BMW 5 Series vs Chevrolet Malibu Maxx

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 5 Series	Chevrolet Malibu Maxx
Complaints on file	556	1,389
Model years covered	1989–2012	2004–2007
Worst model year	2006	2004
Best model year	2003	2007
Crashes reported	26	81
Fires reported	25	25
Injuries reported	22	48
Deaths reported	1	0
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Steering
Share of complaints involving harm	13.3%	11.1%

BMW 5 Series by year

1 6 1 2 3 4 10 13 89 26 125 22 131 6 9 96 12

89 95 97 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12

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

What breaks

Airbags 96 17.3%

Engine & Cooling 67 12.1%

Electrical System 62 11.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 57 10.3%

Tires 43 7.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 41 7.4%

Steering 32 5.8%

Brakes 22 4.0%

Chevrolet Malibu Maxx by year

574 416 343 56

04 05 06 07

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

What breaks

Steering 687 49.5%

Seats 142 10.2%

Electrical System 114 8.2%

Lights 106 7.6%

Brakes 68 4.9%

Airbags 44 3.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 41 3.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 36 2.6%