The passenger compartment of the 5 Series remained stable in the frontal offset test. Dummy numbers showed good protection of the knees and femurs of both the driver and passenger. BMW showed that a similar level of protection would be provided to occupants of different sizes and to those sitting in different positions.  Protection of all critical body areas was good or adequate for the front passenger and driver.  Analysis of the deceleration of the impact trolley during the test, and analysis of the deformable barrier after the test, revealed that the 5 Series would be a moderately benign impact partner in a frontal collision. In the full-width rigid barrier test, protection of all critical body areas was good or adequate for both the driver and the rear passenger. In the side barrier test, protection of all critical body areas was good and the 5 Series scored maximum points in this part of the assessment.  In the more severe side pole impact, protection of the chest was rated as marginal on the basis of dummy readings of rib compression.  Otherwise, protection was good or adequate.  Control of excursion (the extent to which a body is thrown to the other side of the vehicle when it is hit from the far side) was good. The 5 Series has a counter-measure to mitigate against occupant to occupant injuries in such impacts and this performed well in the pole impact test. Tests on the front seats and head restraints demonstrated good protection against whiplash injuries in the event of a rear-end collision.  A geometric analysis of the rear seats also indicated good whiplash protection.   The 5 Series has an advanced eCall system which alerts the emergency services in the event of a crash.   The car also has a system which applies the brakes after an impact, to avoid secondary collisions.  BMW demonstrated that, if the car entered water, the doors and windows of the 5 Series would remain functional long enough to allow the occupants to escape.

In both the frontal offset and side barrier tests, good protection was provided to all critical body areas for both child dummies, and the BMW 5 Series scored maximum points in this part of the assessment.  The front passenger airbag can be disabled to allow a rearward-facing child restraint to be used in that seating position.  Clear information is provided to the driver regarding the status of the airbag and the system was rewarded.  The 5 Series is not equipped with 'child presence detection', a system which issues a warning when it recognises that a child or infant has been left in the car.  All of the child restraint types for which the 5 Series is designed could be properly installed and accommodated in the car.

The 5 Series has an active bonnet.  Sensors in the bumper detect when a vulnerable road user has been struck and actuators lift the bonnet to provide more space to the stiff components underneath.  BMW demonstrated that the system worked for a variety of pedestrian statures and over a range of speeds.  Accordingly, the car was tested with the bonnet in the raised, deployed position.  Protection was almost entirely good, with some poor results recorded on the stiff windscreen pillars.  Protection of the knee and tibia was at good at all test locations and the 5 Series scored maximum points in this part of the assessment; that of the femur ranged from marginal to good; and protection of the pelvis was poor at some test locations  The autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system of the BMW can respond to vulnerable road users as well as to other vehicles.  The system performed adequately well in tests of its response to pedestrians. The system scored highly in tests of its reaction to cyclists, including dooring, in which the car prevents or warns against door opening if a cyclist is approaching from behind.  Similarly, the AEB system performed well in all tests of its response to motorcyclists and scored full points.

Overall, the autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system of the BMW 5 Series performed well in tests of its reaction to other vehicles, including in the head-on test scenarios.  A seatbelt reminder system is fitted as standard to the front and rear seats but the driver status monitoring system did not score highly, detecting only driver drowsiness.  The lane support system gently corrects the vehicle’s path if it is drifting out of lane and also intervenes in some more critical situations to stop the car leaving the road for example.  The speed assistance system identifies the local speed limit, and the driver can choose to allow the limiter to be set automatically by the system.