CNN Money reports that side impact tests performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rate the 2008 BMW 5-Series as "marginal." The result placed the Bimmer at the bottom of a six-member "luxury sedan" pack (providing you accept the Amanti as a member of that group). The IIHS test shows that you're be better off sitting in a Kia if your whip gets T-boned by an SUV at 31 mph. ["Good:" Kia Amanti, Acura RL, Volvo S80; "acceptable;" Cadillac STS, Mercedes E-Class; "marginal:" BMW 5-Series.] The test is not without controversy; to mimic a truck, the IIHS' side impact sled plows into the target vehicle ABOVE the car's side impact beam. In that case, side impact airbags are your best friend. In the 5-Series' case, air bags coddled the dummy's head, but chest and abdomen airbags "performed poorly." BMW's spokesman says the IIHS dummy was injured by the arm rest. "The issue is that depending on the location of seat, the location of dummy, the location of the sled, the results could change," Thomas Plucinsky told The Detroit News. "This was one test on one day on one car." And a bad day it was too.
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IIHS page on the 5 series
The thing is “to mimick a truck the test sled had to be set above the door beam” – guess what? Real world SUV’s have high bumpers. The test is valid.
Perhaps it’s time to reduce the height of SUV’s sold, since 99.9% of the time it would seem that these “off road vehicles” only get off road when they get driven onto their owner’s lawns for a wash.
Real off roaders add lift kits and bigger tires, anyway, and are in the extreme minority of SUV buyers (let’s be honest here!)
Three things:
1. It’s “Amanti,” not “Armanti.” Lots of people refer to the Acadia as the “Arcadia” — go figure.
2. The side impact barrier does mimic a typical SUV or large pickup, but it hits the car above the door sill, not the side impact beam. (But as glenn126 points out, there are those lifted trucks and SUVs out there.)
3. With regard to BMW’s comments: sour grapes. All cars are tested the same way. It’s sad that the carmaker that pioneered head-protecting side airbags came out dead last in this group.
EuroNCAP page on the 5 series
They came to the same conclusion, just not as dramatic. I believe they use a lower/lighter side impact ram.
Why is limiting choice always the first suggestion? Why not beef up cars a little, or make SUVs have more cushion built into the front end. Otherwise, we will all be driving trucks that look like Xrunner (yuck city)
Another case where it is the car’s fault that government bumper rules excluded the SUV.
210delray – What’s the IIHS position on normalizing bumper heights?
And, where’s the test for running a Freightliner into the side of passenger vehicles? Given that there are nearly 5000 fatal accidents involving large trucks annually, it seems reasonable that the test should include the mass and bumper height of large trucks.
210delray:
It’s “Amanti,” not “Armanti.” Lots of people refer to the Acadia as the “Arcadia” — go figure.
Correction noted and made. Oh, and it’s “airbags,” not “aibags.”
# RyanK02:
August 16th, 2007 at 9:14 am
Why is limiting choice always the first suggestion? Why not beef up cars a little, or make SUVs have more cushion built into the front end. Otherwise, we will all be driving trucks that look like Xrunner (yuck city)
The issue of SUV/car crash compatibility has been well known for years and years. The automakers have resisted any sort of regulation to improve the results of SUV/car collisions because it would put a constraint on the styling of the SUV. In other words, massive, imposing, macho front ends would have to be modified to be lower and more sloping.
The MB M-class (and maybe the Ford Excusion too?) has a low-down beam in the front to aid in the and to prevent them from climbing over smaller cars, if I recall correctly.
Even though the test is higher than the normal SUV/Truck bumper, I think it’s a good test in that it shows worst case scenarios.
I know around here there are a ton of lifted trucks (my place of employment is less than 1/2 mile from a 4×4 shop that specializes in raised trucks – go figure), so this would apply more to some people than others.
Frank Williams: you got me! Fixed.
Edgett,
Because then we’d see there are no safe cars.
The 4×4 lifted trucks are actually pretty scary in even a relatively mild rear-ender – the results are pretty much as you’d expect, where the truck body keeps moving and trys to decapitate the car. Even though it’s not enforced, there are a number of VC violations with these trucks in any event.
I guess we should all drive subcompacts so the poor fools that buy the Chinese Dodge econobox (should they import it) won’t get banged up when they pull out in front of you.