Lawsuit Claims BMW ‘Deceptively’ Marketed Vehicle With Safety Feature it Didn’t Have

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BMW “deceptively” marketed one of its new vehicles with a safety feature that didn’t exist, a lawsuit filed in federal court in New Jersey court Monday alleges.

The lawsuit, which was filed by Garry Porter Jr. against BMW North America, claims the company’s 2021 BMW 430i and 430i xDrive vehicles were marketed as having LED headlights with cornering lights, when they do not.

“This causes a significant safety issue, as customers are led to believe that their vehicles have safety features that will assist them with driving around dark corners, and may rely on those non-existent features, to their detriment,” the lawsuit states.

According to Porter’s lawsuit, the Florida man purchased a 2021 BMW 430i vehicle on Dec. 30, noting that “safety features were very important” to him. Porter claims the window sticker on the BMW indicated the vehicle had cornerning lights.

In January, Porter said he received a letter from BMW indicating the vehicle did not in fact have such lights.

According to BMW, cornering lights “illuminate the side of the road you’re steering towards.”

Porter claimed he contacted BMW’s client relations department in April but was offered no assistance. He filed his lawsuit on “behalf of all those similarly situated,” which his attorneys say includes more than 100 people.

“Plaintiff and other members of the Class would have paid less for the vehicle or not purchased or leased the vehicle had they known that BMW’s representations were false,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit claims the alleged false advertisement violates New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, noting that BMW’s North American headquarters are in Woodcliff Lake.

The Consumer Fraud Act prohibits the use of deceptive techniques in the sales of goods or services to consumers. It states in part:

“The act, use or employment by any person of any unconscionable commercial practice, deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, misrepresentation, or the knowing concealment, suppression, or omission of any material fact with intent that others rely upon such concealment, suppression or omission, in connection with the sale or advertisement of any merchandise or real estate, or with the subsequent performance of such person as aforesaid, whether or not any person has in fact been misled, deceived or damaged thereby, is declared to be an unlawful practice.”

The lawsuit alleges that BMW “used unconscionable commercial practices, deception, fraud, concealment, false promises, and misrepresentations, in violation of the CFA.”

Cornering lights do not appear on BMW’s website as a feature on the vehicles as of Monday, however, and the company did not respond to a request for comment surrounding the lawsuit.

Did you purchase a BMW and notice it did not have an advertised safety feature? Let us know in the comments section!

Porter is represented by James C. Shah and Natalie Finkelman Bennett of Miller Shah LLP. The BMW Deceptive Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Porter v. BMW of North America, LLC, Case No. 2:21-cv-11316, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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