BMW 528I vs Volkswagen Atlas

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 528I	Volkswagen Atlas
Complaints on file	1,239	2,991
Model years covered	1979–2016	2018–2026
Worst model year	2008	2018
Best model year	2009	2026
Crashes reported	28	68
Fires reported	72	9
Injuries reported	45	66
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	11.7%	4.8%

BMW 528I by year

1 2 49 39 59 53 3 1 181 33 87 164 145 119 92 106 105

79 80 97 98 99 00 01 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 384 31.0%

Electrical System 183 14.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 106 8.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 104 8.4%

Airbags 98 7.9%

Other & Unspecified 66 5.3%

Lights 63 5.1%

Brakes 36 2.9%

Volkswagen Atlas by year

670 709 51 746 281 187 262 75 10

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

Electrical System 472 15.8%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 373 12.5%

Engine & Cooling 371 12.4%

Airbags 370 12.4%

Brakes 359 12.0%

Other & Unspecified 292 9.8%

Fuel & Propulsion 147 4.9%

Lights 115 3.8%