BMW 5 Series vs Ford Excursion

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	Ford Excursion
Complaints on file	556	1,385
Model years covered	1989–2012	1997–2010
Worst model year	2006	2000
Best model year	2003	2005
Crashes reported	26	97
Fires reported	25	102
Injuries reported	22	52
Deaths reported	1	6
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Tires
Share of complaints involving harm	13.3%	18.6%

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%

Ford Excursion by year

1 10 635 240 150 139 125 84 1

97 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 10

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

What breaks

Tires 296 21.4%

Engine & Cooling 246 17.8%

Electrical System 157 11.3%

Brakes 129 9.3%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 78 5.6%

Suspension 77 5.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 63 4.5%

Fuel & Propulsion 52 3.8%