2015 BMW 3 series

midsize luxury car / 4-door sedan

2015 BMW 3 series 4-door sedan
2014 BMW 3 series 4-door sedan shown

Crashworthiness

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

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle
Optional system
Advanced
Optional system
Basic

Seat belts & child restraints

LATCH ease of use

Other available safety features

  • Standard daytime running lights
  • 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 2012-15 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 BMW 328i 4-door

The BMW 3 series sedan was redesigned for the 2012 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
The dummy’s head loaded the frontal airbag which stayed in front of the dummy until rebound. However, the steering column moved upward 16 cm, resulting in little airbag cushioning for the chest. Additionally, the seat belt allowed excessive forward excursion of the dummy’s head and torso. The side curtain airbag deployed but does not have sufficient forward coverage to protect the head from contact with side structure and outside objects.

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 wasn't maintained well.

During the crash, the seat belt allowed the dummy to move too far forward, as is evident from the gap between the seat back and the dummy's torso.

Intrusion into the occupant compartment was extensive as the left front wheel was forced rearward and inward into the driver's footwell during the crash. Left lower leg injury risk was high.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1204
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 10
Footrest (cm) 40
Left toepan (cm) 34
Brake pedal (cm) 24
Parking brake (cm) 0
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 1
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 1
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 6
Upper dash (cm) 16
Lower instrument panel (cm) 15

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1204
Head
HIC-15 238
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.3
Extension bending moment (Nm) 25
Maximum Nij 0.30
Chest maximum compression (mm) 21
Femur (kN)
Left 2.0
Right 2.3
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 6
Right 3
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 2.07
Right 0.46
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 4.0
Right 5.0
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 128
Right 70

How the driver-side small overlap front test is conducted

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2012-18 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 BMW 328i 4-door

The BMW 3 series sedan was redesigned for the 2012 model year. Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by BMW as part of frontal crash test verification.

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 VTF1118
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 4
Left (cm) 4
Center (cm) 3
Right (cm) 1
Brake pedal (cm) 2
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 0
Right (cm) 0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 0
Rearward (cm) -5
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF1118
Head
HIC-15 132
Peak gs at hard contact 15
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.1
Extension bending moment (Nm) 8
Maximum Nij 0.20
Chest maximum compression (mm) 26
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 1.4
Femur force - right (kN) 1.7
Knee displacement - left (mm) 1
Knee displacement - right (mm) 2
Maximum tibia index - left 0.38
Maximum tibia index - right 0.30
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 3.2
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 3.3
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 60
Right 61

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2012-18 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 BMW 335i 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The BMW 3 series sedan was redesigned for the 2012 model year. Side ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by BMW as part of side crash test verification.

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
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTS1120
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 VTS1120
Head HIC-15 323
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.2
Compression (kN) 0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 41
Lateral force (kN) 1.8
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 40
Average deflection (mm) 36
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.37
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.72
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 2.8
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.7
Combined force (kN) 4.5
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.3
L-M moment (Nm) 157
A-P moment (Nm) 64

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTS1120
Head HIC-15 125
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.4
Compression (kN) 0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 14
Lateral force (kN) 0.8
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 21
Average deflection (mm) 17
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 1.69
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.18
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.2
Acetabulum force (kN) 0.6
Combined force (kN) 1.8
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.5
L-M moment (Nm) 128
A-P moment (Nm) 44

How the side crash test is conducted

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2012-18 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 BMW 335i 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 3,516 lbs
Peak force 17,527 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 4.98

How the roof strength test is conducted

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) 44
Distance below top of head (mm) 23
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 11.9
Head contact time (ms) 68
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 51
Max neck tension (N) 631

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

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle

Ratings are given for 2 different trim variations available on this vehicle.

System details

  • Optional Collision Warning with City Braking Function

Package name

  • Optional Driver Assistance Plus

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2014-16 models

Advanced
Advanced
with optional equipment
  • This system meets the requirements for forward collision warning.
  • In the 12 mph test, impact speed was reduced by 7 mph.
  • In the 25 mph test, impact speed was reduced by 6 mph.

System details

  • Optional Collision Warning with Braking Function

Package name

  • Optional Active Cruise Control

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2013-16 models

Basic
Basic
with optional equipment
  • This system meets the requirements for forward collision warning.
  • In the 12 mph test, this vehicle failed to slow.
  • In the 25 mph test, this vehicle failed to slow.

How front crash prevention is evaluated

Child seat anchors

Rating applies to 2015-18 models

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trim 328xi
Seat type leather

This vehicle has 2 rear seating positions with complete child seat attachment (LATCH) hardware.

It has 1 additional seating position with a tether anchor only.

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trim 328xi
Seat type leather
1 2 3
G Good
A Acceptable
M Marginal
P Poor
Seating positions that rely on borrowed lower anchors or have only a tether anchor available are not rated.
thether anchor symbol
Tether anchor
lower anchor symbol
Lower anchors
shared lower achors symbol
Lower anchor(s) can be borrowed from adjacent positions(s)
No hardware available

Details by seating position

1
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
difficult to maneuver around anchors
2
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
none available
3
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
difficult to maneuver around anchors
Technical measurements for this test

Seat position 21

3

Lower anchor A
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 4-6
Force (lbs) 15
Clearance angle (degrees) 0
Lower anchor B
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 4-6
Force (lbs) 13
Clearance angle (degrees) 0
Tether anchor
Location Rear deck
Confusing hardware present No
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor
No

Seat position 22

2

Lower anchor A
No lower latch for this seat position
Lower anchor B
No lower latch for this seat position
Tether anchor
Location Rear deck
Confusing hardware present No
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor
No

Seat position 23

1

Lower anchor A
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 4-6
Force (lbs) 18
Clearance angle (degrees) 0
Lower anchor B
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 4-6
Force (lbs) 17
Clearance angle (degrees) 0
Tether anchor
Location Rear deck
Confusing hardware present No
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor
No

How child seat anchors are evaluated

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