IIHS: 2022-23 BMW 5 Series, X3 Upgraded to Top Safety Pick Plus
Both the 2022 and 2023 BMW 5 Series and X3 are the latest recipients of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Top Safety Pick Plus awards. After failing to secure any IIHS award for 2021, each has now checked the boxes to qualify for the Plus designation. The 5 Series sedan secured the agency’s top award thanks to upgraded crash-test scores, while the X3 compact SUV received the award due to improved headlights.
Related: Here’s Every Car That Earned an IIHS Top Safety Award for 2022
IIHS reserves its Top Safety Pick awards for vehicles that earn good ratings in six crash-test categories: driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, original side, roof strength and head restraint tests. Additionally, one set of headlights must be rated acceptable or good for a vehicle to be named a Top Safety Pick; the Plus designation requires good- or acceptable-rated headlights across all trims. Finally, a vehicle must offer a front crash prevention system with an advanced or superior rating in vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian crash tests.
The 5 Series scored an acceptable rating for its standard headlights, while the X3 received a good headlight rating across all variants. Previously, the 2021 BMW X3 failed to earn an award due to marginally rated standard headlights; the 2021 5 Series missed a good rating for one category in the passenger-side small overlap front crash test.
The 5 Series’ front crash prevention earned a superior rating in the vehicle-to-vehicle evaluation and an advanced rating in the vehicle-to-pedestrian test, while the refreshed X3 scored superior ratings in both evaluations. The 5 Series and X3 each come with standard forward collision warning with pedestrian and cyclist detection, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning with steering correction, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and automatic high beams. Adaptive cruise control with BMW’s Extended Traffic Jam Assist and lane keep assist with side collision avoidance are available.
The 5 Series and X3 join the brand’s other 2022 Top Safety Picks, which include the 2 Series Gran Coupe, 3 Series sedan and X5 SUV.
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