BMW X5 Outshines Mercedes GLE in Key IIHS Pedestrian Safety Test

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently put the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE through its pedestrian crash prevention evaluations, and the results highlight a significant gap in standard safety equipment.

The X5 earned a “good” overall rating for frontal collision with a pedestrian, while the GLE without any added packages received only a “marginal” rating. The GLE with optional active brake assist and driver assistance plus package managed an “acceptable” score.

In testing, the X5 avoided collisions in daytime and nighttime perpendicular child and adult tests at 12 and 25 mph, with both low and high beams active. 1 seconds before impact. 4 seconds ahead.

The GLE with optional safety features avoided collisions in the daytime perpendicular child test at 12 and 25 mph, but at night in the 25 mph adult test, it slowed to just 2 mph before striking the dummy. 3 seconds before impact.

A key difference: the GLE requires a $1,950 Driver Assistance Package for 13 active safety systems, while the X5 includes many of those features as standard. The X5 starts at $68,300 versus the GLE’s $62,250, though the added package narrows that gap.

IIHS has tested pedestrian detection since 2019 and added nighttime tests in 2022. By 2029, NHTSA will require automatic emergency braking on all new cars and light trucks, a move predicted to save 360 lives and prevent 24,000 injuries annually. Still, larger SUVs with big blind spots remain a challenge, and IIHS has also suggested better infrastructure and new driver alerts to reduce pedestrian risks.