Ever wondered...

[greenday-rulz21 6]

Very interesting Reading...

Used_Car_Safety_Ratings.pdf

BMW Results

'99-'04 3 Series E46 - 5 Star

'96-'03 5 Series E39 - 5 Star

'92-'99 3 Series E36 - 4 Star

'82-'91 3 Series E30 - 3 Star

'82-'88 5 Series E28 - 3 Star

'89-'95 5 Series E34 - 3 Star

'82-'88 7 Series E32 - 3 Star

Edited August 3, 2008 by Nick021

[bmw.maniac 1]

Wow! The E30 has the same rating as the 96-02 E-Class!!

[rxsumo 33]

I would take these ratings for the older cars with a grain of salt.

The star rating requires a number of safety features (like curtain airbags etc), to obtain maximum ratings and the actual safety of the cars structure would only appear to play a small part in the overall equation.

Its rather bizarre to see that an E28 rates the same as an E34. the last E34s were fitted with airbags, none of the E28s were, so my thinking is they took the worst possible spec of the model and then that was the model rating.

It also doesnt take into account that the E34 has a relatively high level of rust protection, which the E28 doesnt have, and as the cars are aging, the E28 has the potential to have structure failures due to unseen corrosion in the case of a big accident.

While it enables people to compare safety features "apples to apples" on modern cars, and tries to "scare" people into buying only modern cars, I think that the old car ratings are suspect.

For me, if I was going to be in a fairly major crash, and I got the option, I'd rather be in my E34 rather than my E12 (which is basically a E28 anyway!)

[elmarco 56]

I would take these ratings for the older cars with a grain of salt.

The star rating requires a number of safety features (like curtain airbags etc), to obtain maximum ratings and the actual safety of the cars structure would only appear to play a small part in the overall equation.

Its rather bizarre to see that an E28 rates the same as an E34. the last E34s were fitted with airbags, none of the E28s were, so my thinking is they took the worst possible spec of the model and then that was the model rating.

It also doesnt take into account that the E34 has a relatively high level of rust protection, which the E28 doesnt have, and as the cars are aging, the E28 has the potential to have structure failures due to unseen corrosion in the case of a big accident.

While it enables people to compare safety features "apples to apples" on modern cars, and tries to "scare" people into buying only modern cars, I think that the old car ratings are suspect.

For me, if I was going to be in a fairly major crash, and I got the option, I'd rather be in my E34 rather than my E12 (which is basically a E28 anyway!)

I think this particular rating is based on analysis of actual road accidents - not the standardised ANCAP testing stars you see on new cars. This is real world analysis, not lab testing according to the report and sometimes it throws up anomalies (which can be influenced by the type of driver that typically uses a car, sample size etc)... Must have been a pretty complex job to do when you think about it - loads of variables.

[tibbs.james 1]

Could one say its nice to know that an E30 3 series is at least comparable in safety with an E34 5 series ?

[M325is 0]

Considering it is star rating from 1-5 getting a 3 says jack sh*t, ratings should be on a scale of at least 10

[Nic325i 0]

Considering it is star rating from 1-5 getting a 3 says jack sh*t, ratings should be on a scale of at least 10

Only if the data they are based on is sufficiently accurate and the conclusions sufficiently solid - no point saying the E30 is a 5/10 and E34 6/10 if the scatter is so large that it swamps the difference.

Bit like marking english essays - can a teacher really say one is worth 65% and the other is worth 67%?

[kiwi535 538]

Could one say its nice to know that an E30 3 series is at least comparable in safety with an E34 5 series ?

dont know...as rxsumo says,the e34 prolly wont have any rust,and being a heavier car woudnt it just use the e30 as its crumple zone...?

[elmarco 56]

Only if the data they are based on is sufficiently accurate and the conclusions sufficiently solid - no point saying the E30 is a 5/10 and E34 6/10 if the scatter is so large that it swamps the difference.

Bit like marking english essays - can a teacher really say one is worth 65% and the other is worth 67%?

Yeah - and the sample size will have an impact on the quality and reliability of the results. The more common cars (ie: Toyota Corolla / Falcon / Commodore etc) on the road will likely have the most representative data / results.

Still, I guess it gives some kind of picture of the crash performance over nothing at all.

[bmw.maniac 1]

Bit like marking english essays - can a teacher really say one is worth 65% and the other is worth 67%?

Thta's why they have NCEA now. A, M or E.