2010 BMW 5 series

large luxury car / 4-door sedan

2010 BMW 5 series 4-door sedan
2008 BMW 5 series shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Head restraints & seats

Other available safety features

  • 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.

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2004-10 models

Tested vehicle: 2004 BMW 545i 4-door

The BMW 5 series was redesigned for the 2004 model year.

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.

Smeared pink and red greasepaint indicates where the dummy's head hit the roof rail during rebound. Head acceleration from this hit was low.

Forces on the lower right leg were high enough to indicate the possibility of injury.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEF0409
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 3
Left (cm) 4
Center (cm) 4
Right (cm) 5
Brake pedal (cm) 5
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 1
Right (cm) 2
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) -4
Rearward (cm) 2
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 1

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEF0409
Head
HIC-15 258
Peak gs at hard contact 18
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.5
Extension bending moment (Nm) 10
Maximum Nij 0.33
Chest maximum compression (mm) 37
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 1.1
Femur force - right (kN) 2.5
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 0
Maximum tibia index - left 0.45
Maximum tibia index - right 0.92
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.1
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 3.5
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 64
Right 56

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2008-10 models built after May 2007

Tested vehicle: 2008 BMW 528i 4-door with standard front and rear head tubular airbags and standard front door-mounted torso airbags

The BMW 5 series was redesigned for the 2004 model year. Beginning with 2008 models built after May 2007, modifications were made to the side tubular head protection airbags to improve occupant protection in side-impact 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). Door trim changes were also made beginning with 2008 model year production. The tested car was manufactured after the modifications had been made.

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 tubular airbag 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 airbags.

Smeared red 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 CES0720
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -7.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES0720
Head HIC-15 249
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.6
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 47
Lateral force (kN) 1.7
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 50
Average deflection (mm) 40
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 6.90
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 1.43
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 3.1
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.5
Combined force (kN) 5.6
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.4
L-M moment (Nm) 87
A-P moment (Nm) 59

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES0720
Head HIC-15 133
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.0
Compression (kN) 0.8
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 22
Lateral force (kN) 1.5
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 22
Average deflection (mm) 16
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.38
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.22
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.7
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.4
Combined force (kN) 2.0
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.4
L-M moment (Nm) 79
A-P moment (Nm) -53

About the original side crash test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Comfort seats AHR manufactured after Aug 2007

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Comfort seats AHR manufactured after Aug 2007
Geometry
Backset (mm) 40
Distance below top of head (mm) 54
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 10.9
Head contact time (ms) 49
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 1
Max neck tension (N) 278

Seat type: Standard seats AHR manufactured after Aug 2007

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Standard seats AHR manufactured after Aug 2007
Geometry
Backset (mm) 65
Distance below top of head (mm) 34
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 13.5
Head contact time (ms) 67
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 1
Max neck tension (N) 218

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