2011 BMW 5 series

large luxury car / 4-door sedan

Award applies only to vehicles Except 4-wheel drive and V8 models

2011 BMW 5 series 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Small overlap front: driver-side
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
Head restraints & seats

Other available safety features

  • Optional blind spot detection
  • Optional lane departure warning

Key

  • G
    Good
  • A
    Acceptable
  • M
    Marginal
  • P
    Poor
  • Superior
  • Advanced
  • Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Small overlap front: driver-side

Rating applies to 2011-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2014 BMW 535i 4-door

The BMW 5 series was redesigned for the 2011 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

Action shot taken during the small overlap frontal crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was not maintained well.

The frontal and side curtain airbags worked well together to keep the head from coming close to any stiff structure or outside objects that could cause injury.

Intrusion of the door hinge pillar, footrest, and instrument panel contributed to a high risk of injury to the left lower leg and a moderate risk to the left foot.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1429
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 18
Footrest (cm) 30
Left toepan (cm) 18
Brake pedal (cm) 15
Parking brake (cm)
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 1
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 8
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 3
Upper dash (cm) 14
Lower instrument panel (cm) 14

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1429
Head
HIC-15 86
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.0
Extension bending moment (Nm) 8
Maximum Nij 0.28
Chest maximum compression (mm) 32
Femur (kN)
Left 3.1
Right 1.8
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 3
Right 5
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 1
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 1.36
Right 0.55
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 5.9
Right 2.5
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 162
Right 56

About the small overlap front test

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2011-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2011 BMW 535i 4-door

The BMW 5 series was redesigned for the 2011 model year. Frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by BMW.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTF1004
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 1
Left (cm) 1
Center (cm) 1
Right (cm) 1
Brake pedal (cm) 2
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 0
Right (cm) 0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 1
Rearward (cm) 1
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF1004
Head
HIC-15 155
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.1
Extension bending moment (Nm) 9
Maximum Nij 0.22
Chest maximum compression (mm) 34
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 1.0
Femur force - right (kN) 1.5
Knee displacement - left (mm) 3
Knee displacement - right (mm) 6
Maximum tibia index - left 0.38
Maximum tibia index - right 0.54
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.4
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 3.1
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 52
Right 55

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2011-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2011 BMW 528i 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The BMW 5 series was redesigned for the 2011 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection

View of the vehicle and barrier just after the crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side curtain airbag.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy’s head was protected by the side airbag.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES1009
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -19.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES1009
Head HIC-15 248
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.8
Compression (kN) 0.1
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 47
Lateral force (kN) 1.4
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 38
Average deflection (mm) 32
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 4.06
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.70
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.1
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.9
Combined force (kN) 2.9
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.2
L-M moment (Nm) 128
A-P moment (Nm) 58

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES1009
Head HIC-15 184
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.4
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 23
Lateral force (kN) 1.1
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 20
Average deflection (mm) 15
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 1.90
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.16
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.7
Acetabulum force (kN) 0.6
Combined force (kN) 1.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.5
L-M moment (Nm) 59
A-P moment (Nm) -42

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2011-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2011 BMW 528i 4-door

Rating does not apply to 6-cylinder 4-wheel drive, hybrid, and all V8 models. Rating of these models is Acceptable.

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 3,803 lbs
Peak force 15,364 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 4.04

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Standard Seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Standard Seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 28
Distance below top of head (mm) -10
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 13.4
Head contact time (ms) 62
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 18
Max neck tension (N) 352

Seat type: Comfort Seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Comfort Seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 52
Distance below top of head (mm) 4
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 12.8
Head contact time (ms) 58
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 0
Max neck tension (N) 215

About the head restraint & seat test
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.