The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the German automaker will pay the civil penalties in response to the agency's assertion that the automaker delayed reports of safety defects to the agency.

"It's critical to the safety of the driving public that defects and recalls are reported in short order," said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland. "NHTSA expects all manufacturers to address automotive safety issues quickly and in a forthright manner."

A spokesman for BMW, Dave Buchko, said the company had agreed to pay the fine.

"All cases, except for one, were related to BMW Motorcycles. However, despite the late filing, in every case where a defect was identified by the company a voluntary recall had been conducted," BMW said in a statement.

Federal law requires all auto manufacturers to notify NHTSA within five business days of determining that a safety defect or noncompliance exists and to promptly conduct a recall.

NHTSA's examination of 16 BMW recalls issued in 2010 found evidence of a number of instances where the automaker failed to report safety defects and recalls to the agency in accordance with federal law.

BMW North America and its parent company in Germany have agreed to make internal changes to its recall decision-making process to ensure timely reporting to consumers and the federal government in the future.

In December 2010, NHTSA launched an investigation to determine when BMW first learned of defects and noncompliances related to several motorcycle and vehicle recalls and whether the company notified NHTSA in a timely manner. NHTSA said opening its BMW investigation that it had seen "a troubling trend. BMW appears to maintain a practice, by design or habit, in which it provides little information in its initial (recall) filings."

NHTSA's investigation led the agency to believe that BMW had not fulfilled its obligation to report a known safety defect within five days, as is required under the law. The fines will be paid into the Treasury Department's General Fund.

This is the first government fine since Toyota Motor Corp. in 2010 agreed to pay nearly $50 million — the maximum allowed under the law — for delaying recalls in three separate instances.