For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Camry have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The BMW 3 Series Sedan doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Camry 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.
In a Vehicle-to-Vehicle Frontal Crash Prevention 2.0 test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Toyota Camry achieved a “Good” rating - the highest possible - for its performance in forward collision warning and automatic braking systems, demonstrating its excellent capabilities in preventing collisions. The BMW 3 Series Sedan has not been tested.
The Camry’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the 3 Series Sedan.
The Camry 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.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Camry has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Alert and optional Rear Cross-Traffic Braking on the XLE/XSE automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. BMW charges extra for Cross Traffic Warning on the 3 Series Sedan and the 3 Series Sedan’s Cross Traffic Warning does not include automatic braking.
Both the Camry and the 3 Series Sedan have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Toyota Camry is safer than the BMW 3 Series Sedan:
|
Camry |
3 Series Sedan |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.6 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
24.3% |
33% |
Neck Stress |
121 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 Toyota Camry is safer than the BMW 3 Series Sedan:
|
Camry |
3 Series Sedan |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
100 |
107 |
Chest Movement |
.7 inches |
.8 inches |
Abdominal Force |
127 lbs. |
179 lbs. |
Hip Force |
239 lbs. |
252 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
206 |
270 |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The Toyota Camry has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2025 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The 3 Series Sedan has not yet been fully evaluated by the IIHS for 2025.