Originally Posted by Meiac09

BBSD- if you are serious, take it from my own experiece and DON'T!!! The (lack of) handling in the C70 (P1 platform Volvo) more than makes up for the safety rating.

Originally Posted by blondboinsd

LOL Thats laughable, so your saying in the side impact it FAILED, It would more then outhandle getting t-boned enough to justify the horiffic safety rating? I don't think so, trust me, I'm not that kind of driver (the one whos good at emergency avoidance) so I like to be as protected as possible

Originally Posted by xx3

to be honest, in that case I wouldn't look for a convertible. Convertible's are not safe, period.

You'll be much better off in a truck...

Originally Posted by xx3

It got the exact same score as the A4 cabrio... So it didn't get worse.

In respect to the 9-3, the torso is the only score where the 3 series did worse... Its a sad trend that now most car manufacturers release a car, then tweak the safety just to pass these tests... BMW will be doing this as someone said for 9/07 production... By then it should have flying scores... Which doesn't necessarily make it more safe, just shows that car manufacturers can manipulate safety testing...

In terms of frontal impact it did score high... Truth be told, in a side impact with a convertible you're royally f***** either way... If you really want to be safe, you shouldn't be in a convertible, period.

Interestingly enough, I think the new 3 cab would shine above its competitors when faced with a side impact with its roof raised. The structural integrity of a metal top should be somewhat higher than a softop, no?

Originally Posted by Heli

We picked ours up two days ago: when SWMBO stops showing it off to all her friends, I'll get a chance to drive it and take some photos :thumbup:

Mind you, our ADR's require some changes to the USA standards, eg our airbags are SRS since seat belts are mandatory throughout Australia, so I'm not entirely sure that the initial whinge is pertinent to our model.

Regardless, we like it :D