One of the most important factors in any person’s purchase of a vehicle is how safe will that car be in a crash. Whether you are interested in a luxury vehicle like a BMW or an inexpensive practical car like a Camry, you want to know that your car will perform well in a collision. Not only that, but given modern-day technology, drivers also want to know how well the vehicle works to prevent a collision from ever occurring.
So are BMWs safe cars?
Yes, overall, newer model BMWs are extremely safe vehicles. In recent years a number of models have won awards from several organizations because of their crash test ratings. There is some safety rating variation among different models, but overall BMWs are exceptionally safe vehicles.
Now you know that BMWs are safe cars but in this article, you are going to learn how BMW safety ratings compare among different models and how well BMW compares to other vehicles.
BMWs are extremely safe cars
BMWs are not just good at preventing serious injuries in accidents, but modern BMWs are also equipped with safety technology to help prevent accidents. In some of our other articles, we have criticized BMW for installing so many bells and whistles in their modern cars, but when it comes to safety some of these features are extremely important.
I’m not going to lie, some of the “protective features” that modern cars install are extremely annoying. Personally, I have never been a big fan of the lane guidance assist that is becoming more prevalent in modern cars. Why? I don’t always use my turning signal when changing lanes so the guidance assist thinks I am losing control of the vehicle.
Another safety feature that is often a nuisance for many drivers is the auto stop-start feature. This feature is certainly not unique to BMWs as it is becoming popular among many automotive manufacturers. However, it is still an annoying safety feature and in order to shut it off you have to take it to a specialized mechanic who can update the coding.
But overall the benefits of BMWs various protective features make for safer cars with reduced risks of collision. Modern BMWs come equipped with a variety of safety features including:
- Lane guidance assist
- Distance control
- Emergency brake assist
- Road sign recognition
- Hill start assist
- Speed limit assist
- Lane change assist
- Parking assist
Basically we are speeding toward a world of autonomous driving cars, but in the meantime, these technologies do serve to make BMW a safer vehicle.
How safe are the various BMW models compared to one another? We created a chart below featuring several 2020 BMW models scored on a 1-10 scale with 10 being the best. The chart below was created using data from U.S News.
| 2020 BMW Model | Score out of 10 |
| 2 Series | 9.8 |
| 3 Series | 9.8 |
| 5 Series | 10 |
| X5 | 9.5 |
All five of these BMWs rank exceptionally high, with the 5 Series BMW scoring a perfect 10 out of 10 score on U.S News safety ratings. There are several models that were not included in this chart, that is because there is insufficient crash data with these vehicles.
So it is clear that BMW models perform quite well in the realm of safety, but how do they compare to other vehicles?
How do BMWs compare to other vehicles?
If you are interested in a BMW, you are probably comparing its attributes and pricing to other German luxury vehicles like the Mercedes Benz and Audi. German luxury cars across the spectrum perform well on safety rankings.
As you will see in the chart below the German luxury car group as a class performs exceptionally well in safety ratings. The data for this chart was compiled from U.S News and the vehicles are scored on a 1-10 scale with 10 being the best.
| 2020 Automaker | Score out of 10 |
| Mercedes C-Class
Audi A4 BMW 3 Series | 9.8
9.5 9.8 |
| Mercedes E-Class
Audi A6 BMW 5 Series | 9.8
9.8 10 |
Although this chart is incomplete, it shows that Mercedes and Audi score highly on safety ratings in comparison to BMW. Whether you choose a BMW, Mercedes, or Audi, you would not be making a mistake when it comes to the safety of your vehicle.
We also compare gas mileage amongst German luxury vehicles in an article here.
There are also some additional stats on how 3rd parties have ranked BMW safety against other vehicles:
- The 2019 BMW 5 Series was a “Top Safety Pick +” by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) when equipped with optional automatic high-beam headlights.
- The 2020 BMW 3 Series was a “Top Safety Pick” by the IIHS when equipped with optional automatic high-beam headlights.
- In the U.S News’ 25 safest luxury vehicle rakings of 2019 it ranked the X2, 3 Series, X5, and X3 within the top 25. It also named the BMW 5 Series the safest luxury car of 2019.
Conclusion
Overall, BMWs are extremely safe cars, not only at keeping you safe in an accident but also at helping to prevent one from ever occurring. Of course, vehicle safety is not entirely about the car, it is also about good driving skills. But when it comes to being involved in a collision, the data shows that BMW is as good a car as any.