I've been wondering the same thing myself for some time now. I'm curious to see the results because crash results normally weigh very heavily on my car buying decision. I went with the X3 pretty much on faith and the fact that the X5 has excellent ratings.

 

It's the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that conducts tests and publishes the results you read about. It has nothing to do with the manufacturers.

For whatever reason, the IIHS hasn't tested the X3 yet, which is surprising to me (they have tested the X5, however). You can see their website at http://www.hwysafety.org/

 

Probably they have not received a free car from BMW to crash

 

Probably they have not received a free car from BMW to crash

They actually purchase the cars they crash from the dealer, just like you or me.... not that we crash, or anything like that

Maybe they feel the X3 is too fringe, too new, or doesn't fit into their categories (no such category as "small luxury ute"), and I just don't see it fitting into the normal small ute category.

 

I've been wondering the same thing myself for some time now. I'm curious to see the results because crash results normally weigh very heavily on my car buying decision. I went with the X3 pretty much on faith and the fact that the X5 has excellent ratings.

I am with you. I assumed the results would be at the higher end.

It seems kind of pathetic that a vehicle 3 years into production has no official crash test results.

 

The X3 is based on the floor-pan of the previous 3 series which did not exactly shine
in the Euro crash tests- 63% front, 83% side; "only just did well enough to merit 4 stars".
This coupled with a comment in a road test that the driver could feel the vehicle
flexing when mounting a kerb, have decided me not to buy one.
Other members may be interested to know that the Australian MyNRMA ANCAP site
have crash tested many vehicles not listed by Euro NCAP, and the test criteria are
identical, being in fact entirely based on the European standards.
Of particular note is the Lexus RX330 (same as the RX300 but with a larger engine,
as supplied to U.S. and Australian markets), which gained " only a relatively poor
4 stars, with a Zero score in the pole test.
The Subaru Liberty (Legacy in the U.K.) gained a very high scoring 5 stars, but this
has not filtered through to the U.K. press. Indeed What Car Magazine rated the
Legacy below the Toyota RAV4 ( a poor 4 star rating) for safety during a comparison
test, and did not have the courtesy to reply to my eMail when I drew their attention
to this misleading opinion, which they appear to have conjured out of thin air.
I very much like the look of the latest 3 series Touring, and when BMW condescend
to make it available in the U.K. with "X drive", I will have my (or rather my wife's! )
cheque book ready.
It is particularly irritating that the latest 3 series Touring is only available in the U.S.
with "X drive", and nearly "fully loaded" only comes out at approx. £24K prior to
State tax, and the Americans still seem to think that they are being overcharged!.