Euro NCAP crash test: 5 stars for the BMW 1 Series

New version of compact model achieves top score on current European test with exemplary occupant protection.

Munich. Now in its second generation, the BMW 1 Series is once again the undisputed benchmark for driving dynamics in the compact vehicle segment. Just a few weeks after its market launch it has now been officially certified as a perfect role model in the area of safety. On the current Euro NCAP crash test, the new BMW 1 Series achieved the top score of 5 stars. After analysis of all the data collected in the course of extensive testing procedures, the testers officially confirmed that the new BMW compact model provides outstanding occupant protection over a range of different collision types. In addition, the car’s pedestrian protection and its numerous standard safety fittings also attracted a positive rating. Among other things, the new BMW 1 Series can be fitted with the extended emergency call including automatic position finding and accident severity identification – the BMW Assist Advanced eCall. BMW received the special Euro NCAP Advanced Award for this BMW ConnectedDrive service a year ago.

The current Euro NCAP crash test determined the risk of injury as a result of a frontal impact and side impact collision as well as on the so-called side-impact pole crash. In all scenarios the new BMW 1 Series provided both driver and passengers with extensive protection from injury, regardless of their height or seating position. The test verdict on child safety was also positive. The BMW 1 Series was said to offer excellent protection on both the front impact and the side impact tests. In conjunction with seat systems for children aged three and one and a half, the test dummies with mounted sensors registered a stable position and reduced head movement at the moment of impact.

The effective seat occupant protection in the new BMW 1 Series is the result of an integrated safety concept which includes not just an extremely torsionally stiff passenger cell but also large-format deformation zones and precisely defined bearing structures to absorb and dissipate the forces which take effect when an accident occurs. The new BMW 1 Series is fitted as standard with front airbags, side airbags integrated in the backrests, head airbags for the front and back seats, three-point automatic seatbelts on all seats, belt force limiters and belt tensioners at the front and ISOFIX children’s seat attachments at the rear. It also features the driving stability system DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) and a Run Flat Indicator.

The Euro NCAP crash test attaches particular importance to pedestrian protection, and this has been optimised in the new BMW 1 Series by such elements as selectively modelled body elements with yielding structures on the front of the vehicle. The testers awarded maximum points to the design of the front bumpers in particular, as well as for those elements of the front section which are relevant to the risk of head injury to children in the event of a collision.

The Euro NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) is recognised throughout Europe by governments, automobile clubs and consumer organisations as a benchmark of vehicle accident safety. By achieving the top score, the BMW 1 Series repeats the result of its predecessor model which was also awarded 5 stars in 2004. Since then the demands of the Euro NCAP have been raised significantly with the introduction of additional test criteria. Since the extension of the test program in 2009, all BMW models to have undergone the Euro NCAP crash test have scored the top rating. So following the BMW X1, the BMW 5 Series and the BMW X3, the new BMW 1 Series is the brand’s fourth new model to emerge from the revised, much more demanding test with a result of 5 stars.

Source: BMW Asia