2004 BMW 3 series
midsize luxury car / 4-door sedan
Moderate overlap front: original test
Rating applies to 2000-05 models built after November 1999
Tested vehicle: 2000 BMW 328i 4-door
The BMW 3 Series was redesigned for the 1999 model year.
All 2000 and later 3 Series models manufactured after November 1999 include structural changes to improve occupant protection in frontal crashes (note: information about when a specific vehicle was manufactured is on the certification label typically affixed to the car on or near the driver door).
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has evaluated the crashworthiness of a BMW 328i with the structural changes in a 40 mph frontal offset crash test into a deformable barrier.
| Overall evaluation | |
|---|---|
| Structure and safety cage | |
| Driver injury measures | |
| Head/neck | |
| Chest | |
| Leg/foot, left | |
| Leg/foot, right | |
| Driver restraints and dummy kinematics |
Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.
The dummy's position in relation to the steering wheel and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained well.
There was only limited intrusion into the driver footwell area, and injury measures on the legs and feet were low.
A strong safety cage helped keep the tire out of the driver footwell area, maintaining the integrity of the occupant compartment. Crumpled structure in front of the occupant compartment indicates where much of the crash energy was absorbed.
Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side
| Test ID | CF00006 |
|---|---|
| Footwell intrusion | |
| Footrest (cm) | 17 |
| Left (cm) | 16 |
| Center (cm) | 13 |
| Right (cm) | 8 |
| Brake pedal (cm) | 5 |
| Instrument panel rearward movement | |
| Left (cm) | 5 |
| Right (cm) | 2 |
| Steering column movement | |
| Upward (cm) | 6 |
| Rearward (cm) | 0 |
| A-pillar rearward movement (cm) | 3 |
Driver injury measures
| Test ID | CF00006 |
|---|---|
| Head | |
| HIC-15 | 328 |
| Peak gs at hard contact | 21 |
| Neck | |
| Tension (kN) | 1.5 |
| Extension bending moment (Nm) | 9 |
| Maximum Nij | 0.31 |
| Chest maximum compression (mm) | 30 |
| Legs | |
| Femur force - left (kN) | 2.1 |
| Femur force - right (kN) | 2.0 |
| Knee displacement - left (mm) | 3 |
| Knee displacement - right (mm) | 2 |
| Maximum tibia index - left | 0.53 |
| Maximum tibia index - right | 0.64 |
| Tibia axial force - left (kN) | 1.4 |
| Tibia axial force - right (kN) | 2.3 |
| Foot acceleration (g) | |
| Left | 67 |
| Right | 69 |
Head restraints & seats
Seat type: All seats
| Overall evaluation | |
|---|---|
| Dynamic rating | |
| Seat/head restraint geometry |
| Seat type | All seats |
|---|---|
| Geometry | |
| Backset (mm) | 65 |
| Distance below top of head (mm) | 80 |
| Seat design parameters | |
| Pass/fail | Fail |
| Max T1 acceleration (g) | 11.3 |
| Head contact time (ms) | 102 |
| Force rating | 3 |
| Neck forces | |
| Max neck shear force (N) | 309 |
| Max neck tension (N) | 988 |
About the head restraint & seat test
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.