BMW 320I vs Mercedes Benz ML350

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	Mercedes Benz ML350
Complaints on file	247	603
Model years covered	1978–2018	2010–2015
Worst model year	2014	2015
Best model year	2013	2010
Crashes reported	36	60
Fires reported	8	13
Injuries reported	24	34
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	27.5%	17.7%

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%

Mercedes Benz ML350 by year

113 128 95 82 107 78

10 11 12 13 14 15

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

What breaks

Airbags 139 23.1%

Engine & Cooling 76 12.6%

Electrical System 72 11.9%

Fuel & Propulsion 56 9.3%

Other & Unspecified 45 7.5%

Brakes 40 6.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 30 5.0%

Steering 23 3.8%