Active and passive safety at the BMW Group.

1. Active and Passive Safety at the BMW Group (Short Version). 2. Active and Passive Safety at the BMW Group (Long Version). 2.1 Introduction - Safety, an All-Round Concept. 2.2 Active Safety - for Sheer Driving Peasure. 2.3 The Point of no Return - Even the last few Seconds Can Save Lives. 2.4 Should the Worst Come to the Worst: Passive Safety for Extra Protection. 2.5 Rapid Assistance in an Emergency: the Advanced Emergency Call.

"Supreme safety of the highest standard is a natural asset for the premium
manufacturer. What makes our cars so unique is the overall approach we take in
our safety concept" - states Klaus Kompass, BMW Group Director of Vehicle
Safety, in describing the safety philosophy of the BMW Group.

The BMW Group's safety concepts are always based first and foremost on reality.
Precisely this is why BMW Group experts in accident research examine a wide
range of real-life accidents each year, interacting with biomechanics, doctors
specialising in accident treatment and prevention, as well as traumatologists
in Germany and the USA, and naturally sharing their experience with researchers
and developers at BMW.

The knowledge gained in these processes goes directly into new concepts for
active and passive safety, where the second aspect of the BMW Group's safety
philosophy comes to bear: Safety, as seen by BMW, starts with sheer driving
pleasure, that is long before a possible accident. For the best accident is an
accident avoided right from the start - an accident that never happens. And, at
the other end, the concept continues on a long way, only ending long after the
accident as such has occurred.

The BMW Group has always attached great significance to safety in road traffic.
To this day there is not one single safety system in production cars which the
BMW Group has not examined or developed, in many cases taking on the role of a
pioneer, as in the case of the head airbag. An exceptional highlight of BMW's
approach in this context is the integration of precise driving dynamics,
specific support of the driver and optimum occupant protection within one
overall package focusing on a very ambitious target: to ensure maximum safety
all round and at all times.

BMW Group safety starts from the ground up on the car's suspension.

No statistics reveal the accidents which never happened. And indeed, we all
experience incidents and situations even in normal road traffic which
potentially might lead to an accident - whether it is misjudgment, unclear
situations on the road, or adverse weather and ambient conditions. In a BMW
Group car the driver is able to take these situations in superior, relaxed
style, a BMW or a MINI behaving the right way for the driver also under
exceptional conditions and giving the driver all the benefi ts of his everyday
motoring knowledge.

The objective of the chassis engineer in developing new chassis technology is
to ensure safe and superior driving behaviour. For such superiority on the road
creates the conditions required for relaxed motoring, smooth performance, and
exemplary active safety. The driver remains in full control of his car,
enjoying superior driving dynamics and safe motoring stability. And in the
process he is supported by control systems handling particularly dynamic
situations with ease and appropriate care.

Whenever the car reaches the limit, chassis control systems intervene actively
to maintain the car's stability or to reinstate the stability required - also
under adverse road conditions. DSC Dynamic Stability Control, for example,
prevents the car from swerving out of control, for instance in an abrupt
manoeuvre, by applying the brakes as required on individual wheels. BMW xDrive
all-wheel-drive technology, in turn, likewise applies the brakes exactly as
required and ensures a good balance of torque to avoid understeer right from
the beginning and give the car safe and secure handling even in dynamic and
fast bends. And other systems serving to enhance both steering precision and
tracking stability are Dynamic Performance Control and Dynamic Drive.

The effects and contributions of these systems in enhancing safety increase to
an overproportional extent when linked with one another. As an example, Active
Steering in the new BMW 7 Series interacts with the car's DSC sensors. So that
when applying the brakes with the wheels running on different surfaces, this
intelligent technology prevents the car from swerving out of control by
intervening appropriately in the steering.

The human factor - providing appropriate support and enhancing the driver's
supremacy at the wheel.

Offi cial statistics show that almost 99 per cent of all accidents are
attributable to human error and false behaviour. So to prevent accidents right
from the start, the first essential point is to assist the driver in the
process of driving the car. Various driver assistance systems are used for this
purpose and already make an important contribution to active safety, that is
the avoidance of accidents, today. Such systems and concepts nevertheless still
offer significant room for improvement and further development, while the
various features and options supporting passive safety have already reached a
high level.

Driver assistance systems relieve the driver of unpleasant chores and enhance
his supremacy at the wheel by providing information, warnings, and help in
taking the right decision. Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go, referred to in
brief as ACC Stop & Go, for example, not only maintains the desired distance
from the vehicle ahead, but also controls the speed of the car in dense traffic
all the way down to a standstill. And at the same time the system offers a
proximity warning, optical and acoustic signals urging the driver to apply the
brakes himself if, for example, the driver ahead is likewise braking very hard
and slowing down very quickly. At the same time the vehicle itself is prepared
for hard application of the brakes, again helping to keep the stopping distance
short and, if everything works out, to avoid an accident.

ACC Stop & Go is only one of the many assistance systems the BMW Group offers
its customers. Further examples are:
• Lane Change Warning giving the driver a visual and touch-stimulated warning
of vehicles approaching in the driver's blind angle.
• Lane Departure Warning recognising unintentional deviation from the right
lane and again giving the driver clear feedback via the steering wheel.

Other assistance systems help to improve the driver's perception and his
overview of traffic conditions, offering him more information and allowing him
to look further ahead. Among others, these systems include:

• The Speed Limit Indicator introduced for the first time ever in the BMW 7
Series and informing the driver at all times of the maximum speed allowed on
the route he is currently taking.
• BMW's new Night Vision with detection of individual persons offering
preventive pedestrian safety by recognising people up to a distance of 300
metres or almost 1,000 feet and warning the driver of dangerous situations.
Considering that far more than 50 per cent of all fatal accidents involving
pedestrians occur at night or in the dark (source: DESTATIS), such a safety
system is particularly helpful.
• The Head-up Display providing information relevant to the driver in his
direct line of vision. This minimises the need for the driver to take his eyes
off the road and increases driving safety accordingly.
• Adaptive Headlights, variable light distribution, Bending Lights, adaptive
headlight range control and the High-Beam Assistant offer a unique lights
package ensuring optimum illumination of the road ahead at night, in fog and
bad weather, without dazzling oncoming drivers.
• Like Park Distance Control, the back-up camera signifi cantly facilitates the
process of parking and manoeuvring.
• In the new BMW 7 Series the Safety Package is further enhanced by Side View
enabling the driver to check out traffic crossing from the side in unclear
crossings and road junctions.

Even with all these assistance and supporting systems, the most powerful
element within the car remains the human being. And since practice makes
perfect, as the old saying goes, the BMW Group also offers BMW and MINI Driver
Training on virtually on levels.

When the worst comes to the worst, even the last millisecond counts.

Particularly the last few seconds prior to an inevitable collision may save
lives, provided these brief instants are used properly. Precisely this is why
the various features and elements of active and passive safety interact within
the BMW Group's concept of integral safety, offering all their benefits and
advantages shortly before an accident actually occurs. Assistance systems
giving the driver the necessary information and warning prompt him to act the
right way and in good time, the proximity warning, for example, telling him to
apply the brakes. Dynamic Brake Control is activated at the same time in this
process, chassis stability systems stabilising the car and helping to prevent a
dangerous rollover.

The sensors fitted in the car, in turn, offer valuable information in order to
pre-set the car's passive safety systems, the electric belt roll-up function,
for example, serving to tighten the seat belts and thus ensure optimum
restraint and safety right from the start.

The particular skill of the BMW Group's safety experts is to perfectly
harmonise and match these processes to one another, in this way gaining
decisive milliseconds in the interest of extra safety. The objective of all
these features and technologies, fi nally, is to minimise accident severity to
the greatest possible degree, if the accident cannot be avoided in the first
place.

Passive safety means reducing the consequences of an accident to the greatest
possible degree. A safe passenger cell, safe body structures with defined crash
zones and optimised restraint systems are the basic elements within each safety
concept. The development and use of an optimum passive safety concept is
naturally of utmost significance to the BMW Group, three-point belts on all
seats, six airbags featured as standard, and a strong body structure with
specific deformation elements therefore forming part and parcel of all vehicle
concepts today.

To prepare appropriately for the future in every respect, the BMW Group has
consistently enhanced and renewed its testing facilities in recent years. All
vehicles are tested and checked in crash testing and simulation systems not
only for their full compliance with legal requirements, but also with the BMW
Group's own and far more demanding internal standards: To ensure consistent
safety on the road the world over.

This safety concept even continues beyond the actual occurrence of an accident,
activation of the hazard warning flashers and the interior lights warning other
road users and improving the chances of being rescued. The Safety Battery
Terminal, for example, reduces the risk of fire. And depending on the car's
features, the rescue headquarters are alarmed at the same time the automatic
emergency call is sent out, receiving important information on the severity of
the accident.

Implementing such a safety philosophy calls for the significant involvement of
all parties concerned within the BMW Group. So the engineers are of course
always very happy to receive mail such as this letter from the Ukraine stating
right at the top: "Thank you, the whole BMW Team". This BMW customer, after
surviving a head-on collision at high speed, even wrote BMW from the hospital:
"I only survived because of your car - so let me express my heart-felt
gratitude for such an outstanding achievement of engineering."