For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Mercedes E-Class Sedan have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The BMW 3 Series Sedan doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Mercedes E-Class Sedan are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The BMW 3 Series Sedan doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
The E-Class Sedan offers an optional Surround View System to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The 3 Series Sedan only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
The E-Class Sedan has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the 3 Series Sedan’s blind spot costs extra.
Both the E-Class Sedan and the 3 Series Sedan have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, available lane departure warning systems and rear cross-path warning.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Mercedes E-Class Sedan is safer than the BMW 3 Series Sedan:
|
E-Class Sedan |
3 Series Sedan |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
204 |
252 |
Chest Compression |
.4 inches |
.6 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
29% |
33% |
Neck Stress |
120 lbs. |
170 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Mercedes E-Class Sedan is safer than the BMW 3 Series Sedan:
|
E-Class Sedan |
3 Series Sedan |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Abdominal Force |
149 G’s |
179 G’s |
Hip Force |
223 lbs. |
252 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
215 |
305 |
Spine Acceleration |
46 G’s |
47 G’s |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
11 inches |
13 inches |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.