Free Traffic Legal Advice

As you have found out, the emissions standards for these CAZ are a complete dog's breakfast and our supine governments and officials couldn't care less. However, perhaps the key statement is here on the London LEZ webpage: -

The LEZ is enforced based on manufacturer declared emissions of the vehicle rather than age, but:

Euro VI (NOx and PM) engines are generally those first registered with the DVLA after 1 January 2014

Euro IV (PM) engines are generally those first registered with the DVLA as new after 1 October 2006

All vehicles which meet the ULEZ standards will also meet the LEZ standards

On addition, Birmingham state in Section 1 5th para.that if you believe your vehicle is compliant you should contact the DVLA.

If it were me, I'd not hesitate and would immediately register an appeal with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal on the matter, because this sort of thing needs sorting out. I do note, however, that Birmingham are no re-offering the discount whereas they weren't previously. Maybe they've been overwhelmed by appeals to TPT and somebody in their parking dept said, "re-offer the discount and 99% of people will pay".

Birmingham and Bristol seem to be the odd men out of all the non-London CAZs, so one has to wonder how their standards differ from everybody else.
https://vehiclecheck.drive-clean-air-zone.service.gov.uk/air_zones/compliance

Good evening,

Thank you for your replies.  Yes, totally agree I will be appealing, I followed Birmingham's advice and phoned the DVLA CAZ customer service team (0300 029 8888) and spoke to a nice lady (Linda) who checked my car details and confirmed it is euro 6 but she said when it was registered the Euro 6 was not recorded in the right box of the V5 (Euro status section) please see screenshot below.  Apparently it sounds like a common problem.  Anyway she took all my details and had to refer it to another team so they can update the database.  She said that they may send me a new v5, however it can take up to 15 working days to process. 

In the meantime, BMW have swiftly sent me a Certificate of Conformity so I am waiting for the DVLA to their bit and I have all my ducks in a row before lodging an appeal.  I will let you know how I get on.  thanks

Your BMW was first registered in July 2015.
As I understand it the DVLA only started to issue V5c documents with included the EURO status field in September 2018. I'm not sure if the Euro status field gets populated reliably and correctly when a new V5c gets issued post 1st Sep 2018, EG on a change of owner/RK or a personal plate.

In the case of a diesel car the ULEZ checker will look for Euro 6b compliance by checking the NOx and particulate matter fields where the car's 1st registration predates 1st September 2015. On and after the 1st Sep 2015 it wouldn't have been legal to register a non-compliant car so no need to check. The CAZ checker should be checking the same things, ie the NOx and PM levels.

That why I asked you to post up the emissions section of the V5c and whether or not the V5c had a EURO status entry.

I would register an appeal with the Adjudicator at the TPT asap and request a personal (telephone) hearing. Tick the box that indicates further evidence will follow.

The Certificate of Conformity from BMW should be sufficient. A new updated V5c icing on the cake.

My guess is that council will 'do not contest' when you register the appeal to the Adjudicator.

You could consider writing back to the Council pointing out that the BMW Certificate of Conformity confirms that the vehicle is Euro 6 compliant, that it's not your problem to deal with errors in their database lookups. Since no contravention of the charging scheme occurred the PCN should be cancelled. See what comes back.

The new V5 has arrived with updated Euro status.  I have sent Birmingham a message but do I also submit an appeal with the Adjudicator at the TPT or do I give Birmingham some time to come to their senses.

And upload the new V5c, the BMW Certificate of Conformity and the DVLA email as additional evidence on the Traffic Penalty Tribunal portal.

The issue is not whether the compliance database lookup was correct on the day, something that you have no control over, it's whether or not your car met the emissions standards on the day.

Thanks everyone, what timewasters