BMW 325CI vs Audi S4

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 325CI	Audi S4
Complaints on file	289	721
Model years covered	2000–2006	1992–2022
Worst model year	2001	2001
Best model year	2003	1993
Crashes reported	8	23
Fires reported	18	8
Injuries reported	10	10
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	12.5%	5.7%

BMW 325CI by year

9 56 33 35 76 40 40

00 01 02 03 04 05 06

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

What breaks

Airbags 133 46.0%

Electrical System 24 8.3%

Engine & Cooling 21 7.3%

Lights 21 7.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 17 5.9%

Fuel & Propulsion 12 4.2%

Body & Structure 9 3.1%

Suspension 9 3.1%

Audi S4 by year

5 18 8 1 171 92 31 1 37 54 37 21 4 73 34 27 34 23 1 9 3 34 2 1

92 93 94 95 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 10 11 12 13 14 15 18 19 20 21 22

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

What breaks

Electrical System 150 20.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 104 14.4%

Brakes 82 11.4%

Engine & Cooling 72 10.0%

Lights 66 9.2%

Tires 51 7.1%

Steering 37 5.1%

Airbags 33 4.6%