The i5’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Model 3 doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the i5 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Model 3 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The i5 offers an optional Surround View to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Model 3 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.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the i5’s standard Cross Traffic Warning uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side and Brake Intervention automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. The Model 3 doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
The i5 has standard BMW Assist, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Model 3 doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the i5 and the Model 3 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras and driver alert monitors.
The BMW i5 weighs 868 to 1385 pounds more than the Tesla Model 3. The NHTSA advises that heavier cars are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.