The 1-Series has a very strong and stable passenger safety cage. It achieved the five star rating after Euro NCAP allowed a frontal retest following improvements to the airbags.
The driver dummy’s chest instrumentation recorded high loads in the frontal impact although side impact protection was better.
Protection for both children was only fair, however. Finally, like the BMW 5-Series also tested for this round, pedestrian protection was dire.
Front impact
The body proved to be very strong, showing only minor distortion of the passenger cell. The driver’s door could be opened almost normally after the crash. Footwell intrusion was minimal and control of the foot pedals was also good.
The restraint system includes dual stage tethered airbags for the driver and passenger, belt pretensioners combined with load limiters. A good deal of design effort was applied in the driver knee impact area with substantial padding evident in the steering column zone. The passenger knee impact area was also considered to be relatively benign. Foam padding located beneath the carpet helped to protect their feet.
Side impact
An impressive system includes seat mounted side airbags and a head airbag curtain. The structure and systems gave good protection in the side and pole tests.
Child occupant
The passenger frontal airbag has a switch and the «off» status is shown by a lighted pictogram next to the interior mirror.
Both children used the recommended Fair Bimbo Fix restraints fitted forward-facing using the ISOFIX anchorages and support legs. Both children experienced high chest loads in the frontal impact but were well protected in the side impact.
A pictogram was fitted to the passenger’s door pillar and a text label was fixed to the screen. Neither was permanently attached nor did either warn against placing a child in a rear facing restraint opposite an active airbag.
Pedestrian
Protection for pedestrians was extremely poor, scoring just two points. BMW needs to take the protection of pedestrians much more seriously than this.