BMW 535I vs Lincoln Navigator

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 Navigator
Complaints on file	722	1,794
Model years covered	1986–2016	1998–2025
Worst model year	2011	2003
Best model year	2016	2012
Crashes reported	37	136
Fires reported	30	116
Injuries reported	23	116
Deaths reported	0	4
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	12.5%	20.7%

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 Navigator by year

240 155 137 116 48 179 119 71 90 56 40 10 22 10 15 20 25 31 33 45 69 97 35 40 33 9 28 21

98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 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

Electrical System 200 11.1%

Engine & Cooling 188 10.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 174 9.7%

Tires 170 9.5%

Suspension 163 9.1%

Brakes 111 6.2%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 96 5.4%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 95 5.3%