Comments on: IIHS Top Safety Picks- No BMW?

By: Albert Jeong

Albert Jeong — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:31:00 +0000

As of 2011/11/9, still none conducted roof test other than 3 series. But it only got average… wonder what other will be getting. BMW should do better. http://www.iihs.org/ratings/ratingsbyseries.aspx?id=458

By: Melis

Melis — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:00:31 +0000

My MINI R56 was rear-ended by a BMW 3-series, and while the cars both had quite a bit of damage, everyone was ok with no injuries. That’s great engineering right there.

By: IT WRKS

IT WRKS — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:28:14 +0000

I know even in the oldest of BMW’s I have ever driven I have felt nothing but safe and confident that I would be protected from harm. I do not need IIHS to inform me of this. BMW keep up the good work!

By: Lee

Lee — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:08:23 +0000

The lengths these manufacturers go to and the setups they have built to test cars now is pretty amazing. I really like the various ways they try to roll them in teh BMW video.

I also saw something on TV the other day about Volvo's test center and they have one side of it with a long tunnel that can be rotated, so they can test crashes between moving or stationary vehicles at just about any angle. They also have a glass floor in the crash zone so they can see the bottom of the car as the crash happens.

By: TN Dave

TN Dave — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:51:05 +0000

Interesting to note that a 2010 Mini Cooper WAS subjected to the new IIHS rollover test, and only scored an “Acceptable” rating, keeping the Cooper off the Top Safety Pick’s list. I wonder if Minis are subjected to the same stringent level of in-house testing as other BMWs?

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:10:32 +0000

Dave- You are correct in theory. The IIHS TSP program is dynamic that they test cars throughout the year and add them as a TSP, BUT and this is a huge but- they only publish and promote 1 list during the year to the media and that comes each year in the middle of November.

There will not be a complete yearly listing until next November, it is that simple.

While we are fairly sure that BMWs will be once again on the list once they are tested we will have to wait an another year for the list. Many consumers may not hear about these Top Safety Picks until then (trust me there are people that do little research into car purchases-the info needs to be hand fed to them). There is a reason Toyota is making a big stink about their cars not being on the list- it will hurt sales even though this list is "dynamic".

As a member of the media I can say that unless someone publishes a release or makes a list like this most outlets do not even delve into it.

I wanted people to be aware that even though the IIHS has not tested the cars- they undergo their own testing within BMW.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:34:25 +0000

You know that the list of “Top Safety Picks” is dynamic, right? Eventually various BMW models will be tested and we will see.