BMW Canada Announces Side Impact Air Bags

04/21/97

BMW FIRST TO OFFER NEW SAFETY TECHNOLOGY

WHITBY, Ont., April 17 /Canada NewsWire/ -- BMW announced today the
introduction of the Inflatable Tubular Structure (ITS), a new safety
technology designed to reduce injury in side impact collisions. The
ITS system will be included as standard equipment on all 1998 7 Series
models due at dealerships this June. BMW studies have determined that
approximately 36 percent of all accidents causing severe injury or
death occur in side impact collisions. While conventional side airbags
provide protection at chest (torso) level, BMW's new Inflatable
Tubular Structure (ITS) adds protection for the most vulnerable part
of the body: The head.

The innovative ITS system is normally entirely concealed above the
front doors within the A-pillar and roof liner until needed. In the
event of a side collision, the ITS inflates, causing it to pull out of
the headliner and form a soft, straight tube, 130 mm in diameter and
stretched in a straight line from the lower windshield pillar to the
roof. The tube is then in just the area where an occupant's head would
come into contact with the side of the car -- windshield pillar,
window, center pillar (B-pillar). It bears mentioning, also, that the
ITS can retain much of its effectiveness even if the window is broken
or popped out by the impact.

ITS is designed not only to inflate, but to stay inflated for
approximately 6 seconds. (The ITS does deflate, just much slower than
a frontal airbag.) Thus the tube affords head protection not just upon
the initial impact, but potentially in further impacts before the
stricken vehicle comes to rest. A further distinguishing feature of
ITS is that, when deployed, it becomes a structural element of the
vehicle, not only cushioning the impact, but helping to keep occupants
within the vehicle.

The ITS System is a further addition to BMW's integrated
``Intelligent'' occupant protection system. Every 1997 BMW model is
equipped with driver's- and passenger's-side airbags. All come with
either automatic front seatbelt tensioners that ``cinch'' the belts
tighter in a severe frontal impact, or with front seatbelts fully
integrated into the front seats so that no automatic tensioning is
needed to optimize the belts' tightness. BMW's current
airbag/tensioner deployment system is so sophisticated that in models
with belt tensioners, it differentiates between an impact in which
only the tensioners are needed, or both tensioners and airbags. This
``intelligent safety system'' recognizes whether or not the seat belts
are in use and changes the airbag triggering threshold accordingly. It
also checks whether the passenger seat is occupied or not; and if not,
the passenger airbags are not deployed, possibly saving repair (and
ultimately insurance) costs. In addition, 1997 5 and 7 Series models
have the innovative new ``hook'' system that further increases the
body's protective effect in the event of a side impact.

The ITS System will be progressively introduced in other BMW models
and will appear only in combination with the door mounted torso
airbags; thus any BMW so equipped will have the imposing total of six
inflatable restraint systems for the front seat occupants.

Note: Beta SP video and still photography are available from BMW
Canada Inc. Corporate Communication Department at (905) 428-5015, Fax
(905) 428-5086.

/For further information: Thomas J. Plucinsky, Corporate
Communications Manager, Product and Technology, Tel.  (905) 428-5005,
Fax (905) 428-5086/