BMW 325I vs Ford Fiesta

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 325I	Ford Fiesta
Complaints on file	1,808	4,342
Model years covered	1987–2012	1988–2019
Worst model year	2006	2011
Best model year	1993	2018
Crashes reported	71	206
Fires reported	103	43
Injuries reported	76	131
Deaths reported	2	13
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm	13.9%	9.1%

BMW 325I by year

5 7 10 5 4 55 25 23 42 1 196 198 261 182 81 709 1 1 1 1

87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 11 12

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

What breaks

Airbags 529 29.3%

Electrical System 217 12.0%

Lights 205 11.3%

Engine & Cooling 176 9.7%

Doors, Latches & Locks 78 4.3%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 71 3.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 65 3.6%

Steering 60 3.3%

Ford Fiesta by year

1 1 3 1 1 1,040 833 917 653 368 253 105 46 120

88 89 91 01 02 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

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

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,509 34.8%

Engine & Cooling 550 12.7%

Body & Structure 411 9.5%

Other & Unspecified 394 9.1%

Electrical System 339 7.8%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 198 4.6%

Doors, Latches & Locks 184 4.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 161 3.7%