BMW NA respects the role of NHTSA and looks forward to working with them to develop solutions for the future.
I have to assume this is in connection to the seat bottom/airbag weight sensor recall, They better get those improvements implemented quick because the second gen cars are developing the same issues-we have seen at least 6 this year.
No, it is something to do with side impact compliance in the 3rd gen. Here is the September 28 NHTSA Special Order it refers to: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/jaxrs/download/doc/UCM486769/INLM-AQ15004-62688.pdf (this is a tl;dr bureaucratic document) Edit: Here's something more readable: Regulator Fines BMW for Safety Violations - WSJ
basically it boiled down to mini trying to get the F56 out the door but forgot some key safety features for side impact... and decided to hide it rather than get it fixed right away at someplace like the VDC before the cars ended up on the lots... and got caught...and with Euro car companies getting their junk slammed in the door for cutting corners... its probably why we wont see a diesel MINI in the US anytime in the near future