BMW 330I vs Mercedes Benz E350

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 330I	Mercedes Benz E350
Complaints on file	1,076	2,686
Model years covered	2001–2025	2003–2017
Worst model year	2006	2014
Best model year	2005	2004
Crashes reported	42	142
Fires reported	52	78
Injuries reported	35	112
Deaths reported	3	3
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Fuel & Propulsion
Share of complaints involving harm	12.3%	12.5%

BMW 330I by year

159 57 92 139 42 303 55 39 56 67 44 6 4 9 4

01 02 03 04 05 06 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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

What breaks

Airbags 259 24.1%

Lights 162 15.1%

Electrical System 131 12.2%

Engine & Cooling 130 12.1%

Other & Unspecified 60 5.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 45 4.2%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 33 3.1%

Steering 32 3.0%

Mercedes Benz E350 by year

10 11 17 482 398 220 76 229 265 260 215 378 40 74 11

03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

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

What breaks

Fuel & Propulsion 765 28.5%

Airbags 397 14.8%

Engine & Cooling 218 8.1%

Brakes 204 7.6%

Electrical System 166 6.2%

Other & Unspecified 134 5.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 124 4.6%

Suspension 117 4.4%