A BMW marketing-engineering-legislation quandary - Pedestrian Protection

This is the bugger which got me banned at BMW-SG. Since my ban, so many well wishers have emailed and PM'ed to me saying that they liked some of my posts, and wanted to post a note of appreciation for a nice evening of forumming. I thanked them all (sincerely!) but asked them to post their opinions on the forum, and I thought that this quote was pretty true in the present context: The only condition necessary for evil to thrive, is when good men do nothing.

Anyway, here's the URL:

http://www.bmw-sg.com/forums/bmw-singapore-motoring-life/9190-another-bmw-marketing-engineering-legislation-quandary-pedestrian-protection.html

Just a copy of my post over there in case it gets deleted, here's for posterity:

I mentioned a quandary before, that BMW marketing for its inline-6 I suspect is compromising the packaging of their cars, where a V6 would have given them much more room and engine toughness (no need so long crankshaft) .... let's take a look at their overhangs now. As you probably already know, the 3- (E90) 5- (E60) series have cored VERY badly in terms of pedestrian protection in event of collision.

3-series: http://www.euroncap.com/content/safety_ratings/details.php?id1=3&id2=225
Quote:

pedestrian protection was very poor

5-series: http://www.euroncap.com/content/safety_ratings/details.php?id1=4&id2=208
Quote:

the car’s ability to protect pedestrians was dire

So, many manufacturers, including Toyota (GS, Camry, IS), Honda (civic, Legend), Nissan, Renault, Alfa (new 159) have designed their new cars to improve on the pedestrian safety perspective, by:

1) increasing the length of their front overhangs to create a buffer zone for pedestrian protection in front of the car, and

2) by using a 4-cylinder or a low profile V6, they have created some space between their engine bonnet and the engine itself to create a buffer there also. (see footnote also, below).

But both these features are opposite to BMW's `virtues'.

1) They boast a short front overhang saying that it promotes handling, but it kills pedestrians since the pedestrian will hit the hard engine without the luxury of a buffer zone of a longer overhang.

2) they market their I6 engine as the greatest form of engine,
but it kills pedestrians as a I6 engine is fundamentally taller, and it is impossible to create that buffer zone (eg. the M3 E46 actually had to tilt the I6 to fit their engine bay!)

How can they overcome the quandary? Or, will they continue to compromise pedestrian safety if they decide that their customer demographics do not care too much about pedestrian safety in relation to driving enjoyment? Or, hopefully, is there a link anywhere which will show us a preview of BMW's engineering principles they will employ to solve the problem?

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footnote:Toyota's engine designed with
pedestrian protection in mind:http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.toyota.co.jp%2Fjp%2Ftech%2Fnew_cars%2Fmarkx%2Fability%2Fpower_train%2F&langpair=ja%7Cen&hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&prev=%2Flanguage_tools
Quote:

Furthermore, new it adjusts to the hood which is designed, new designs also the surge tank, and the like by the fact that it makes the structure which guarantees clearance between the hood and the engine, the case of personal accident of 10001 it contributes to the shocking relief to the pedestrian