Retrofitting a particle filter: when yellow turns green
Independent, non-governmental site: not an authority’s service, no sticker sales.
Set your diesel’s Euro norm in the check and switch on the particle filter: the colour moves up one step.
Your vehicle gets
Yellow sticker
Emission group 3
| Into the 35 active zones | no |
| Legal basis | Annex 2(1), Federal Environment Ministry simplified table |
| Fee at the issuing office | €5 – €10 |
35th BImSchV, Annex 2: assignment to emission groups · BMUV table
A retrofitted particle reduction system lifts an older diesel by one emission group under the 35th BImSchV. The Federal Environment Ministry’s simplified table shows the effect: a Euro 3 diesel moves from group 3 to group 4 with a system, from yellow to green; a Euro 2 diesel from group 2 to 3, from red to yellow; a Euro 1 diesel from group 1, no sticker, to group 2, red. Because every active zone now requires green, retrofitting only helps with the zones for a Euro 3 diesel; at Euro 2 or Euro 1 the vehicle stays out even with a filter. Annex 2 of the ordinance distinguishes stages of particle reduction laid down in the Road Vehicle Licensing Regulations and sets restrictions for some vehicle classes. The upgrade only takes effect once the registration office has entered the new key number in the papers. And diesel bans such as those in Stuttgart or Munich follow the Euro norm: a Euro 3 diesel with a filter still may not enter there, green sticker or not.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
Before and after
| Diesel | without system | with system |
|---|---|---|
| Euro 1 | none | red |
| Euro 2 | red | yellow |
| Euro 3 | yellow | green |
The particle reduction stages
For retrofits, Annex 2 refers to annexes of the Road Vehicle Licensing Regulations that set several reduction stages (among them PM 1 to PM 5 in Annex XXVI, and separate stages in Annex XIV for light commercial vehicles). The certificate states which stage a system reaches. For certain vehicles, such as light commercial vehicles in a low mass class, the annex makes exceptions; whether that applies to yours, the garage can tell you from the manufacturer’s certificate.
What the retrofit does not change
The Euro norm stays as it was: the sticker changes, field 14 not necessarily. The diesel bans go by the norm. The Berlin Senate Department lists retrofitting as a separate topic on its low-emission zone page; in Berlin the green sticker is then enough, because the city has no diesel ban. A Euro 3 diesel with a retrofit is therefore a solution for Berlin, Cologne, Leipzig or the Ruhr area, but not for Stuttgart or Munich.