BMW 535I vs Lincoln MKX

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 535I	Lincoln MKX
Complaints on file	722	1,766
Model years covered	1986–2016	2007–2018
Worst model year	2011	2007
Best model year	2016	2009
Crashes reported	37	77
Fires reported	30	28
Injuries reported	23	42
Deaths reported	0	1
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	12.5%	8.4%

BMW 535I by year

1 1 9 3 5 5 2 116 100 81 156 86 59 46 37 15

86 88 89 90 91 92 94 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 167 23.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 146 20.2%

Electrical System 79 10.9%

Airbags 51 7.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 45 6.2%

Lights 43 6.0%

Other & Unspecified 28 3.9%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 21 2.9%

Lincoln MKX by year

350 303 78 125 193 108 205 50 28 219 68 39

07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

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

What breaks

Airbags 411 23.3%

Brakes 302 17.1%

Electrical System 177 10.0%

Engine & Cooling 154 8.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 138 7.8%

Other & Unspecified 127 7.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 105 5.9%

Body & Structure 62 3.5%