BMW 330I vs Mercury Mountaineer

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	Mercury Mountaineer
Complaints on file	1,076	2,646
Model years covered	2001–2025	1996–2010
Worst model year	2006	1997
Best model year	2005	2010
Crashes reported	42	191
Fires reported	52	91
Injuries reported	35	148
Deaths reported	3	5
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm	12.3%	16.4%

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%

Mercury Mountaineer by year

3 399 298 182 164 32 504 220 271 113 153 119 156 8 24

96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

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

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 399 15.1%

Tires 364 13.8%

Body & Structure 298 11.3%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 221 8.4%

Engine & Cooling 217 8.2%

Electrical System 190 7.2%

Brakes 142 5.4%

Seats 127 4.8%