BMW 530I vs Saturn Outlook

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 530I	Saturn Outlook
Complaints on file	808	1,939
Model years covered	1994–2025	2007–2010
Worst model year	2004	2008
Best model year	1994	2010
Crashes reported	56	25
Fires reported	55	51
Injuries reported	43	23
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Lights
Share of complaints involving harm	19.1%	5.1%

BMW 530I by year

12 7 29 32 61 175 84 128 109 25 38 28 15 20 10 5 27 3

94 95 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 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 205 25.4%

Electrical System 106 13.1%

Engine & Cooling 89 11.0%

Seats 67 8.3%

Seat Belts 43 5.3%

Brakes 41 5.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 39 4.8%

Lights 38 4.7%

Saturn Outlook by year

728 926 262 23

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

Lights 485 25.0%

Electrical System 330 17.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 275 14.2%

Airbags 193 10.0%

Steering 156 8.0%

Engine & Cooling 105 5.4%

Body & Structure 89 4.6%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 61 3.1%