2008 BMW 3 series

midsize luxury car / 2-door convertible

2008 BMW 3 series 2-door convertible
2007 BMW 3 series 2-door convertible shown

Crashworthiness

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

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 2007-13 models

Tested vehicle: 2007 BMW 328i 2-door convertible

The BMW 3 series convertible was redesigned for the 2007 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.

Dummy movement was well controlled. Smeared greasepaint on the airbag indicates the dummy's head contacted it near its center.

Intrusion into the driver's space was minimal, and all leg and foot injury measures were low. The deployed driver knee airbag is clearly visible.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEF0713
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 2
Left (cm) 3
Center (cm) 3
Right (cm) 1
Brake pedal (cm) 6
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 0
Right (cm) 1
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) -1
Rearward (cm) -5
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEF0713
Head
HIC-15 248
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.8
Extension bending moment (Nm) 26
Maximum Nij 0.24
Chest maximum compression (mm) 23
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 2.3
Femur force - right (kN) 2.8
Knee displacement - left (mm) 1
Knee displacement - right (mm) 1
Maximum tibia index - left 0.42
Maximum tibia index - right 0.58
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 3.2
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 3.8
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 51
Right 74

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2007-13 models built after April 2007

Tested vehicle: 2007 BMW 328i 2-door convertible with standard front seat-mounted combination head and torso airbags

The BMW 3 series convertible was redesigned for the 2007 model year. Beginning with 2007 models built after April 2007, design changes were made to the side 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).

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
The dummy's head was hit by the interior side trim. This impact did not produce high head injury measures, but the head protection is inadequate.

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

View of the vehicle after the crash with door removed, showing the side airbag, pop-up rollover bars, 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 airbag.

Smeared yellow and red greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy’s head was hit by the interior side trim.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES0712
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -16.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES0712
Head HIC-15 385
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.0
Compression (kN) 0.0
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 64
Lateral force (kN) 2.0
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 50
Average deflection (mm) 43
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 5.16
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.88
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 2.7
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.6
Combined force (kN) 5.0
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.4
L-M moment (Nm) 160
A-P moment (Nm) 45

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES0712
Head HIC-15 261
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.3
Compression (kN) 0.0
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 33
Lateral force (kN) 1.4
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 34
Average deflection (mm) 21
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 1.99
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.29
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.2
Acetabulum force (kN) 0.8
Combined force (kN) 2.0
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.5
L-M moment (Nm) 42
A-P moment (Nm) 24

About the original side crash test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power leather seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Power leather seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 38
Distance below top of head (mm) 34
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g) 12.2
Head contact time (ms) 74
Force rating 3
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 231
Max neck tension (N) 960

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