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2019 BMW 3 Series Sedan Slays Safety Ratings

2019 BMW 3 Series front OEM jpg Manufacturer image

The 2019 BMW 3 Series four-door sedan has earned a Top Safety Pick Plus award in Insurance Institute for Highway Safety testing — but only when equipped with the best of its three available headlight systems.

Related: 2019-2020 BMW 3 Series First Drive: Is the Mojo Back?

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The 3 Series earned the top rating of good in all six crashworthiness tests by IIHS. The crash-testing has gotten tougher for 2019 with the additional requirement for Top Safety Pick Plus of the score of good in the new passenger-side small overlap front crash test. The 3 Series also got the top score of superior for both its standard and optional front crash-prevention systems with automatic emergency braking. Both the standard Active Guard system and the Active Driving Assistant Professional Package avoided collisions in IIHS testing at 12 mph and 25 mph.

However, only the best available headlights — the optional curve-adaptive headlights with high-beam assist that are part of the Executive Package — earned the good rating required for Top Safety Pick Plus status in IIHS tests. The optional curve-adaptive lights that are part of the lower-level Convenience Package scored marginal, while the base LED projector headlights were rated poor.

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The redesigned 2019 3 Series sedan’s score improved on results for the 2018 model, which was a Top Safety Pick, but got a lower advanced rating for its optional front crash prevention system. The 2018 also got a notch-lower acceptable for its best headlights and poor for the other two systems.

The 3 Series’ Top Safety Pick Plus status with optional equipment matches ratings among mid-size luxury sedans from Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Genesis rivals and ahead of Audi and others. See ratings for this group here.

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Fred Meier
Former D.C. Bureau Chief Fred Meier, who lives every day with Washington gridlock, has an un-American love of small wagons and hatchbacks.
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