2003 BMW 5 series
large luxury car / 4-door sedan
Moderate overlap front: original test
Rating applies to 1997-2003 models
Tested vehicle: 1997 BMW 540i 4-door
The BMW 5 series was redesigned for the 1997 model year.
| Evaluation criteria | Rating |
|---|---|
| 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 very well.
There was only minimal intrusion into the driver footwell area.
Beginning with 1998 models, separate side airbags are designed to protect front-seat occupants' heads.
Technical measurements for this test
Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side
| Evaluation criteria | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Test ID | CF96029 |
| Footwell intrusion | |
| Footrest (cm) | 9 |
| Left (cm) | 13 |
| Center (cm) | 10 |
| Right (cm) | 6 |
| Brake pedal (cm) | 8 |
| Instrument panel rearward movement | |
| Left (cm) | 4 |
| Right (cm) | 4 |
| Steering column movement | |
| Upward (cm) | 8 |
| Rearward (cm) | -1 |
| A-pillar rearward movement (cm) | 3 |
Driver injury measures
| Evaluation criteria | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Test ID | CF96029 |
| Head | |
| HIC-15 | 299 |
| Peak gs at hard contact | no contact |
| Neck | |
| Tension (kN) | 1.4 |
| Extension bending moment (Nm) | 17 |
| Maximum Nij | 0.28 |
| Chest maximum compression (mm) | 37 |
| Legs | |
| Femur force - left (kN) | 2.4 |
| Femur force - right (kN) | 3.2 |
| Knee displacement - left (mm) | 1 |
| Knee displacement - right (mm) | 1 |
| Maximum tibia index - left | 0.72 |
| Maximum tibia index - right | 0.26 |
| Tibia axial force - left (kN) | 2.9 |
| Tibia axial force - right (kN) | 1.2 |
| Foot acceleration (g) | |
| Left | 100 |
| Right | 58 |