BMW 325I vs Nissan Frontier

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	Nissan Frontier
Complaints on file	1,808	4,485
Model years covered	1987–2012	1998–2026
Worst model year	2006	2022
Best model year	1993	2024
Crashes reported	71	219
Fires reported	103	62
Injuries reported	76	128
Deaths reported	2	10
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm	13.9%	9.3%

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%

Nissan Frontier by year

146 106 224 155 152 92 89 750 836 699 187 44 76 84 98 65 50 48 56 45 29 39 34 25 194 116 30 9 7

98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

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

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 997 22.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 828 18.5%

Engine & Cooling 675 15.1%

Electrical System 307 6.8%

Airbags 300 6.7%

Brakes 225 5.0%

Other & Unspecified 175 3.9%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 125 2.8%