BMW 320I vs Cadillac STS

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	BMW 320I	Cadillac STS
Complaints on file	247	610
Model years covered	1978–2018	1998–2011
Worst model year	2014	2005
Best model year	2013	2002
Crashes reported	36	74
Fires reported	8	26
Injuries reported	24	43
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	27.5%	23.4%

BMW 320I by year

3 1 6 1 1 2 5 13 80 46 40 13 36

78 79 80 82 02 04 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 47 19.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 29 11.7%

Electrical System 27 10.9%

Airbags 25 10.1%

Other & Unspecified 23 9.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 17 6.9%

Brakes 17 6.9%

Lights 14 5.7%

Cadillac STS by year

3 16 15 17 10 15 9 145 197 67 77 24 6 9

98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Airbags 106 17.4%

Electrical System 86 14.1%

Engine & Cooling 83 13.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 47 7.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 42 6.9%

Brakes 34 5.6%

Stability & Traction Control 31 5.1%

Steering 25 4.1%