BMW’s soon-to-land electric SUV proved up to snuff as the first product to face the ‘four pillars’ schedule.

AN updated crash test by the national auditor has come into effect - and proved no issue for the first contender, BMW’s next electric car here.

The 2026 BMW iX3 EV has posted a five-star safety rating under the latest version of the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) four-pillar safety assessment programme.

Under the 2026 to 2028 test protocols, the Australia-based and New Zealand part-funded tester assesses vehicles through four strategies: Safe Driving, Crash Avoidance, Crash Protection, and Post-Crash assistance.

The new scoring layout replaces the previous adult occupant and child occupant protection, vulnerable road user protection, and safety assist system rankings.

Under the new system, ANCAP assesses the on-road performance of driver assistance systems such as speed sign recognition, the presence of key physical controls to operate the vehicle, and after-accident systems, including emergency call and location services.

The iX3 received a 71 percent score in the Safe Driving assessment, 83 percent for Crash Avoidance, 86 percent for Crash Protection, and 95 percent for Post Crash systems.

Data for the iX3 comes from a combination of physical crash tests conducted in Europe and Safe Driving tests in Australia under local conditions.

Among the revisions for the latest assessments, a new crash barrier that better reflects real-world crashes, a motorcycle T-bone test has been added, a broader range of lighting and weather scenarios is assessed for crash avoidance ratings, and other changes have been made compared to earlier assessments.

ANCAP highlighted that the iX3 performed well avoiding impacts with other cars, cyclists and pedestrians, but was less advanced when it came to motorcycle detection. Its autonomous braking was unable to override mis-acceleration towards pedestrians.

Maximum scores were awarded for adult and child occupant protection in side impact tests. The iX3 was also praised for electronically deployed door handles that deployed post-crash, manual door operation, and battery isolation to reduce the risk of fire.

As with other revisions to ACNAP assessments, previous scores are not automatically updated to reflect the testing changes, meaning earlier five-star results may not be the equivalent of a five-star result achieved under the latest testing protocols.