F30 BMW 3 Series receive “marginal” ratings in new IIHS Small Overlap Crash Test

A new crash test was formulated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety which puts higher standards to produce safer vehicles. The F30 BMW 3 Series was rated “Marginal.” Though this is something new for BMW vehicles, which aces almost all safety tests, it is still a good rating compared to the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Lexus IS 250/350, Audi A4 and Lexus ES 350 who all earned a rating of “poor”.

As an example of the new small overlap safety test, here is a video of the 2012 BMW 3 series 40 mph taking it. The test is designed to simulate “what happens when the front corner of a car collides with another vehicle or an object like a tree or utility pole.” This replaces the previous frontal crash test that simulates a collision with another vehicle at 40 mph. In the test, 25 percent of a car’s front end on the driver side strikes a 5-foot-tall rigid barrier at 40 mph. The overall evaluation for the  2012 BMW 3 series is Marginal.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcSDBrlHbCo[/youtube]

Here is an overview of its complete safety test result: